The extraordinary and perception-changing Encyclopedia of Flowers series is a collaboration between floral artist Makoto Azuma and photographer Shunsuke Shiinoki. Azuma, you may or may not recall, sent a bunch of flowers and a pine white bonsai into space to see what might happen back in 2015 (they disintegrated and became dispersed across the Earth's stratosphere). The pair opened their on-demand haute couture flower store JARDINS des FLEURS in the Ginza district of Tokyo in 2002. Encyclopedia of Flowers addresses issues such as durability and vanity, artificiality and nature, hybrid culture and environmental change. Following volumes in 2011 and 2015, this time were treated to a tome capturing many more thousands of plants in a greater variety of styles, across more categories (seven) than before, including Coexistence, Hybrid, Chiaroscuro and Autogenesis, all indexed listing their scientific names of all the plants. Volume VI presents 130 photographs in a new four-part arrangement: Whole, Breath, Organ, and Incunabula. The first displays flowers and plants from different places, arranged in a flat style. The second and third reveal the biological processes of flowers that are invisible to the naked eye. The fourth presents digital bouquets that only exist in a meta-space. A detailed list of plant names and a comprehensive index at the end of the book allow the reader to search for and learn more about each species. It's a thing of wonder. Track down all copies if you can. Seigensha, 312pp, 23cm x 30cm, illustrated hardback, Japanese and English text
