BUD

PLANQUE 2024

KIMI ZOET

Exhibited at Plank, a Michelin-listed restaurant in Hackney, Bud presents a series of three wooden panels centred around a fictional character of the same name.

Bud is imagined as a factory worker with an unexpected passion for weaving floral crowns. In the story that inspired the exhibition, the factory where he works eventually closes, leaving the building abandoned. As time passes, nature begins to reclaim the space. Plants emerge through cracks in concrete, walls become overgrown, and the rhythms of industry slowly give way to the cycles of the natural world. Remaining behind to witness this transformation, Bud becomes both caretaker and observer.

Created following Kimi Zoet’s residency at a disused industrial estate on the outskirts of Lisbon, the exhibition reflects on the striking beauty of abandoned spaces and the resilience of nature. Inspired by watching vegetation reclaim sites once defined by structure, repetition, and productivity, Zoet explores what happens when human systems are interrupted and the natural world is allowed to return.

Throughout the works, flowers break through clocks, serving as a visual metaphor for natural cycles penetrating human-made constructions of time. Bud appears protecting delicate blooms and wearing a floral wreath, taking on an almost mythological presence. Through these recurring symbols, the exhibition considers the possibility of stepping outside industrial rhythms and reconnecting with slower, more instinctive ways of living.

At its heart, Bud is a reflection on renewal, resilience, and nature’s enduring capacity to transform even the most rigid of environments.

PLANQUE | EXHIBITION SHOTS