Outcomes

- Designed, Written, and Edited by Beata Belogolovsky

- Thesis Book:
Paper: Cardstock
Type: Galvji, Apple Chancery, Georgia, and Menlo

Acknowledgments:

During my time at Pratt Institute, I pursued a wide range of sustainability- and biology-focused courses, which have since informed many of my projects. My work continues to be grounded in research across these disciplines,paired with a deep commitment to education and knowledge-sharing.I would like to extend my sincere thanks to Kannchi Chopra, Isa Rodrigues, Griselda Peña Candelario, Mykalia Donovan, Chyanne Chojnachki, and Aislinn Hird for generously offering their time and insights through interviews for this project.Special thanks as well to Professor Noble Cummings,whose guidance and inspiration encouraged me to delve deeper into this area of study. I am forever grateful for the community I’ve found at Pratt. -Beata

A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Bachelor of Fine Arts in Communications Design at Pratt Institute

May 2025

Video Interviews

Youtube links:

Isa
Location: Isa’s Studio Space @ The Textile Arts

- What inspired you to create such fluid forms in your textile pieces?

- When did you start working with flowers as a medium? What drew you to start working with natural dyes?

- You mentioned that you’re familiar with authors such as Stefano Mancuso, Donna Haraway, and Zoe Schlanger. How do you perceive the natural world after reading their perspectives? Did it shift how you live your day-to-day life?

- Can you remember the first time you grew something from a seed? Describe what that experience was like.

- What do you think you’ve learned about flowers from growing them?What have you learned about yourself?

- Can you tell me a bit more about Sewing Seeds? (or maybe a class you’re currently teaching)

- A part of my goal with this project is to dive deeper into humanity’s loss of connection with the natural world, as well as build an understanding that nature is being commodified for instant gratification, in this case, cut flowers. How do you recommend that people rekindle their relationship with the natural world? Do you believe that there are ways to rebuild that connection?

Mykalia

Location: Chipped Cup/ Florist Shop UWS

- We spoke a bit before about your use of flowers in everyday life. What cultural traditions or practices have you encountered that involve the use of flowers?

- What does this alter mean to you?
- Do specific flowers you use hold different meanings? Where or who did you learn about this practice from.

- Would you say the flowers you’ve used in these altars have shifted how you look at the flowers when you come across them in nature or at the store? Do you associate the flowers with their meanings?

- Do you feel that using flowers in this practice has connected you more with nature, or pulled you away from it? Do you feel you have agency over the flowers after you purchase them, or do you feel that you are an observer?

Chyanne
Location: Zoom
- Do you feel that your perspective of the natural world has changed after working directly with living organisms?
- What is your artistic process?

- Throughout your career, you’ve explored working with flowers as sculpture and other meaningful jewelry arrangements. What is your connection/relationship with the flower?

- What does it mean to be a sustainable florist? How do you ensure your flowers are sourced sustainably?

- What is it like working as a sustainable florist in the floral industry? Would you say many people have the same outlook as you?

Fall 24 Pin Up

Experimenting with pop up flowers as an exhibition element.

Images from Colombia - Adem Wijewickrema

Video Experiments

For this short documentary project, I decided to prioritize interviewing one person on my topic to get a better understanding/ get more comfortable with what to ask for when I continue this film project. I spoke with a friend of mine about her connection to cut flowers, which she uses in relation to religion. I found that hearing her perspective on what flowers she typically uses for this process was particularly interesting since it often is more about what flowers are accessible, and often what is most accessible isn’t always the most sustainably friendly choice. At the same time though there seems to be the perspective that flowers are still somewhat available to be able to replenish alters like this, which is an interesting thought considering the flowers aren’t being produced nearby. At first, I had the impression that I would film multiple people, but with the time I had I ended up using one interview to guide a similar narrative to the original, and when my friend would talk I would also insert clips of the objects she was describing as well as an added angle while keeping the audio coming from the clip-on mic. I liked that from this video the viewer could at least learn something through the interview, but I also wish that I had found a way to abstract the interview to where it could be informative and also visualized creatively. I feel that laying the foundation for that is a good step. The order of questions I selected I think also works since it starts with simpler questions and then makes the viewer think a bit more toward the end. I would also like to in the future film the street vendors that my friend has mentioned, as well as flower shop owners, to get a better understanding of the industry through a producer/seller perspective.

Thesis Abstract

A commodity is defined as a product that can be bought and sold. An object is “commodified” when it is transformed from something not considered a market good into a product that can go through the buy-and-sell process, essentially assigning it an economic value. This process can apply to physical goods, services, ideas, or even cultural practices.

Through this exploration, I would like to define a commodified product, better understand what it means to create a commodification of goods, and what we as consumers may potentially lose in that process as well as what we can gain.

To gain a full perspective on the product, I aim to discuss a double narrative. One story will be told from an industry standpoint, which maps the untold or unnoticed perspectives of a market good. The second narrative acts as an unravelment of our perception of the product, going back to its roots through memory and history.

The product I have chosen to explore is cut flowers. I have a personal connection in the sense that I have both grown flowers for my enjoyment and have also worked with flowers to create naturally dyed textiles. My connection to cut flowers has brought me closer to the product, and with that insight, I have my thoughts on issues with flowers as a consumer good. I believe there is a large disconnect between holding a finished item in one’s hand, versus being a part of the process of growing, creating, troubleshooting, etc etc.

Through a collection book, short film, and collective exhibit, I hope to deconstruct the cut flower industry using intervention mapping, as well as collaborate with a series of voices to tell a more cyclical as well as personal narrative. By the end of this project, I hope to spark curiosity in the viewer, both on the larger world of cut flowers, as well as the larger narrative of how consumer culture has pushed to simplify our knowledge of products.

Guiding Questions
Introduction

Why was the study undertaken? What was the research question, the
tested hypothesis or the purpose of the research?
Q1: Where do our flowers come from?
Q2: How do we create empathy towards other species?
Methods

When, where, and how was the study done? What materials were used or
who was included in the study groups (patients, etc.)?
Results

What answer was found to the research question; what did the study find?
Was the tested hypothesis true?

Discussion

What might the answer imply and why does it matter? How does it fit in
with what other researchers have found? What are the perspectives for
future research?

Potential Key Words:

1. Interconnectedness
2. Consumerism

3. Ecocentrism

4. Narration

5. Sustainable society

6. Accountability

7. Horticulture

8. Floral Industry

9. Empathy

10. Cut Flowers

Subtitle Examples:

1. Importance of Ecocentrism
2. Exploring Consumer Culture through the Cut Flower Industry

3. Dual narration: The Cut Flower Industry and The Consumers Connection

4. Finding Empathy for the Ordinary

5. Finding Connectedness through missing narratives
Topics:

Ecology, Sustainability, Wellness

Reframe, Reinterpret, Remake

Connection, Bridging

History, Memory, Archive

Community, Healing

Work Plan

-Creating a distinction between the two narratives while also finding connections between the two

-Cut flowers also came to mind for this project because I had been wondering where the cut flowers in the supermarket were coming from. Not being able to answer immediately bothered me, especially since I know how to grow flowers and have become so connected to that process.

-Lived Experience vs Universal Experience

-Bibliography, Exhibit could be a plan not a final, overall spcial design (flower cut outs?)

-Scientific , like Specimans for some pages

-Data Visualization

Book Exploration

Two Narratives :

Flower Industry / Loss of Connection between the consumer and the product

Found Data

History and Memories

Scale: Micro/Macro

Collection / Curation

Speculative

Personal Connections

Book Map Experiments

Book Map Updates

Consuming Cut Flowers