New conceptions of vegetal life are emerging. Groundbreaking scientific research and new philosophical perspectives are raising botanical challenges to our anthropocentric cultural background assumptions. And while science has been engaging the complexity of plants for some time, the humanities are just now beginning to consider vegetal beings as inhabiting very different, and yet related, sensorial dimensions to those of humans and other animals.

A multidisciplinary approach to plant life can reveal the importance of ecological interconnectedness and lead to a more nuanced appreciation of the variety of living organisms with which we share the planet. As climate change threatens all forms of life on the planet, considering human/plant relationships from new perspectives is essential to addressing urgent issues of mutual sustainability.

This symposium capitalizes on contemporary art’s ability to productively unhinge scientific theories and certainties in order to help us reconsider unquestioned beliefs about this living world. Through Botanical Speculations researchers, artists, art historians, and activists will collaboratively map the uncharted territories of new forms of botanical knowledge.