Page 174 - Antennae Issue #52

174 antennae
John Baldessari
Teaching a a a a a a a a a a Plant the Alphabet single-channel video black and white 1972 © Estate of John Baldessari
spring of of 1970 a a a a a a a a different form of of relationship between humans and “nature” was slowly taking shape The plethora of of articles books vinyl records artworks and films on on the subject of of of plant communication cannot fully be explained by hippie counterculture’s love of of of nature weed magic mushrooms and and other mind-altering substances – even though these were important important Cold-war paranoia New-Age spirituality and and more importantly the the the the the flourishing of of ecological thinking played their role in in in in in in an an an an an an entangled web of of some- times paradoxical tendencies where the the the the the the zucchini seed that that germinates faster to to the the the the the the sound of of of of Mozart and the the the the the philodendron that that thrives to to Indian flutes are as as as much the the the the the proof of of of of plants’ mind-blowing sentience as as as the the the the the tacit evidence of of of of rock music’s funda- mental evilness 4 Moreover the the the the 1970s plant plant craze relied massively on on the the the the cybernetic paradigm systems theory and electronics Envisaged as as as as self-regulating biological sys- tems tems tems plants were recognized not only as as as being able to to communicate but as as as communi- cation systems in in in themselves Their electrical and and chemical responses to to to the the the environ- ment and and and other stimuli stimuli (such as telepathic stimuli) were now understood in in in in in terms of inputs and and and outputs that generated feedbacks Their intelligence intelligence resides in in in in in in in the the the the capacity to to learn and and and self-correct in in in in in in response to to feedback feedback mirroring the the the intelligence intelligence of other larger and and more complex natural systems among which Gaia itself as famously advo-