Artist Bob Landström works mainly with crushed, pigmented volcanic rock, which he sources from a mine near the Navajo Nation in the American Southwest. His paintings, with their granulated texture, are abstract, full of profound meanings. They invoke the iconography of ancient languages, science, religions and mysticism. Again and again one comes across mathematical formulae. The artist describes himself as a unicorn who loves mathematics. His paintings are harmonious in a supernatural way, bursting with bright colours - they radiate an almost magical power on the viewer. Since the main medium of his paintings, volcanic rock, comes from the core of our planet, his work is also an attempt to tap into the core of the human experience. For Bob Landström, cultures share a collective soul. Through his works, the artist wants us to rethink the relationship to the universal, where we come from, where we are now, and hopefully overcome the limits of our possibilities. 

Brand new is his series Florum Somnia. For this series, Bob Landström researched and documented the communication of plants through sound recordings. He interpreted that plants speak and even make music and asks us to reconsider their sentience. 

17. August 2023

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Interview Directory 

ART

Name: Bob Landström

Education: School of the Museum of Fine Art, Boston,
Universities of Missouri and Pittsburgh, Carnegie-Mellon University, Carnegie Institute of Fine Art, Pittsburgh,

Occupation: Artist and sculptor

"One thing that especially captured my imagination when starting this series is that plants make sounds. They talk."

I read that in your new series Florum Somnia you visualize the communication of plants through sound recordings? 

I’ve visualized several forms of plant communication in the paintings for this series. It’s my interpretation of intentional interactions between the plant in its environment. Plants communicate in many different ways. They communicate through the air by emitting volatile organic compounds, and sometimes we can smell the aroma of a plant. Other chemicals don’t have the same effect on humans. Plants communicate underground by establishing webs of networks, sometimes stretching long distances when they link up with mycelium (mushroom/fungi) networks. These messages are at very low frequencies, approximately 20 Hz.

One thing that especially captured my imagination when starting this series is that plants make sounds. They talk. The frequency of the sound is higher than humans can hear, but some other animals can hear it. When the frequency is transposed into the human hearing spectrum, it sounds like clicks and pops. If you’ve ever made popcorn on the stove, the sound is a lot like that.

I found a MIDI interface that can sense a plant’s sound and translate that into notes on a synthesizer keyboard. I’ve collected some recordings of these from different plants and we had a plant playing music in the background during the artist’s talk at my recent exhibition Florum Somnia. 

Bob Landstrom, Chookalu, Pigmented Volcanic Rock on Canvas, 2023 ©Bob Landstrom

The medium you work with is unique. Where do you get it from, or does it matter where the volcanic soil comes from? 

I’ve been using the Earth as a painting medium for a very long time and after lots of experimentation. Volcanic rock, in particular, is special to me because of the obvious alchemy symbolism: it wears its state change from liquid to solid on its sleeve. So far, though, the particular source of the volcanic rock hasn’t held a prominent role in my work. I get it from a mine near the Navajo Nation in the American Southwest. It is at a 300-million-year-old deposit, now dormant, of course.

"It’s energy, after all, that collapses to manifest the material world we run around in."

I feel a great energy in your works and also harmony. What is more important to you? 

That’s a very insightful question. I think about energy quite a lot, and I’m always reminding myself to feel the energy of what I’m thinking about. It’s energy, after all, that collapses to manifest the material world we run around in. I use color, shape and gesture to create the energy in the plastic space of a painting.

Hysleria, Pigmented Volcanic Rock on Canvas, 2023©Bob Landstrom

Noodile, Pigmented Volcanic Rock on Canvas, 2023 ©Bob Landstrom

The multitude of symbols and mathematical formulas allows the viewer to become completely absorbed in your painting. Can you explain to the readers what this is all about? 

I’m one of those unicorns that thinks math is beautiful. Not only math but any graphical explanation of complex processes or things fires my imagination. I recall moments in my university days (let’s say an electromagnetism class) when the professor’s chalk board was covered with formulae, Greek letters, graphs—some partially wiped away and some remaining as excess chalk dust. Those images are so sexy to me.

I often use the same delivery in my paintings: formulae, poems, lyrics, invented symbols. Whatever I use, I choose it for its graphical energy. For example, a numeral three can be a “3,” an “m,” a “w,” an “E,” or three vertically arranged dots. In each case, that simple little glyph has a completely different energy.

"The Socratic idea of having complete knowledge before being born into our bodies resonates with me."

From which cultural epochs or symbolism do you draw inspiration for your work? 

I draw a lot from ancient cultures and ancient or so-called “primitive” religions. I look for glyphs that are on artifacts or ruins from those cultures. A lot of lost knowledge and metaphysical signals were accumulated around the time of Pythagoras, around 500 BCE. The Socratic idea of having complete knowledge before being born into our bodies resonates with me. I’ve also drawn influence from more contemporary cultures, in particular Mesoamerican and Native American cultures. 

"I’m imagining what would happen if a plant had a dream and painting snapshots of that experience."

In your artist statement you write that you want your art to help overcome the boundaries between familiarity and possibility? 

Imagination does this for us. The grind of daily duties can sometimes make us mentally numb. Artists create things that jolt us out of that numbness to activate that imagination. With this Florum Somnia series, I’m imagining what would happen if a plant had a dream and painting snapshots of that experience. So, in this sense, plants are familiar, but imagine what is actually happening given the fact that plants are communicating in complex ways with the environment. 

Neoskizzle, Pigmented Volcanic Rock on Canvas, 2023 ©Bob Landstrom

Hendassa, Pigmented Volcanic Rock on Canvas, 2022 ©Bob Landstrom