“In the Western world weeds have been defined and redefined according to the cultural ideas and outlooks of peoples who have tried to compete with them for open places, over many millennia. Somewhere along the way ‘weed’ emerged as a concept, and became embedded in and expressed through language.” (Neil Clayton, Weeds, People and Contested Places) The Weeds project explores a group of plants with which people have had to contend for places, and attempts to reveal the deeper cultural significances of the contest itself.