The XX Factor: Slate women blog about politics, etc...

Moss Graffiti

This weekend, a friend showed me artist Edina Tokodi’s incredible moss graffiti, which features moss in the form of animals like rabbits and deer and abstract compositions mounted on walls in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Tokodi’s work is a whimsical surprise, green and playful. But I think moss will be creeping up on us more and more.

Last week, the New York Times announced it was installing an “open-air birch and moss garden” in the lobby of its new building. It was about to import seven ginormous birch trees and “several tons of moss” from New Jersey, according to incredulous accounts from NY Mag and Gawker. Moss has also shown up in designs for green rooftops. And a few years ago, a “moss laboratory” was created in a shed at a minimum-security prison (because working with plants is apparently good for inmates and moss cultivation does not require sharp objects.)

Where else will moss spread? I’m betting yoga studios, table arrangements, and fancy facial cleansers. Maybe moss is the new lemongrass. Still, tooling around the web, I realized its new uses couldn’t possibly be more creative than its traditional ones: some kinds of moss were included in wound dressings because of their antibacterial properties. Some were even used as diapers because they can absorb up to ten times their weight in liquid. Any takers?