Page 177 - Antennae Issue #52

Wired Plants and Cybernetics
Film I I believe played an an an an an important role – and and not only during “hippie times” As I’ve previously hinted at at at the the the mediation of of graphic technologies seems to have been a a a a a a a a a a a a a deci- sive element in in in in the the the the scientific scientific (or para/pseudoscientific) exploration of of of of the the the the richness and complexity of of of plant plant life a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a sort of of of epistemological scaffolding opening up theoretical horizons around plants’ agency and their potential “awareness” “sentience” “thinking” or or even “intelligence” 20 I’ve argued elsewhere that the the the sentient plant plant plant plant is is in in in in in many ways a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a mediated plant: the the 1970s plant plant plant craze illustrates this remarkably well since it relied massively on on on polygraph machines’ methodical scribblings photographs of of of vegetal “en- ergy auras” electronic renditions of of of plants’ signals and and films of of of all sorts 21 Indeed if cinema’s powers are are unique (and I I believe they are) when it it comes to the the the mediated plant plant film should first of of of all all be be be placed in in in the the the the the the larger landscape of of of (graphic) technologies allowing for the the the the the perception of of of of plants’ behavior Among these the the the the the 20th-century repre- sentatives of of the the the the the more ancient graphic method – – polygraphs such as Backster’s iconic “lie detector” simpler galvanometers spectrographs etc – – are vital Without these re- cording apparatuses the the the the secret life of plants plants would’ve remained concealed impercep- tible to to the the the the naked naked eye – and and the the the the naked naked ear These machines transform plants’ electrical and and and chemical signals into 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 a a a a nonverbal iconic language: the the the the language language of of graphs dia- grams and and ultimately mathematical formulas Endowed with an an an an an an aura of of scientificity these images extend vision into previously unseen (if not unknown) realms (as plant bioacoustics expands audition further) Despite scientists’ immediate and and and and continual insistence on on on on on on on Backster’s “uncontrolled experiments random observations and and and and and anec- dotal reports”22 the the the theses on on on on on on plants’ extrasensory perception and and and their astounding emotional capacities progressed partially pushed by by scientific imagery in in in in particular as as as embodied by by graphs of of of jagged lines drawn on on strips of of of white scrolling paper Articles books films and and even records’ sleeves and and booklets all include images of of of plants wired to to these apparatuses as they meticulously generate their their machinic self-portrait giving us us access to to their inner secret lives Of course “plants writing themselves” was not a a a a a a a a a a new idea For the the the highly influen- tial The Power of of Movement in in in in in in in in Plants (1880) Charles and his son Francis Darwin generated an an an an an an an astounding amount of of of images conceived with ingenious devices involving smoked glass glass plates and and and beads of of wax on on on glass glass needles and and and allowing for plants to to record their own motion 23 Even more suggestively in in 1927 physicist and and and and plant plant physiologist Sir Jag- adish Chandra Bose Bose (1858-1937) published the the the exquisitely illustrated Plant Autographs and and and and their Revelations 24 Bose Bose was an an an an an an an important pioneer in the the the the study of radio and and and and elec- tromagnetic waves who later turned his his attention towards the the the the movements and and and electri- cal responses in in in plants In the the the the the context of his his research he he he he he he designed several innovative instruments such as as the the the the the the the “photosynthesis recorder” recorder” the the the the the the the “magnetic crescograph” (regis- tering plant growth) the the the the the the “oscillating recorder” recorder” recorder” (documenting the the the the the the ascent of of sap) or or or or or the the the the the the “automatic recorder” recorder” (recording leaf movements as as as well as as as variations of of temperature in in in in in in plants) As Bose puts it in in Plant Autographs:
I have been able to to make the the dumb plant the the most eloquent chronicler of its its inner life life and experiences by making it it it it write down its its own own history The self- made made records this made made show that there is is is no no life-reaction in in in in even the the the the highest animal which has not been foreshadowed in in the the the life life of the the the plant 25
Bose’s enterprise encapsulates modern science’s aspiration to to to mechanical objectivity aptly described by science science historians Lorraine Daston and and Peter Galison as as as the the the “insis- tent drive to to to to to repress the the the the willful intervention of of the the the the artist-author and and to to to to to put in in in in its stead a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a set of of procedures that would as as it it were move nature to to to to to to to the the the the page through a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a strict protocol if i not automatically” 26 But when the the proud inventor refers to to to to to to his machines as as “artificial organs of of of extraordinary sensitiveness” 27 Bose also comes very close to to to to to some of of of Norbert Wiener’s famous views Believing that engineering theories of of of control and and communication could explain behavior in in in in in in humans animals and and machines Wiener Wiener 177