#temporary-expert

Tori, a friend who is Native American, has told me this:

The past is cylical. For her, things are happening over and over again- something happens and it has happened already. Her ancestors are somewhere happening over and over again. Being over and over again.She likened the past and the present to a worm hole. The future, she says, is ‘grey.’ So how can we create ruptures within this cycle? How can empty space be the space where all things that exist, are existing over and over again- and we are throwing things into that space so that they continue to exist- and maybe the future is where we have a chance to create this rupture.

In Fabrizio Terranova’s film, Donna Haraway makes the claim that ‘good stories happen at the point of speechlessness’’…Haraway skyped in for Q&A following a really important talk by Kim TallBear on “making love & Beyond Relations Beyond Settler Sexualities” and someone asked the question I would have most definitely posed had they not done it. It was a prompt to expand upon this notion about speechlessness. Now, I don’t know if I happen to be interpreting  things in direct correlation with my chosen area of research, but Haraway responded by speaking about ‘creating an empty space’ in the light of letting go of the control over the information that we know…the world as we know it and its systems and our perceptions of it…she spoke about ‘creating an empty space’ in order to accept not knowing, and as providing us with the margins to ‘be quiet’ for the purpose of listening. All of this in the light of ‘making kin’ and understanding how to ‘make kin’ (disrupting the anthropocene, by re-establishing models for familial nuclei). This has been very important for the understanding of my map in its section of ‘periphery’ and ‘history.’

What are the new pirate utopias? Is the notion of ‘empty space’ the catalyst for them?

Can the notion of empty space, allow me to delve into what has/is disappeared and what is/has been contained, and then allow for radical ideas of rupture, of a re-established idea of revolution?

( Am I asking questions that are too big? )

I’d also like to find connections between extinction of species (human and non-human) and the concept of wormholes. I think I am onto something here somehow, maybe?

I don’t think I have been able to narrow down things very much this week; it has been ridiculously tempting to not fall down rabbit holes ( I fell not too deep inside a few ). I have also been very much inspired by Taryn Simon’s project An American Index of the Hidden and Unfamiliar & have re-visited Gordon Matta-Clark’s Reality Properties: Fake Estates (which actually might be influencing my modes of thought a lot more than I want it to at the moment).

I have created this systems map. It is the first time I use Illustrator for its making & I have to say it helps in comparison to working on paper, because it gave the chance to re-organise things as I went along in my ‘speed’ research:

I also continued with X-Y maps and I would like to continue this exercise...I am not entirely sure what this is doing yet but I know it is important (it takes me a very long time to make one):

I have made this Are.Na channel for my sources and begun somewhat of a nascent expertlist, as well as bots that I should interview & the etymology of words: https://www.are.na/isabella-vento/empty-spaces_research_biblio

I have made another tumblr that I will use to keep track of my research more clearly with tags etc as I go along [I have not added anything to this yet]: https://empty-space-empty-space.tumblr.com/

I have scheduled an appt with Margaret for Monday Oct 29th.

I need to watch this sometime soon: http://longnow.org/seminars/02015/sep/21/infrastructure-and-climate-change/

of interest right NOW:

--> speak to Giovanna about Crossbones Garden/Graveyard project in empty/public lot in London.

--> this website (omg): https://livinglotsnyc.org/#15/40.7322/-73.9798

I have to say the biggest challenge of the execution of my “Eco-Erotic Meditations for the Embodiment of Natural & Cyborg Photoautotrophs” has been taking all of the information/sources/books/sensations/thoughts of the initial research process & not becoming overwhelmed by the lack of language that I had to even begin to imagine relaying this scientific information. Creating the systems map helped, in addition to the ‘performance’ I made in our second class on the topic, but I have to say that it did little to inform what I would do for the field guide. Even though it lead me to wanting to create something that felt visceral and somatic such as ‘speaking’ to plants, or having a conversation with them. The turning point and the most helpful resource has been Emily, my ‘expert,’ who is in my Art & Politics class, whose parents are biologists and who majored in Biology herself in undergrad. I didn’t know if she counted as an expert, but in class we had to read the first 70 pages of Matter and Desire: An Erotic Ecology by Andreas Weber and Emily called out a passage that I had actually underlined for inspiration for this field guide. She was fascinated with its poetics, but turned off by the lack of scientific information being conveyed correctly. Initially, I was interested in categorising my field guide as such: - To converse with Algae - To converse with a House Plant - To converse with Bacteria

& so on.... and use each different photosynthetic organism as a channel within which to explore different parts of my systems map. Yet, when I met with Emily she convinced me that this would not have helped the conveyance of this energy properly, in addition to demystifying a series of connections and understandings that I had assimilated about photosynthesis in the two weeks I had been skimming through books and websites and concluded that this would be the ideal taxonomy for my entries.

