Plant system – BIG Biennale
From 21th to 31th of August we participated in BIG – Biennale des espaces intrépides d’art de Genève, in Bois de la Bâtie in Geneva. We showcased Plant system, a living space, exploring the topics of inter-species relations and coexistence between humans and nature. This space hosted collaborative writing and sound experimentation workshops as well as reading sessions. Our installation was also a space for rest and calmness throughout the festival.
Plantésie – Collective writing workshops
In these collective writing workshops we dived into a guided writing process of short speculative novels around the topic of human’s relationships with natural forms. We contemplated imaginary scenarios of our possible future relations with plants as human beings. A fanzine with all the texts is on the way!
Corresponding voices
– Sound experimentation workshop
In this collaborative field record workshop, we dived into a guided listening session of the forest soundscape. We observed the sounds of the forest and exercised our sensory perception. Sounds were then recorded with phones or other devices. After the workshop, we shared the gathered sounds in a collective symphony session.
In these collective writing workshops we dived into a guided writing process of short speculative novels around the topic of human’s relationships with natural forms. We contemplated imaginary scenarios of our possible future relations with plants as human beings. A fanzine with all the texts is on the way!
Corresponding voices
– Sound experimentation workshop
In this collaborative field record workshop, we dived into a guided listening session of the forest soundscape. We observed the sounds of the forest and exercised our sensory perception. Sounds were then recorded with phones or other devices. After the workshop, we shared the gathered sounds in a collective symphony session.
Fictional unwelcoming forests with no need of human interaction, indigenous central role in shaping the Amazon forest, de-centralization from western perceptions of wilderness and resource extraction, matriarchal societies and dreamers of the forest capable of navigating through dreams and reality to be in harmony with nature. During the biennale we read extracts of texts about inter-species relations and coexistence between humans and nature, such as In The Forest Ruins by Paulo Tavares and speculative short novels by Ursula K. Le Guin. These texts (and more) were available throughout the whole biennale in our Mini pirate library located in our installation.
Mini pirate library
For the biennale we created a Mini pirate library : essays, fiction novels, excerpts from chapters; the texts were selected in accordance with our interest in the natural world and in the way we, as humans, relate to it. These texts were available in various languages, as we believe in the importance of accessibility, so dear to the world of piracy.
Upcycling is the source of all the materials used for our installation