Lovesongs for Plants: An Arcane Evolution

Lovesongs for Plants: An Arcane Evolution

Lovesongs for Plants: An Arcane Evolution is a multifaceted, interdisciplinary initiative set to transform Geneva's Espace Labo into a hub of artistic and intellectual exchange throughout the summer and autumn of 2024. Building upon the themes explored in Owlet vision in a blinding time, this project navigates the convergence of ecology, posthumanism, and performative practice. It aims to challenge and reshape our understanding of plant communities and non-human entities, encouraging a fresh dialogue on our relationship with the natural world.

At the heart of the project lies a critical view of anthropocentric narratives within the plant-human relationship. The participating artists interpret the boundaries between subject and object, culture and nature in their works, the "Lovesongs," thereby radically questioning the traditional perception of plants as passive, decorative elements. Instead, they acknowledge the complex information processing and reactive capabilities of plants, without conflating these with human abilities. The acceptance of diverse forms of individual and collective intelligence ultimately reflects back on our own thinking, helping us to resist the logic of totalization and to look beyond the narrow confines of instrumentalization.

The project conceives of the gallery space and the adjacent garden as an experimental field for such non-hierarchical encounters between human and non-human actors. Traditional notions of authorship and reception are questioned and renegotiated. Their intersections make the garden a hybrid space that invites us to test new forms of co-creation and 'interspecies dialogue,' revising our perspective within this zone of uncertainty.

In parallel, The Leaves Whisperers unfolds as a radiophonic counterpart. This speculative audio project, inspired by the rhizomatic structures of mycorrhizal networks, comprises a series of interconnected sound works. It creates a decentralized narrative space that breaks up linear narrative structures in favor of a polyphonic discourse. These kaleidoscopic auditory experiences, broadcast via the-leaves-whisperers.laptopradio.org and espacelabo.net, oscillate between poetry, experiment, and critical engagement.

Both projects position themselves at the intersection of ecology and contemporary art practice. They take up current discourses in plant studies and translate them into a multimodal aesthetic experience. In doing so, the garden is not only reimagined as a utopian space, but also critically questioned as an instrument of power and a laboratory for post-human conditions.

Lovesongs for Plants and The Leaves Whisperers invite a recalibration of our anthropocentric perspective. In an era of ecological precariousness, they function as artistic probes that trace the hidden narratives of the plant world and weave them into the discourse of contemporary art. They challenge us to rethink our epistemological and ontological assumptions and to imagine new forms of "becoming-with" non-human entities. At a time when the boundaries between nature and culture are increasingly blurred, these projects offer a space for critical reflection and artistic proposals beyond anthropocentric paradigms.

23.08.24-06.09.24

Maya Bauer
Elia Buletti & Caterina Montesi
Davide Cascio
Basile Dinbergs
Vianney Fivel
Ariel Garcia
Anne Le Troter
Hunter Longe
Claire van Lubeek & Gregor Schönborn
Keiko Machida
Natasja Mabesoone
Apnavi Makanji
Virginie Morillo
Becket MWN
Partout Partout Collectif
Sonia P
Nina Rieben
Benjamin S. Elliott
Monika Stalder
Annely Steiner
The Gardeners of the Sixth Mass Extinction

Un projet porté par Laurent Schmid et Karen Alphonso