Brooke Toczylowski

Scientists now know that plants can do incredible things: they hear, communicate, and even remember. But do plants have consciousness; do they have sentience? Philosopher David Abram posits that “the fact that to touch is also to feel oneself being touched, that to see is also to feel oneself seen” (Spell of the Sensuous, p. 69). While science has proven that plants are highly sensitive to touch, I speculate the amaranth can touch me back. InTouch, above, I slowly rub my face against the red amaranth’s leaves, investigating what it is to be touched in return, to be known by the plant itself, to learn from the intelligence it imparts. In my practice these videos are synonymous with sketches, moving images that capture gestures of my body engaging with the body of the garden.