Pollinators help trees, crops and many other plants to reproduce by distributing their pollen from flower to flower. They also feed on plant pollen and nectar. Many people associate pollinators with bees, but there are many types. Pollinators in Berlin include butterflies, moths, hoverflies, beetles, wasps, and even flies. Over the last 30 years, many of these insects have experienced sharp decline in numbers. This is due to human activity: habitat loss, pesticides, invasive species and climate change. Pollinator Pathmaker responds to this crisis by recognising that what and how we plant matters. Its beds are designed to bloom as their different pollinators emerge and also to suit a range of insect foraging styles. Over the winter, seed heads and grasses provide habitat for insects too. These insects are the artwork’s primary ‘audience’.

Pollinator Pathmaker asks: if pollinators could design gardens, what would they look like? Ginsberg created an algorithm to approach this question. It is based on extensive research into how pollinators sense, and how they source food. Some flying pollinators like bees memorise the locations of the flowers they visit. They are able to calculate and memorise the most efficient route to visit each flower. These paths are called traplines. Other insects like ladybirds pollinate by moving through patches of flowers. The algorithm designs garden schemes with traplines and patches of specific flowers to suit these different behaviours. The resulting gardens look different from ones designed by humans. For Ginsberg, the algorithm is a way to reduce human bias and prioritise the needs of others – a way to design with empathy.

Ginsberg calls Pollinator Pathmaker a ‘living sculpture’. It is an artwork made of materials that are alive, and its success is dependent on the relationships between different species and their environment. It is unlike most sculptures because it looks different from month to month, as plants and pollinators move through their seasonal cycles. Pollinator Pathmaker is rooted in the artistic traditions of Land Art and social sculpture, which emerged in the 1960s and 70s. In line with both traditions, Pollinator Pathmaker encourages communities to plant artworks that help support species at risk. It shows how art can be made for nonhuman audiences, and have a positive impact on our shared planet.

You can support pollinators by planting your own edition of the artwork at home. The artist has made the planting design tool freely available at pollinator.art.

Originally commissioned by the Eden Project and funded by Garfield Weston Foundation, the additional founding supporters are Gaia Art Foundation and collaborators Google Arts & Culture.