Extinct in the Wild
2020, 4k digital video, silent, edition of 3, sold out
dimensions variable
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) – the organization that marks when species are threatened or extinct – designates Brugmansia as EW, “Extinct in the Wild.” This means that the only way that botanists know the species is through captivity, or human cultivation. This plant, an Angel’s Trumpet, no longer reseeds in the wild. In essence, humans have supplanted the need for this plant to reproduce on its own. The beauty of this plant-human evolutionary partnership makes me think about what defines our current relationship with the plant world, and what our future will look like. Are we disrupting our ancient tandem relationship with our earthly cohort, the plant world?
