Random Sampling at Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh
A work developed for Sublimate, a group exhibition at Inverleith House, following a period of research at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RBGE).
Inspired by techniques that field botanists employ when surveying sites for plant species, this project explores the methodology behind random sampling. Following guidelines and techniques used by ecologists for the random sampling of sites, the work seeks to establish an independent survey of the vegetation in the RBGE.
Three ‘scientific’ reports document the survey. The first ‘Methodology’, sets out the object of the survey, the method statement and survey conclusion; the second ‘Survey Findings’, provides photographic and textual accounts of the sample findings; the third ‘Appendices’ lists and classifies the survey findings. Within the ‘Appendices’ report, survey findings and classifications, are arranged in different compositions and catalogued in a variety of ways. Each list is faithful to the survey findings but how the information is conveyed is never the same, and consequently have different emphases. Thus the notion of truth in science is questioned.
The work can also be seen as a reflection of what is considered to be the truth in society. Every day the public encounter a random selection of news, media updates and snippets of conversation that are not necessarily an accurate representation of the global situation.
During the exhibition it was suggested by a senior RBGE member of staff that this template could be used in other Botanical Gardens around the world and that it would be of interest to compare the survey findings.
Inspired by techniques that field botanists employ when surveying sites for plant species, this project explores the methodology behind random sampling. Following guidelines and techniques used by ecologists for the random sampling of sites, the work seeks to establish an independent survey of the vegetation in the RBGE.
Three ‘scientific’ reports document the survey. The first ‘Methodology’, sets out the object of the survey, the method statement and survey conclusion; the second ‘Survey Findings’, provides photographic and textual accounts of the sample findings; the third ‘Appendices’ lists and classifies the survey findings. Within the ‘Appendices’ report, survey findings and classifications, are arranged in different compositions and catalogued in a variety of ways. Each list is faithful to the survey findings but how the information is conveyed is never the same, and consequently have different emphases. Thus the notion of truth in science is questioned.
The work can also be seen as a reflection of what is considered to be the truth in society. Every day the public encounter a random selection of news, media updates and snippets of conversation that are not necessarily an accurate representation of the global situation.
During the exhibition it was suggested by a senior RBGE member of staff that this template could be used in other Botanical Gardens around the world and that it would be of interest to compare the survey findings.
