To take the frictionless, scrolling pixels from Instagram and reproduce them in the physical world as a tactile, tablet-sized, small object of desire, is a curious concept. But the recently published book, Brutalist Plants, does just that, as its contents are derived from author Olivia Broome’s Instagram account.
Meta’s algorithms have previously delivered me other micro-niche topics such as @tiny.houses and @sexygutters, but I had not been aware of @brutalistplants before receiving this book. If you were, then you already know exactly what to expect – and you are probably the target audience. And you probably already know that this book is somehow about neither brutalist architecture, nor plants.
It is unusual for a book review to begin by discussing the publishers, but it seems particularly pertinent to Olivia Broome’s Brutalist Plants. A symbolic, if not a symbiotic, relationship seems to link the aims and values of publisher (Hoxton Mini Press) to the book’s objective and content. The half-title page states their office “overlooks a canal – a reminder of how much nature courses through this concrete jungle”. They hope “to remind readers of the richness of urban life”.
