“Hundreds of millions of years ago, plant reproduction processes were slow and insufficient, mainly because of their limited mobility. To upgrade their sexuality, plants creatively evolved into flowering plants, involving insects and animals in their pollination processes. This solution had a major impact on the botanic world, making flowering plants relevant factors in the ecosystem.”

The installation for ECLIPSE entitled The First Flower Monument is an extension of Astrit Ismaili’s operetta series Miss. The sound installed for AB7 is a song taken from the performance and is sung from the perspective of the world's first flower and their autobiographical transition from a plant into a flowering blossom – changing the world forever. The underlying concept behind these performances and the foundations of the operetta series is the theory of “creativity when limited”. Ismaili explores this narrative arc through three figures referenced in the piece – The First Flower, Cicciolina, and Miss Kosovo – each of which tells a different tale of survival and evolution in their own self-styled hyper-aesthetic typical of Ismaili’s performance language.

The First Flower Monument, 2021
Sound installation
Music composition 12’28’’, wood, concrete, speakers
Dimension variable
Courtesy of the artist
Commissioned and produced by the Athens Biennale

Installation design: Theo Demans
Music, lyrics, vocals: Astrit Ismaili
Music producer: Lynn Suemitsu (Golin)

Miss, 2017
Performance 
15'00''
Courtesy of the artist