Plant Intelligence – Towards a Vegetal Aesthetics
Thursday, August 28, 2025, 6–9 p.m.
Apero by KOMA Culture Studio
Old Botanical Garden, Palm House, entrance at the corner of Talstrasse/Badweg, 8001 Zurich
Plants are capable of acting in the world and display nuanced forms of intelligence: they perceive and adapt to their surroundings, and actively shape their bodies and environments. They communicate and cooperate, make decisions, solve problems—and even play.
Issue #7 of INSERT brings together current interdisciplinary discourses on plant intelligence from the perspective of aesthetic theory and practice. Artists, philosophers, indigenous media activists, art and media theorists, as well as biologists seek modes of articulation, media, methods, and traditions that view plants as sensing, acting, flexible—intelligent—beings. How do they research plant forms of perception and making of worlds, and how do they relate to them? How could an adequate and political plant aesthetics be formulated if we define it as something that is closely connected to the way plants exist and behave?
As part of the launch, guest editor Yvonne Volkart will introduce contributions by Giovanni Aloi, Noelia Billi, Ursula Damm/Michaela Ott, Matthew Fuller, Ayênan Quinchoa Juajibioy/Natalia Uribe Macías, and Cate Sandilands. Artistic researchers Felipe Castelblanco, Julia Mensch, and Rasa Smite from the research team Plants_intelligence will also present their work, followed by video screenings by the Pan-Amazon Media Collective and a lecture performance by Julia Mensch.
Accessibility & Seating
Please use the wheelchair-accessible entrance at the corner of Talstrasse/Badweg. Note that the gate will close at 7:00 p.m. Seating on site is limited; guests are encouraged to bring their own—such as a bath towel, pillow, or yoga mat.
