Zoöp Nieuwe Instituut
Zoöp observations by Frank Bruggeman
Artist Frank Bruggeman, together with Peter Zwaal, observes life in the New Garden, where they record how plants, animals and people relate to each other, from the spring of 2022 on, when the Nieuwe Instituut officially became a zoöp. In small vignettes, ranging from the rudd to the cherry tomato, he portrays the interplay between plants, animals, strollers, workers, and other humans and non-humans present in the outdoor space.
Frank Bruggeman
Together with ecological gardener Hans Engelbrecht, artist Frank Bruggeman was responsible for designing, decorating and maintaining the New Garden from 2015 to 2021. As an artist and advisor he's still intimately involved with the relationship between Het Nieuwe Instituut and (plant-based) nature. In this capacity he participates, among others, in the working group that engages with the interventions by which Zoöp Nieuwe Instituut pursues its regenerative goals.
Understanding a zoöp
In order to assess the succes of interventions like these, it's imperative to observe and make an inventory of the many living things in and around the institute. The yearly learning process of every zoöp is categorised according to a so-called zoönomic year cycle, where an organisation goes through a process of demarcating, observing and sensing, characterising any bodies present – and using the interplay between them as a springboard from which to adjust its goals and intervene if necessary. Convoluted terms like 'the ecological integrity of the zoöp', or 'the symbiosis between the zoöp and the ecosystems in which it takes part', make the process sound complicated, but Frank Bruggeman's observations reveal how accessible, striking, and living it can be. Small examples make it easier to imagine what it means as an organisation to co-exist with all life.
