Video
Commissioned by: SALT
Location: SALT Galata, Istanbul, Turkey
Year: 2012
Website: Modern Essays 5: Graft
Graham Foundation Grantee Website for Graft

To make a graft you need two plants. One plant is chosen for its roots. This plant is called the stock or understock. The other plant is chosen for its flowers, fruits or leaves and only its branches are used. This plant is called the scion. There are various methods of grafting but simply put, grafting is the insertion of desirable or desired genes to be duplicated in a new scion/stock plant. Plants selected for desirable characteristics that can be maintained by propagation are called cultivars and are used as scions. For a successful grafting the tissues of the plants must be in contact with each other and both plants need to be kept alive until the graft has taken. The joints that are formed by grafting are never strong as naturally occurring joints, therefore they remain as physical weak points.

This video was produced as part of Modern Essays 5: Graft exhibition at SALT Galata.
Editing by Çağdaş Arpaç.