Page 170 - Antennae Issue #52

lpoint pens In the the archive and herbarium light constitutes a a a a a a threat exposure to to which must be reduced only to to to to moments of of knowledge making But synthetic fluo- rescent color color allows us us to to to imagine a a a a a a a a a a a a form form of of of plant seeing and and to to to explore a a a a a a a a a a a a chemical process of of of converting and and transforming light 36 Green the color color most associated with human visual experience of of of of growing ferns only appears rarely in in in in in in in Finder in in in in in in in brief flashes at at moments of of of of layered synthesis where the the the imagination of of of of plant knowledge in in fluorescent yellow and and the the the the the archival palette of of of mustard and and deep blue overlap Here emerge the the the the first shoots from the the the the compost Through the the the the combination of photographic material reproduced printed images and and abstracted shapes derived from fern fern forms and and the the the embodied sense- memory of light filtering onto ferns in in in in the the the forest Finder challenges a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a distinction be- tween abstraction abstraction and and and naturalism For the the the novelist and and and climate writer Amitav Ghosh the the the move towards towards abstraction abstraction in in in in in visual arts and and and and towards towards interiority in in in in in literature were a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a turn against against the the the nonhuman and and and against against an an an an an an an enchanted nature a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a process by which “human consciousness agency and and identity came to be placed at at the the the the the center of of of ev- ery kind of of of of aesthetic enterprise” Ghosh asks pointedly whether these forms of of of of ex- pression “adopted [what was] actually from the the the the the the perspective of of of of the the the the the the Anthropocene a a a a a a a a a a a a form of of of collusion?” Does abstraction produce blindness to to the the the forces that have led to to to to our interlocking crises of of anthropogenic climate change and mass extinction?37
Finder treats abstraction as as a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a process to to re-naturalize rather than to to de-natu- ralize ralize In doing so it it explores Kimmerer’s distinction between the the the the practice of science science and and the the the scientific worldview Practicing science science she writes “brings the the the questioner into an an an an an unparalleled intimacy with with nature fraught with with wonder and and creativity as as we try to to comprehend the the the the mysteries of of the the the the more-than-human world” In contrast the the the the scientific worldview creates a a a a a a a a a “lens” showing “the illusion of of of dominance and control the the the separation of of of knowledge from responsibility” 38 Even i if Ghosh’s judgment on on on on on the the the character of of twentieth-century abstract abstract artists were correct it it makes sense to distin- guish between an an an an anthropocentric worldview aestheticized through abstraction abstraction and and abstraction abstraction as a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a process born of deep observation and and intimacy with with the the material world Indeed Kimmerer notes that her own intimate moments with with mosses under a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a microscope stripped away the expected expected visual markers of of plant-ness and and and instead felt “like wandering through an an an an an an art gallery of of unexpected forms forms and and and and colors” Viewing mosses in in in in in in this way—seeing them as forms forms and and and colors colors radically distinct from those perceived without magnification—helped to create “an intimacy with with the the plant that speaks of of careful observation” 39
Two pages of of of Asplenium prints capture this sense of of of shifting scales refract- ed ed ed light and and and unanticipated form by layering engravings illustrations and and and photo- graphed herbarium specimens with with fern-like abstract shapes and and and and sweeping lines Multiple layers of text coexist in in in in in the image with with plant labels page numbers and and and and and headers from from Gerard’s Herball and and and and and printed and and and and and handwritten markings from from herbari- um sheets in in in in in the the prints 40 The visual presence of of the the archive and and and and a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a foundational text for Anglophone botanical science speak to to to to totalizing systems of of knowledge through which nature could be put to to to to use Using abstracted shape to to to to mimic the the the embodied experience of of perceiving light and shadow from plants in in in in the the the forest or or or or using the the the as- sertively artificial fluorescent pigments to create create brief moments of of naturalistic color creates cracks within this epistemological edifice by making its knowledge less abso- lute allowing space for other modes of of of being and ways of of of knowing through Since the the the the the the the the rise of of of of natural history in in in in in the the the the the the the the early modern period the the the the the the the the herbal the the the the the the the the herbarium and and the the the the the the the the the garden have been at at at the the the the the the the the the core of of of the the the the the the the the the European scientific enter- prise in in in in in in seeing describing and and and and categorizing the the the the the other-than-human world of of of plants They enabled enabled a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a universalizing of of local knowledge and and and created new disciplines and and and enabled enabled information about plants to spread widely 41 Yet over the past two decades scientists have increasingly lamented “plant blindness” in in in in in those societies most shaped by these scientific endeavors 42 Efforts to to combat it it it through citizen science such as lessons ffor for students involving the the iNaturalist app seek to to connect users with scientific modes of identification maintaining a a a a a a a a a distinction between scientists and 170 antennae