«Flora teaches its truths to those who know how to listen to it and hear it»
Forms of Time. Michel Onfray
Nature serves as a refuge in times of uncertainty. Tired of anthropocentric thinking, we yearn for the simplicity of natural thought. Modern man has not yet adapted to the overwhelming amount of information he encounters daily. That is why we need to slow down, to pause, to reflect and contemplate. something that plants inherently possess and that we so often lack.
In her recent work, The Garden Against Time, Olivia Laing notes that the desire to grow and interact with plants stems from a desire to experience a different flow of time and to rethink its very concept. This connection with nature makes it possible to feel part of something greater — something eternal, at once complex and strikingly simple.
According to the idea of the philosopher Michael Marder, plant thinking has clear advantages over human thinking, since it allows one to pass through the essence of another without diminishing his or her own individuality. In contrast, humans tend to exhibit rational unipolarity. Our self-proclaimed exceptionalism in existential matters separates us from other living beings, making it difficult to interact with plants from an ethical and ontological point of view.
We desire what they have, but are too proud to equal them, which leads to internal conflict. Perhaps we humans are not mature enough to reach their level of awareness. Perhaps these qualities were once inherent in us, but we lost them in our quest for evolution against all odds. Respect for the otherness and selfhood of others is the greatest gift of plant thought, the goal that humanity should strive for: patient acceptance of oneself and others, leading to the creation of a new world where every corner will become a garden.
The exhibition features works by Vitaly Pushnitsky, Sergey Karev, Ilya Fedotov-Fedorov, Ustina Yakovleva, Serafima Sazhina and Anya Grositskaya.
Curator: Varvara Rappoport
