Botanomics

This documentary was made in collaboration with Prof. Alexandra Toland of the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar and examines the role of ecosystem services (ESS), a key concept at the intersection of natural- and social-science environmental research. Ecosystem services are the "benefits" people derive from ecosystems. The film focuses primarily on two such services:

1. the filtration of atmospheric particles (dust) by plants, and 2) the phytoremediation of contaminated soils by plants. At the centre of the film is a critical engagement with the anthropocentric perspective of ESS.

Building on the research project "The unbearable heaviness of dust", which explores the functions and aesthetics of roadside flora using artistic and scientific methods, the film addresses real problems of heavy-metal contamination in the atmosphere and topsoil - the literal "heaviness" of something so "light" that it is barely perceptible, until it settles in the lungs of living creatures. At the same time, the project uses poetic interjections to underscore the irony and peculiarity of life in the Anthropocene: wildflowers as moments of resilience in seemingly uninhabitable places, alliances between species amid questionable economic conditions, and the pursuit of health in a world of pervasive pollution.

Screenings included Ars Electronica 2019, the Naturkundemuseum Berlin and various conferences.

See also: https://artoland.wordpress.com/2019/09/09/probing-the-planthroposcene-a-quest-for-natural-capital/