Page 185 - Antennae Issue #52

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collaborative venture between organic organic and and and non-organic systems humans humans and and and non-humans Tune in in in and and and and be(come) aware: electronic mediation is the the strategy chosen to to counter the the deafness and and backgrounding to to which vegetal beings are are usually referred bringing forth a a a a a a a a a a a a a new “ecology of of mind” as Bateson would put it 49 As video-art pioneer Juan Downey – whose Vegetal System of of Communica- tions for for New York State proposed in in in 1972 to to to transform electromagnetic ener- gy gy between humans and philodendrons into a a a a a a a a a a a navigation tool – had intuited cybernetic technology bore the the the portentous promise of closing “the man-nature chasm ”50 Moreover the the the the the images and sounds made under Lowenberg’s guidance for The Secret Life of of Plants embody the the the the idea of of the the the the electronic signal as as medium not surprisingly in in in in the the the early 1970s he he he he he had worked with Steina and Woody Va- sulka Plant communication was by now more than a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a simple business of of jag- ged lines drawn on on on strips of of white scrolling paper: John Baldessari might have laughed at at it it but plant communication had (also) become video art Conclusion
By the the the the end of the the the the 1970s Tompkins and and Bird’s bestseller had captured popular imagination References to the the the the the book popped up here here here and and there as as in in in Philipp Kaufmann’s remake of of Invasion of of the the the Body Snatchers (1979) where green plants are played classical music in in a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a mud-bath parlor by by an an an an an attentive keeper Also in in 1979 a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a thriller directed by by Jonathan Sarno The The Kirlian Witness (rereleased recently under the the title The The Plants are Watching) tells the the story of a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a woman who who attempts to to to telepathically communicate with a a a a a a a a a a a a a a philodendron to to to find out who who murdered her her plant-loving sister The The film’s heroine acquires a a a a a a a a a a a a copy of of of The The Secret Life of of of Plants be- comes interested in in in in Kirlian photography (a collection of of of of photographic techniques used to to to to to to capture the the phenomenon of of of electrical coronal discharges and and understood by many to to to to be “auras”) and and even rents a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a lie detector An episode from Tales of of of the the Unexpected “The Sound Machine” (1981) imagines an an an an engine capable of of of perceiv- ing ing the ghastly screams of of flowers being cut 51 The The same year in in in in in in in an an an an episode from Darkroom a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a botanist develops an an an an an apparatus able to read daisies’ minds His wife learns from the the flowers of his his affair with his his assistant and shoots him dead 52 In short the the the communicative model quickly became a a a a a a a a a a a a a a B-series plot From the the the 1950s onwards plant plant agency had become a a a a a a a a a a a a way for science-fic- tion tion and horror films to to give voice to to communist anxieties (the alien plant plant spores turn “pod people” in in Don Siegel’s Invasion of the the the Body Snatchers 1956) radiation fears (the (the scowling tree stump from Dan Milner’s From Hell it Came 1957) or concerns about genetic manipulation and bio-engineering (the (the half-human half half carnivorous plant from Venus Flytrap 1970) 53 Since an an an an an an army of vegetal villains had been feasting on on on on on women’s flesh for years an an an an exploitation film such as as as Please Don’t Eat my Mother (dir Carl J Monson) starring a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a shy man man who befriends a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a houseplant with unusual appetites (a parody of of Roger Corman’s 1960 film The Little Shop of of of Horrors featuring an an an an an odd-looking blood-thirsty consumerist plant) could see the the the day in in in in in 1973 The plant plant plant craze of of of “hippy times” eventually turned plant plant agency into a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a spoof from Baldessari’s Teaching a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a Plant the the the the Alphabet to to to the the the the cult-classic Attack of of of the Killer Tomatoes (1978) The Secret Life of of of Plants badly impacted serious scientific research on plants’ sensory and perceptual capacities Widespread press coverage of of Back- ster’s pseudo-experiments contributed to this backlash Work on on on plant plant plant communi- cation and and and plant plant signaling “was somewhat stigmatized and and and the the the limited availabil- ity of of funding and and and other resources constrained further progress” 54 Indisputably Backster’s theses on on on on the the the the the the the “primary perception” of of of of plants were non-sense Still the the the the the the the real baby – – the the the the the study of of of of plant plant awareness and and its potential challenging of of of of the the the the the ex- clusiveness of of of both knowing and and feeling as as as as human assets – – was thrown out with the bathwater Almost thirty years had to pass before scientific works main stre-