Sagehen Creek Field Station

23 Oct, 01 PM - 20 Nov, 12 PM

I plan to learn from research being conducted at the facilities and to collect artifacts (in digital form) that illustrate moments of communication and interaction within the ecosystem. I will be compiling these artifacts and analyzing the possible social and political implications of the modes of interaction/communication present. I will be immersed in research, field observation, collection and writing. I hope to bring an interesting perspective to Sagehen and be an agreeable, respectful member of communal life while present. Proposal as submitted: As an artist in residence at Sagehen I intend to examine ecosystemic dynamics, plant communication networks and the possible implications of their philosophical and political applications. Using the phenomenon of plant communication and the research being conducted by Richard Karban as a jumping off point for my project: I will explore the mechanisms and relations present in these networks through analytical data and abstract affective thinking. Take the cross-kingdom cooperation of the sagebrush/tobacco/fungi relationship as example: Is this an emergent interspecies subjectivity or a dispersed survival dependent mutual aid network? How does this interrelate with the ecosystem of the Central Sierra region at large? How does climate change affect these relationships? By structurally and affectively examining the communication networks and energy flows of plant/nonplant relationships I will trace an abstract ontology and politics of ecosystemic interactions and imagine how these systems may function at human scale. Throughout the residency, I will be collecting bits of media that may illustrate the architectures of the ecosystem, be it a data correlation, a photograph of intertwined plants or an illustrative moment of observed interaction. The collection and analysis will coalesce as a DIY-style zine with additional online components of sound and video. This assemblage of images, data, sound, and poetically-inclined essays will express the aesthetic content of the ecosystem while offering various modes of visualizing, sensing and understanding these interactions and relationships. I hope for this project to draw attention to the complexity in plant life and ecosystemic interactions and offer these systems as possible models for human social organization; to present models that may point toward more harmonious relations with the ecosystems we inhabit.

Visit #57605 @Sagehen Creek Field Station

Approved

Under Project # 40981 | Public Use

Artist Residency

other - No Institution Selected

Reservation Members(s)

Alex Adkinson Oct 23 - Nov 20, 2018 (29 days)

Reserve Resources(s) | Create Invoice

Cabin 1 Oct 23 - Nov 20, 2018
Apartment 1 Oct 23 - Nov 20, 2018