Between Us and Nature - A Reading Club #53

On Plant Fluidity - A Story of Mimetic Polymorphism

“Almost in every symbiosis plants and their positive relationships are involved. Plants form the structure of ecosystems and ultimately provide food for all other members of the community.” (Andreas Gigon)

Lynn Margulis taught us to practice a symbiotic worldview related to photosynthetic processes. Zoë Schlanger’s book The Light Eaters goes beyond the wonders of photosynthesis and touches upon the interrelationships of microorganisms and plants. The collective reading offers voices from scientists, journalists, plants, and microorganisms that offer a ‘New Understanding of Life on Earth’.

Between Us and Nature is an ongoing reading club that chooses texts related to natural sciences, art, anthropology, postcolonialism and the (post)anthropocene from a multinaturalist perspective. The particularity is, that unlike in a book club, at the Reading Club attendees read to each other aloud, and share experiences and thoughts about the nature they live in. Looking beyond disciplines, the group creates a space to learn from and with bacteria, algae, fungi, and soil.

Come and join us with an open mind. You don’t need to read anything beforehand.

RSVP is mandatory: betweenusnature@gmail.com

Hosts: Eva-Fiore Kovacovsky, artist, and Sina Ribak, researcher for ecologies and the arts
In collaboration with Zabriskie Buchladen für Kultur und Natur

References:
• Andreas Gigon: Symbiosen beobachten - Feldführer für unsere Wälder, Wiesen, Äcker, Seeufer und Stadtnatur, Haupt Verlag, Bern, 2024, S.37 (own translation)
• Zoë Schlanger: The Light Eaters, How the Unseen World of Plant Intelligence Offers a New Understanding of Life on Earth, 4th Estate / HarperCollins, 2024.

The event will be held in English.