Becoming Plant : how to understand the vegetal world through animism and sensors.

Abstract

The life of plants is hidden. Plants are different beings physiologically from humans. So different that their way and their reason of being escape us. However, animism and contemporary environmental sensing practices have relationships with plants. In their own way and with very different tools, they address the question of the interiority hidden under the dermis of the plant. Animism builds a world of myths, communicating with the soul of plants through anthropomorphic narratives. Through sensors, environmental sensing practices study the flows within the plant, but also with its environment. In the manner of animism, thanks to machines, human beings can communicate more precisely with the kingdom of plants. They opens themselfs to digital transpecies communication.These last practices lead to a proliferation of relations between men, plants and machines. To understand if these relationships have a positive or negative impact on the different members of this relationship, a protocol has been established. It categorizes these relationships within the framework of symbiotic relationships existing in the animal kingdom. Throughout three case studies and two field surveys, this protocol is used to identify the nature of these relationships. Sometimes the relationships that have a negative impact at the individual level are the most beneficial at the global level. The most beneficial relationships are collaborations that engage political power and citizens in sustainable and ecological actions. The relationships with the most negative impact are the ones turning plants away from their original way of life.