We walked through the entire process together, I was happy to have done research beforehand so that I had specific questions to ask and she also had a series of sources that were a lot more helpful than anything I could find online typing things into my search bar. She suggested initially to follow the path of carbon... I was trying to veer away from creating a traditional, informative field guide but I think this also distracted me. And it wasn’t until Erin handed me Isabella Rossellini’s Green Porno that I somehow, in my own way, answered Marina’s question of “What is talking to plants, that talking is to humans” I have this question stuck in my head as well posed to use during the ideation of the project in san francisco by someone who is in close dialogue with the renewable energies being developed in California: “How do you make solar panels sound as sexy as a Mustang does to people?”

Erotic stimulation is most certainly a form of energy in itself and I was interested in finding a bridge that would allow people who aren’t normally interested in this kind of information to be intrigued. I don’t know if I have succeeded, but it is certainly the beginning of a speculation that I have taken much farther than any other far-fetched connection I have made in my head.  

The embodiment of a chloroplast is meant teach your solely about the process of photosynthesis, that of the phytoplankton teach you about the carbon cycle, and that of the artificial celluloid teach you about the possibilities of renewable energy based on the teachings from the previous embodiments. I am not entirely sure if I have managed to create this path of pedagogy: - My graphics and my meditations could potentially be distracting somehow?

- Is the reduction of the informative parts of my field guide, potentially misinforming?

- Are my speculations and is my inquiry justified enough?

In terms of process and things I would like to keep in mind for topic2:

** I need to strive to make better maps to navigate my research more skillfully and readily from the beginning, and to maintain a clear path later on in the process. (This also requires negotiating with my creative process, which I am still cultivating and would like to challenge but also refine)

** Less good resources are better than many bad articles and web pages.

** Prototype earlier to see if this conveyance of information ‘works’ & show an expert asap.

Biggest challenge: **My understanding of symbols, indexes and signs was clear in class but I had a hard time finding a way of ‘fitting’ them into my work. In fact the alchemy symbols that I used for my second to last draft were taken out because they were not contributing to any purpose.

https://www.beyondweird.com/Enochian_World/agesnew.html The term photosynthesis means "putting together with light."

[https://www.thoughtco.com/trees-and-the-process-of-photosynthesis-1342630]

I didn’t get to finish my presentation last class so here is an outline of all the dialogues I devised for me and the plant:

EDUCATION: “A phototroph that allows makes its own food that is also your food that breathes in what you breathe out and vice versa.”

ACADEMIA (SCIENCE): “carbon dioxide + water —> glucose + oxygen + water” 6CO2 + 6H2O —> C6H12O6 + 6O2

ACADEMIA: “but are you, a plant? Are you defines as such? Are you worthy of this definition?”

SADISM/FETISH: “you really are the best! i love you, pacha mama”

AGRI-ECONOMY: “And if we put in about eight components of the carboxysome system, the model says that we could get a 60 percent increase in photosynthesis” https://www.science20.com/news_articles/optimize_agriculture_optimizing_photosynthesis-130881

SUSTAINABILITY: “we’re trying desperately to mimic your culinary habits, so that we can ease the tension in our relationship”

BIOTECHNOLOGY: “the second green revolution!!”

SURVIVAL: “you’re definitely not as cool as algae…”

COLOR SYSTEM: “I think the God took the pigment out of a leaf and put it in your eyes”

KITCHEN “Your cousin the nightshade, definitely doesn’t have as much nutrients”

In regard to the information that I collected with my map and the solidification of it through the one-minute impromptu performance I did last class, I know:

I want to tackle systems like the kitchen, sadism/fetish and survival and possibly colors.

I should tackle systems like BioTechnology (sustainability) and Education.

I have conducted a series of small experiments guided by the homework prompts. I feel that my mind is still very scattered and for this reason have not been able to guide my research more specifically. Photosynthesis is a form of harvesting Energy as well as creating Energy (oxygen and carbohydrates) in addition to being a cyclical process, specifically when humans are involved.

