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Artwork by Anja DuBois
Aliveness Separate from the Body
Video still, 2019
Artist statement

In each moment of extraction, predation, and consumption in our relationship to plants, shifts occur. Some are subtle—a wilting green on a hot skillet or an unexpected bitterness on the tongue. Others are swift and violent—the plant separating from the root or toxins entering the bloodstream. Plants do not return our gaze, but have the potential to change our bodies, nourishing our bones or interrupting the processes of our organs. Through video and performance, I examine the place where scientific and ritual sources of knowledge intersect in human-plant relationships. Three foraged plants—dandelion, English yew, and nettles—form the basis for this body of work, as I allow each to affect my body in ways that I cannot fully anticipate before subjecting myself to their flavors and physical properties. I perform these examinations for and with the camera to establish plants both as points of orientation in urban landscapes and as beings that elicit unanticipated human reactions. I see these reactions as key components in the process of expressing sensory curiosity for the world, a process that can contract as we leave childhood. Curiosity allows us to connect with our surroundings in a sensuous way that expands our awareness of actors in a space, human and otherwise. The performance of curiosity as a form of intimacy is central to my work and to how I approach complex questions of sentience, agency, and communication with plants.

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