The Cathedral Bells, scientifically known as Kalanchoe pinnata, represent a cost-effective potted plant renowned for its remarkable resilience and prolific reproductive capabilities. In conditions of nutrient deficiency, they manifest a gillyflower-like hue. To uphold their ornamental allure, vendors within flower and avian markets frequently confine them within excessively diminutive containers, a restrictive practice that solely the Cathedral Bells can endure owing to their inherent vitality. These vessels serve as numerous incarcerations, penalizing the Cathedral Bells for their intrinsic enchantment and robust vitality.
Cathedral bells that fall on the matted plate and survive by the dust.
December 30, 2021
On December 30, 2021, I transplanted numerous Cathedral Bells into a spacious vegetable pot, meticulously preparing high-quality soil in anticipation of witnessing their liberation and vitality. Regrettably, ensuring uniformity in size among the Cathedral Bells proved challenging. Nevertheless, I harbored the expectation that post-liberation from their confinement, they would all thrive, exhibiting uniform, vibrant green foliage akin to a verdant bed of vegetables.
February 25, 2022
On January 1, 2023, the date of our most recent documentation, only two to three Cathedral Bells have flourished with robust health. The majority succumbed in this unforeseen battle due to insufficient sunlight and nutrients. The surviving specimens, although slender and diminutive, bear a striking resemblance to their counterparts confined within small containers. In a distressing turn of events, some appear even more frail. Within this unexpected conflict, Cathedral Bells have perished at the hands of their own kind, leaving behind a scene of brutal devastation. Perhaps, for Cathedral Bells, every location represents a form of captivity.
January 1, 2023
In a nutrient-rich environment, the maternal lineage of these Cathedral Bells has propagated over four successive generations within a span of five years. Upon shedding from their parent plant and alighting on the soil, they swiftly overtook the flowerpot, vanquishing the incumbent residents. However, when the fifth generation found themselves liberated from the struggle for meager soil, a grim fate awaited many beneath the weighty foliage of their companions. The life cycle of the Cathedral Bells unfolds as a narrative of occupying, escape and reoccupying.
Second generation
First generation (the Mother)
Third generation
Fourth generation
I took a fragment from the deceased body of the mother Cathedral Bells and used it in a painting. To the Cathedral Bells, the color violet symbolizes hunger, vitality, and a nightmare from which there is no escape.
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