The Political Life of Plants

Chapter 1, 2021. Supported by Gropius Bau and Schering Stiftung.
Chapter 2, 2023. Supported by Kulturstiftung Basel H. Geiger.

Influenced by early 20th century Soviet cinema, The Political Life of Plants gives agency to Grumsin, an ancient beech forest in Brandenburg, Germany, which is recognized as a UNESCO World Natural Heritage site. Barely visible amidst the trees, the artist engages in deep conversations with two scientists, Matthias Rillig, who specializes in biodiversity and soil ecology, and Roosa Laitinen, who investigates the genetic basis of plant plasticity. Contemplating how symbiosis and adaptation exhibited in plant behavior can be considered political, the artist speculates that in the face of climate crises, humans might look to plant intelligence for guidance. Whereas modern humans seek to determine causality by isolating factors, plants cultivate complex relations and develop sophisticated systems over unfathomably long intervals.

The artist-scientist conversations are captured at a distance so that the humans are minuscule within the greatness of the forest. They stroll across the frame with a slowness that steps in time with plant life. In between conversations, the camera zooms in on the forest, capturing tensions through a play of perspectives and accumulation of acoustic intensities. In some ways, these dreamy sequences dramatize the plants’ movement to an anthropomorphic effect, felt, however, empathetic rather than voyeuristic, more equal than extractive. The artist’s experimental approach is likewise an extension of his thought exercise. Even if the behavior of plants is not necessarily political, Zheng Bo’s rhizomic questioning addresses ontologies considered utterly fundamental.

The artist sees the forest as a queer assembly where plants and their companions take part in a congress of their own unique more-than-human form. He believes that “if we really want to move into a future where humans are not the centre of the world, we need to treat other forms of life and materiality with full respect, biologically, intellectually and politically.”

(Text by Emma-Kate Guimond, Dazibao, and Clare Molloy, Gropius Bau)

Ecosensibility: Zheng Bo
Cinematography: Raban Jakob Friedrich
Sound recording: Joscha Eickel
Editing: David Roeglin and Wu Ping Chung
Sound design and music: Filip Caranica & Contemporary Sound