The Plant Contingent is a collective of artist-philosophers based in the United States and Ecuador. Founded in 2022, it brings together artists and scholars working at the intersection of art, ecology, philosophy, and critical theory. Through collaborative projects, performances, and speculative explorations, the collective investigates the relationships between humans, plants, and the territories we inhabit.
Soil and plants belong together, they are lovers, they make each other possible. Soil and plants nourish each other within their many cycles of composition and decomposition in a continuous exchange that invites bacterias, fungi, worms, seed, nitrogen, carbon, humans, and many other actants to be present. Thinking with soil opens alternative ways of being, of interacting with others and the world.
1.- Artistic research and experimentation: It merges art, philosophy,
and ecology to generate new forms of thought and creativity.
I came to be part of the contingent in an organic manner because I was delving into plant ontology and the research of plant entanglements with humans of the earth. I became aware of plant thinking as a result of various visits to the jungle to be part of teacher-plant ceremonies given by the Siona shamans in the banks of the Putumayo river in Ecuador.
2.- Interdisciplinary projects: It develops performances, publications,
and participatory experiences that engage communities in diverse contexts.
Although I have lived in the deep forest for most of my life, my philosophical awakening to trees came during a recent moment of grief, where I came upon a snag, or dying tree that was still standing in the forest. This tree offered me quiet solace, opening me to its community and abundance even in its hollowed decay.
I connected to the Plant Contingent through my interest in the vegetal world. The philosophers Deleuze and Guattari famously directed, “follow the plant”.
Following plants, leaning in and paying close attention to them led me to notice the pollinators and then become fascinated with the honey bee and pollen. A spoonful of honey in your tea makes it sweet.
4.- International collaborative network: It connects artists, researchers, and the public in a space for dialogue and learning.