Speculative symbioses

Speculative Symbioses

Graphite drawing

59,4 x 84,1 cm

Through field studies at the illegal waste dump Marhult in Småland, the art duo Lerin/Hystad have made recordings of electrical data from plants that are rooted to the garbage heap. Through sonification, the data is converted into sound where the plants themselves determine the notes, melodies and rhythms of the music. With countless root tips, the plants explore the waste. Microplastics and other toxins are absorbed by the plant roots. Through the artwork Speculative symbioses, Lerin/Hystad asks what happens to the plants in the meeting with the toxic waste. In Hystad's detailed pencil drawings, plants are interwoven with waste to form new organisms where it is no longer possible to distinguish where one ends and the other begins.