“Anthropophytomorphism” refers to the attribution of both human and plant-like characteristics to non-human entities. Derived from the Ancient Greek 'ánthrōpos' meaning 'human', 'φυτόν' (phyton) meaning 'plant' and '-morphosis' meaning 'form or shape,' it specifically refers to the emulation or transformation into a human and plant-like state, often used in contexts of art, design, biology, or metaphorical descriptions of human-nature interactions."
The exhibition “newroots” is an invitation to re-code the way see look at ourselves through a phyto-prism instead of an anthropogenic one. Taking the digital realm as the cherished environment for this new reality to take place, exhibited artists reveal themselves as seamlessly merged with minerals, animals, and plants. As Gandhi said, "Be the change that you wish to see in the world".
Transitioning anthropogenic avatars to phytomorphic representations has been intriguing and inspiring writers and artists for centuries. From the myth of Apollo and Daphné or XVIth century portraits by Arcimboldo, to speculative science fiction from the 80s with J.G. Ballard or more recently with “Les Furtifs” by Alain Damasio, or the video-game turned TV-show “The Last of Us”, the exploration of humanity merging with nature is part of our collective imagination. But it seems artists today are doing it on purpose as a quest to embody nature, transcending traditional boundaries to achieve a symbiosis that is at once imaginative and reflective of our collective environmental consciousness.
This evolution signifies a deepening biophilia within the digital realm. So what does "nature embodiment" mean in today's collective imagination? Is it mineral, animal, or vegetal? And could this be a key to fostering nature-empathy?
While previous cultures used nature embodiment as a common theme in mythologies or folklores, it seems the new characters of our stories are avatars. The transformation into phytomorphic avatars is not just an artistic endeavour; it's an act of environmental activism. Because, in embracing antropophytomorphism and calling the botanical within the digital, we start to see ourselves as part of a larger, interconnected ecosystem.
The exhibition "newroots: the antropophytomorphic age" is an invitation to rethink our digital identities as potential agents of environmental change, embodying the symbiotic relationship we aspire to have with nature.
The show begins with a question “what if nature has a gender?” inviting viewers to consider how the concept of gender could be applied to or seen within nature itself. As the first work to be presented, SHORT SEASON by Claudia Hart (2023) connects visitors to a sensory spectacle in which breath becomes a narrative thread, a space-time where body and nature merge between beauty and anxiety. Then, Strength in the Crystallisation by Harriet Davey (2021) shows us the culmination of a transition in which nature becomes a genre to be worn like an armour of crystals, as strong and fragile as our beings. Narcissus and Echo by Micah Alhadeff(2023) offers a story told through a dance where nature, or our nature, plays on us with laughter and beauty.
The second space revolves around the question “why do we transition from anthropogenic avatars to phytomorphic representations?”. As a portal to a future where technology and flora coalesce, these artworks draw on the botanical and animal world as a translator of emotions. Local Binaries by Lauren Moffat (2022) is an AR representation of the world that exists within nine women interviewed by the artist. Through geological forms, sounds, plant-life, weather systems comparisons, the artwork encourages embodied mindfulness. ONCE A KING by Masbaco (2022) tells the story of a sovereign welcoming us into his kingdom, now giving way to trees and butterflies.
With the question “what does nature embodiment mean in today’s collective imagination?”, the third space stages the ultimate transformation of humans into plants or animals. It is a call to awaken to the natural world's presence within us, recognizing that to nurture the planet is to nurture ourselves. CORPUS by Nancy Baker Cahill (2022) presents an AR building-tall human becoming plants or plants turned into human shape. Its breathing and slow movement recalls how trees are moving and staying still at the same time. Living in the Undergrowth by Violet Bond (2022) celebrates the creatures crawling under our feets, often unseen, and now covering her face. The Hybrid Branch by Solimán López x John James (2023) presents the hybridizations of a peach tree in the snow telling poetry, moving like a new type of creature, half human, half synthetic. The short film REEF by Fabian Aerts (2022) is a celebration of life, nature and the seasons, where humans turn into submarines, corals and animals.
The last space shows artistic portrayal of landscapes, flora, and fauna as tools to help reclaim identities, spaces, and narratives that have been marginalised or erased.
