WEEK 2: Plant Relations

We will do a writing and drawing observation exercise to consider the viewpoint of something non-human. We will look predominantly at writing and language in this case, and we will play with these media to think about how to describe effectively points of view of the non-human, critiquing traditional anthropomorphic descriptions. Alongside this, we will look at animism in Native American and Amazonian Cultures and their relationships to plants. These approaches include giving plants personhood, exploring how the self changes in relation to plants, and how language is used to describe living entities. We will then revisit our own drawings and writing in light of what has been considered. We will then do another exercise to think and expand upon animist thinking. Homework will extend from these exercises.