The Leaves Whisperers

The Leaves Whisperers is a speculative radio project that presents a complex and overarching narrative through various interconnected audio pieces. These sound pieces are not designed as linear episodes but as individual works that pick up and integrate elements from other parts to form a cohesive whole. Inspired by the communication network of plants, known as the mycorrhizal network, the project explores the complex relationship between humans and plants. The mycorrhizal network serves as a structural model in this context. In nature, symbiotic connections between fungi and plant roots form extensive underground networks through which plants exchange experiences and information, even warning each other of dangers. Nutrients such as carbon, nitrogen, and water are transferred from one plant to another, often in response to changing conditions and needs. Similarly, The Leaves Whisperers aims to function as a network of sound pieces that are interconnected through the exchange and integration of information.

Each segment of the project is created individually or collaboratively by the artists involved in Lovesongs for Plants / Owlet Vision in a Blinding Time at Espace Labo. The focus is on the complex relationship between humans and plants and on how we can understand our role in the interplay with non-human beings. The sound pieces emerge not only from thematic exchange but also through joint creative processes. The garden plays a central role and is considered both as a human-made space and as a metaphor. It serves as a model for cultivated nature and as a mental sandbox for exploring post-human conditions. The project investigates the entire spectrum, from the garden as a utopian dream world to the garden as an instrument of power created for specific needs and purposes.

The project highlights the often underestimated communicative and reactive abilities of plants. It addresses how plants communicate with each other and with other living beings through acoustic, chemical, and electrical signals. Despite initial scepticism in the scientific community, it is now acknowledged that plants possess complex problem-solving abilities and exhibit forms of communication that imply a recognition of self and other. In the reduction of a garden, the conditions and possibilities of communities become more apparent. The Leaves Whisperers  examines how plants interact, influence each other, and how these interactions can be transferred to human communities. It serves as a mental playground for exploring aspects of the post-human condition, focusing on the symbiosis between humans, technology, and nature.

Recent research sheds new light on plant intelligence, revealing that plants can perceive, communicate, and respond to their environment with a form of memory and adaptive behavior shaped by past experiences. Advances in artificial intelligence have expanded our definition of cognition, stirring renewed interest in plant intelligence. Yet, the tendency to anthropomorphise plants — interpreting their capabilities through a human lens — can hinder a true appreciation of their unique qualities.

Despite such challenges, anthropomorphizing plants may open pathways to empathy, bridging human and vegetal worlds. This perspective of plants as sentient beings with inherent rights, while scientifically controversial, can inspire greater reverence and responsibility for plant life.

The sound pieces vary in length and will be published here in a rhizomatic form, supplemented by explanations, comments, and statements from the artists. These kaleidoscopic audio journeys are poetic and experimental, performative and musical, narrative and, in their own way, engaging or provocative. Music and soundscapes, noises and field recordings, as well as spoken parts are used to create experimental narrative scenarios. By combining various auditory elements, innovative and unconventional storytelling forms emerge.

The structure of the project is inspired by the mycorrhizal networks of plants. The artists work together in changing constellations and share selected information and sound materials. The network develops organically as participants can look at other parts for inspiration and develop their own pieces based on them, not only because the overall theme and given framework are the same, but also due to this interconnected approach. All participants are encouraged to contribute actively and to nurture the project like a garden, where the individual sound pieces bloom and develop alongside and with each other.

The Leaves Whisperers  extends the original project beyond the physical boundaries of the gallery and the garden, reaching a larger audience. Although it can be considered an independent work, it remains closely connected to the other parts of the project. It offers an immersive and thought-provoking sound-based or radiophonic experience that combines scientific insights with artistic perspectives. Through an in-depth exploration of the relationship between humans and plants, The Leaves Whisperers  invites listeners to broaden their perception of the natural world. It encourages them to discover the hidden communication pathways of plants and to reconsider their own connections to nature in a more holistic appreciation.

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Find here more info about the project Lovesongs for Plants : An Arcane Evolution’.