In the video-game Third World: The Bottom Dimension by Gabriel Massan (2023), the player is asked to extract two elements of the game which appear to be essential in the balance of the entire ecosystem. Is it up to the player to decide to follow the order and destroy the environment or to rebel and save it. With Unknown Realm (2024) and Portal de un nuevo mundo, Alfacenttauri aka Felipe Sepúlveda (2022) creates fantastic worlds inhabited by polymorphic and fluid creatures inviting us to explore new types of identities, ecosystems and new forms of nature in order to find salvation.
Claudia Hart (United States), SHORT SEASON Born-digital NFT, 3D animation, 1080 x 1920, upscaled to 4K , 2:00 minutes, 2007/2023 "Short Seasons portrays a room in which a rapidly transforming forming figure devolves and evolves in counterpoint. A variety of visual, temporal, and conceptual cycles are offset and overlaid so that their movement is obscured. As in life, all is in flux as we move towards death, but we can’t perceive it. Our brains are anchored in our bodies, so we feel fixed. We decay, but we can’t perceive it. In this mix, everything changes constantly, but time seems to stand still, which is the nature of life."
Fabian Aerts (Belgium), REEF Short film, 2022 "Reef is above all an ode to Nature and the wonders that surround it. Its beauty lies in its complexity, its fragility and its ephemerality. I have always been fascinated by Nature, it inspires me everyday with its extraordinary shapes, magnificent textures, glorious color palettes and infinite patterns. Nature can teach us many lessons, but one of the most important is: Things change. Nothing is permanent. Seasons come and go. Plants bloom and fall to seed."
Gabriel Massan (Brazil), Third World: The Bottom Dimension Video Game, 2023 "Journey through a fantastical world conceptualised by artist Gabriel Massan, and featuring artists Castiel Vitorino Brasileiro, Novíssimo Edgar and LYZZA that investigates Black-Brazilian experience and the ramifications of colonialism on our ecosystem. An experiment in non-linear storytelling and collaborative worldbuilding, this game invites you to open your mind."
Lauren Moffat (Australia), Local Binaries AR / VR, 2022 "Every person you meet holds a world inside them, what does yours look like? This was the question artist Lauren Moffatt asked nine women from across the world in order to define the blueprints for the collectively written universe inside Local Binaries. This is a virtual space that can be explored by the viewer in miniature scale via augmented reality (this version already exists in a first iteration) or lifesize in the virtual reality version (the virtual reality adaptation is in progress)."
Micah Alhadeff (United States), Narcissus and Echo 3D space, 2023 “Narcissus and Echo is a reinterpretation of the story of Narcissus from Ovid’s Metamorphosis. In “Narcissus and Echo,” the player is surrounded by yellow flowers referencing the Narcissus flower. There is a glitched sculpture of Hera and then a glitched figure of Narcissus staring into the water. Echo the forest nymph is flying around the scene laughing."
Nancy Baker Cahill (United States), CORPUS AR, 2022 "CORPUS imagines a future of blended, embodied entanglement between human, machine, flora, and microbiome in the form of a towering AR “symborg”. Scaled to induce ergonomic awe in viewers, the animated, gender-ambiguous figure presents a series of provocations. Over the course of approximately 1-2 minutes, the AR figure emerges as a series of constituent metallic, glowing, and organic particulate elements rendered to resemble an ever-shifting blend of pulsing computer code and biological code (DNA)."
Solimán López (Spain) x John James, The Hybrid Branch Video (color, sound) 1920 × 1080 pixels 45 seconds, 2023 "We live in a period of hybridizations occurring in all directions, from biological mutations themselves to major environmental changes. The art world also presents these hybridizations. Today everything is amplified by technology, from poetry to bio art. In “The Hybrid Branch,” Solimán López has versioned and synthesized the poem “Pastoral” by poet John James to turn it into a hybridization, in which the words become a digital tree and the audio becomes a genetic sequence precisely from the text of the poem."
Violet Bond (Australia), Living Scarab Video, 2022 "The Scarab nestled into the earth itself... An assisted self portrait performance with camera work by Valentina Brave Made on Dalabon/Ngalkbon country with the permission of the Traditional Owners of the land."