What Plants Tell Us
We change through our collaborations both within and across species. The important stuff for life on earth happens in those transformations, not in the decision trees of self- contained individuals. – Anna Lowenhaupt Tsing
At the root of this issue is a love of plants, most certainly, but also a desire to green its pages with lush works. Malgré une tendance au rewilding, un engouement dont témoigne le foisonnement des plantes d’intérieur sur les réseaux sociaux, cet amour n’a rien de très nouveau dans la vie des gens, ni même dans le champ particulier de l’art où la flore a toujours été un modèle privilégié. What seems to have changed, however, is how we look at plant life, a gaze that aspires to shirk the anthropocentric blinders it has had for centuries. As science demystifies the complex universe of plants, we become more open to their sensitivity, intelligence, and agency. In other words, humanity is slowly daring to change the status of plants from utilitarian or decorative objects to fully-fledged living things.
