“Speaking Tree” Exhibition

Candice Madey

This event has ended.

Some humans say trees are not sentient beings,
But they do not understand poetry—
Nor can they hear the singing of trees when they are fed by
Wind, or water music—
Or hear their cries of anguish when they are broken and bereft—
Joy Harjo, Speaking Tree (1951)

CANDICE MADEY is pleased to announce Speaking Tree, an exhibition that explores the ethics, politics, and philosophy of vegetal life. Artists in Speaking Tree direct attention to plant vitality and introduce alternative perspectives of history and politics as witnessed through plant experience, migration, and mutation; furthering advocacy for a more attentive and respectful view of biological diversity and the environment.

The failure to address anthropogenic climate change is tied to engrained Western cultural views which place humans above other forms of biological life. Hierarchical notions of natural resources, agriculture–and even nature itself–prioritize human use value over other life forms. Such hierarchies are inextricably tied to the appropriation, exploitation, and colonization of lands and peoples, wherein the ultimate goals are extraction and monetization. Alternatively, rhizomatic philosophy stresses inter-connectiveness and reflects the largely misunderstood forms of intelligence common in animals and plants.

A widespread indifference towards plants is a lamentable attribute of the industrialized world. In 1998, botanists James Wandersee and Elisabeth Schussler coined the term “plant blindness” to describe people’s inability to see or notice plants in their environments. Wandersee and Schussler’s research focused on vision and image–exploring the limitations of human perception and cognition–an area that artists are uniquely suited to investigating.