Science/Fiction: A Non-History of Plants

Divided into six chapters, this exhibition’s structure is inspired by science fiction novels: Starting from the idea of a stable and identifiable world, it gradually descends into uncertain and unexpected landscapes. The first two chapters, entitled “The Agency of Plants” and “Symbiosis and Contamination” respectively, are devoted to so-called objective approaches connected to science. The following chapter, entitled “Beyond the Real”, is devoted to transcending the visible. The last three chapters, “Plants are Watching You”, “Plants and Political Fiction” and “Speculative Fictions”, explore the links between science and science fiction, two fields that have used flora as a field for experimentation. Transcending the normative divisions between fiction and reality, science and art, the artists in this exhibition go beyond rigid categories to capture the complexity of plant life and our relationship with plants.