Paula Bruna’s intervention, in collaboration with the Institut Botànic de Barcelona, takes place within the Plantocè project (initiated by the artist in 2017). Plantocene is an investigation in which Bruna confronts the plant kingdom and human society, questions the hegemony of our species and generates images that suggest a post-human scenario.

For Bruna, faced with the situation of environmental crisis, it is necessary to rethink the relations of humans with the rest of the planet, especially with living organisms, attending to their realities and not only from a perspective of economic benefit or service for the humans That is why Bruna invites us to place ourselves at the “point of life” of the plants and, from there, turn our gaze towards our society. This re-vision from an alien point of view highlights the fictions that permeate and limit Western thought, such as supremacism, colonialism, sexism, or binarism.

At the Panoràmic festival, Bruna presents two works made as part of this project:

Desear como inmortales (video)

The cruel plant ( Araujia sericifera ) is considered an invasive species in our latitudes. Originally from Argentina, it expanded throughout Europe from its trade to decorate gardens. The tale of the cruel plant in the West speaks of desire and rejection, of possession and rebellion, of guilt and punishment for not submitting to human control. Her story has all the ingredients of a film noir where she, the plant, would play the role of femme fatale .
Starting from the seeds of the cruel plant, and intertwining the history of this plant with the artist’s personal memories, the video goes through the attractive and dangerous side of desire and, from the other point of view, through the ‘exuberant rebellion and the submission of what is desired.

Una dansa moderna (instalación)

The Araujia sericifera is a plant with two botanical personalities: In South America it is called Jazmín de Tucumán, and it is a native plant highly appreciated for being the habitat of the monarch butterfly. On the other hand, in our latitudes it is better known as Planta cruel and is considered a very aggressive invader. This story about two radically opposed identities deposited in the same plant recalls the story of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (Robert Louis Stevenson, 1886).

Known as Mala madre or Madre de millones, the Kalanchoe x houghtonii is the result of an artificial crossing carried out in the 1930s by a gardener who was looking for a prettier and more resistant plant. Precisely these characteristics have led it to be cataloged as one of the invasive species with the greatest power of expansion that triggers ecological catastrophes. The story of the Mother of Millions has similarities with Frankenstein’s monster (Mary Shelley, 1818), a creature created by an irresponsible human who ends up being persecuted.

In “Una dansa moderna”, the vegetable versions of Mr. Hyde and Frankenstein stage a modern dance; a dance of phyto-monsters created by modernity, the result of our limitless desire for possession and control; a choreography of post-Anthropocene zombies showing their superiority over humans with a smooth movement of menacing tenderness.

The whole project can be seen in several places in the city:

Place: Fundació Foto Colectania . From October 21 to 23. Desitjar com a inmortals

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Place: Grisart . From October 20 to November 27. Una dansa moderna and Desitjar com a inmortals

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Place: Institut Botànic de Barcelona . From October 20 to November 27 . Audiovisual about the work process. November 16 at 7pm Presentation of the project and conversation between Paula Bruna and Mercè Alsina

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Works realized with the collaboration of the Institut Botànic de Barcelona, Cultivamos Cultura, museo MEIAC Badajoz, Ana Lorente, Juan Antonio Cerezuela, Llapispanc.