Square tiles perfectly cover our floors, they seamlessly sit side by side. We have become fearful of gaps lest nature might squeeze through uninvited. ‘Mind the gap’ is our unspoken mantra, and the right angle is our weapon of choice against that perceived threat. Our cities are expanses of tessellating concrete which suffocate the very life out of nature. Our houses are made of tightly knitted bricks, sealed doors and windows; an unhealthy environment kept sterile by the use of noxious chemicals. And if we do entertain having plant-life in our homes, it will be kept in isolation, controlled, and serve no function other than to feed our vanity. Even more disturbing is the increasing popularity of plastic plants and synthetic grass.

Yet the natural world thrives on gaps. The sunlight through the gaps between the branches of trees allows for other plants to flourish. Cracks in rocks are places for seeds to grow, for roots to take hold, for insects and animals to make their homes. Gaps allow for diversity, which is nature’s greatest strength. Our sanitised, hermetically sealed world on the other hand, is designed to deter diversity, creating a ‘human only’ barren landscape of steel, concrete, glass, and machines. Even water cannot permeate our concrete ground – it is diverted away, out of sight, poisoned with our pollution and detritus, which ultimately decimates the organic life-supporting properties of the rivers and oceans which are its unavoidable destination.