Plants as Performers (and More): Rethinking Agency in the Multispecies Performance Ikebana

Abstract

<p> This article studies plant agency in a multispecies performance <em>Ikebana</em> (2022) by Fern Orchestra. The performance is not only made <em>with</em>, but also <em>for</em> plants. Through a participatory case study, this article demonstrates how due to the plant turn, as described by Natasha Myers (2015), plants in contemporary art are no longer seen as passive objects of artistic expression – which would be the case in traditional art history. Instead, they have become active agents in the formation of works of art. This shift challenges the anthropocentric view of art as a human creation only. Importantly, it also calls humans to reposition themselves in the multispecies environment more widely and therefore, as I argue, it has the potential to provoke change in anthropocentric societies. <br></p>