VEGETATE
A project initiated by Anna Souter
April 2020
>> The texts and responses created as part of VEGETATE will be collected on @the_vegetate_project <<
VEGETATE is an experiment to create a distributed, multifaceted and multi-authored narrative using the postal system as a vessel. The seeds of a story will be sent out into the world, blown on the breezes of mutual interest, delivered via the mail-mycelium, and cross-pollinated across media and styles.
The project takes its cue from the rooted motion of plants: the upwards exuberance of trees, the sun-tracking circles of flowers, the scattering of seeds via the wind and the coats of animals, the spreading of pollen on the legs of insects and on the sterile swabs of humans. VEGETATE also draws on the popular 18th century practice of seed exchanges, in which botanists, naturalists and amateur gardeners would send each other seeds in the post, facilitating the growth of both native and ‘exotic’ plants across countries and continents and the spread of botanical knowledge among a network of peers. This practice also, problematically, contributed to the colonialist erasure of Indigenous plant knowledge and was sometimes the source of so-called ‘invasive’ species spreading through sensitive ecosystems.
Michael Marder points out that “the etymology of ‘vegetation’ […] points back to the Middle Latin vegetabilis, meaning ‘growing’ or ‘flourishing’, the verbs vegetare (‘to animate’ or ‘to enliven’) and vegere (‘to be alive’, ‘to be active’), and the adjective vegetus, denoting the qualities of vigorousness and activity. […] While the predominant usage of the verb ‘to vegetate’ is negative, linked to the passivity or inactivity of animals of human beings who behave as though they were sedentary plants, its subterranean history relates it to the exact opposite of this privileged meaning: the fullness and exuberance of life, vigor and brimming energy.” VEGETATE aims to reclaim the positive power of vegetation and to forge connections across physically dispersed communities.
How it works: VEGETATE is meant to be fun, friendly and low-pressure. Everyone participating receives a (different) short text from me through the post. Each will be a fictional undated diary entry – the entries could be variously combined to create different narratives. Every participant creates two responses to the text – it could be a sketch, a poem, a found object, a recipe, a pressed flower, a sculpture made of a paper clip – anything! The only rule is that you have to be able to post it with a single stamp. One response is posted to me and one to another participant, whose details I will send you. Everyone will therefore end up with one diary entry and one verbal or visual response. I will document the set of responses I receive on Instagram and maybe one day we can all come together and see the full set IRL! In the meantime, it will hopefully sow the seeds of further inspiration. The main aim is simply to enjoy sharing something tangible with friends and strangers! I think initially it probably has to be UK only, so no one has to go into the post-office.
The first iteration of the project has now been completed, but you can send an email to anna@annasouter.net to express your interest in a later iteration
>> The texts and responses created as part of VEGETATE will be collected on @the_vegetate_project <<
Image: Mandragora, from Tacuinum Sanitatis (1474). Public domain.