This for me has become very important as a process but also as a concept. I have created this loose taxonomy that may not be in the chronological order that I wish to follow but it places systems/notions/categories in order underneath the systems of survival & love/fetish. How does the system of survival of human beings lead them to the necessity of something like artificial photosynthesis, and additionally how does this process in its original form represent a core aspect of our survival in that the air we breathe and the food we eat ultimately is borne of this energy. (SURVIVAL) How do we regard/perceive the aesthetic of vegetation & of bacteria? How are we taught photosynthesis and why in this way? Fluorescence in plants does not create energy but it is still photosynthesis- what does this mean?

(I have to obviously flesh out a little more what I mean underneath this section of LOVE/FETISH, but in the meantime....) I have also gone through a series of research questions that would aid this process & these are the questions/ideas I have come up with:

** HOW DO I CONNECT PHOTOSYNTHESIS TO IMMIGRATION? (this is a little less now..) ** HOW DO I MAKE PHOTOSYNTHESIS appealing/interesting/sexy?

** How to emphasise the mimicry of photosynthesis with the scope of renewable energy, but with genuine sustainability in correlation with longevity (i.e. revolution of thought/being etc); via biology (SURVIVAL) but via consciousness (LOVE/FETISH)

—> Do I want this direct field guide to aid a direct conversation with the a plant, a vegetable, bacteria and algae?

“sit the fuck down with a piece of seaweed that you found at the beach, if you can’t get to the beach, buy a seaweed salad”

**A relationship guide to light? **An instructional manual that will allow you to converse with vegetation ? and maybe repeat incantations?

In terms of symbol/index/icon....I started with my first entry of artificial synthesis and begun to think about solar energy, and thought about the framework of “conversing with plant” manual guide....

This symbol for transformation that I found by googling.... “symbols for transformation” and I mocked up this strange section of a direct dialogue with a reader to get my head around thinking about visuals - so either icons or symbols. This is meant to assess the difference between the efficiency of solar panel energy and the energy that is created by photosynthesis...A conversation starter for the reader of my manual and the plant/bacteria/algae/flower they find in front of them. ( I think below will only make sense if this top image is looked at properly)

This last circular symbol is a rip-off from this diagram, and my attempt at creating a symbol that represents the cyclical feedback system of living things, and how photosynthesis is the encompassing of that. In this way I was inspired by this diagram, which is actually astrological symbolism:

The description of the diagram from the source includes this text:

“ In the relations between the species in Earth's biosphere, the two transformative signs often work together so closely as to almost merge. The waste products of the animal kingdom, poisonous to their producers, are the nutrients of the plant kingdom; the oxygenous waste of plants is the breath of life to the animals. Predators benefit their prey species by killing individual members, preventing expansion of population beyond their food resources. When the predators die, scavenger organisms quickly recycle their bodies into nutrients to feed the plants that feed their prey. Every death and dissolution of an individual form leads to the nourishment and development of other forms. The food chain, superficially hierarchical, is actually a food cycle with everything being eaten in turn to continuously regenerate the biospheric entity, which remains itself throughout the constant transformations of its components.

Less drastic forms of cooperation are also common. Plants commonly provide insects, birds, and animals with specialized foods in exchange for their help in reproduction. Small animals feed on the parasites of larger animals. Species with a sharp eye for predators join with others skilled at finding food, enhancing the safety and well-being of both.

Competition, cooperation, individual and group activity; the four arms of the fixed cross are inextricably interwoven in biological processes. Every one of them, and every combination of them, can be found in all the events that make up the internal functioning of the planetary being. “

[https://www.beyondweird.com/Enochian_World/agesnew.html]

Part 1 Map your Energy Record Thoughts and Sources

On the arid lands there will spring up industrial colonies without smoke and without smokestacks;forests of glass tubes will extend over the plants and glass buildings will rise everywhere inside of these will take place the photochemical processes that hitherto have been the guarded secret of the plants, but that will have been mastered by human industry which will know how to make them bear even more abundant fruit than nature, for nature is not in a hurry and mankind is.

- Giacomo Ciamician

(from p.243 of Molecular Mechanisms of Photosynthesis)

Therefore, photosynthesis powers 99 percent of Earth’s ecosystems. When a top predator, such as a wolf, preys on a deer, the wolf is at the end of an energy path that went from nuclear reactions on the surface of the sun, to light, to photosynthesis, to vegetation, to deer, and finally to wolf.

(https://courses.lumenlearning.com/boundless-biology/chapter/overview-of-photosynthesis/)

I think what I took away the most from our first class has been the notion of looking at things from a different context. I took it a bit to heart…and even though I am having difficulty really understanding what can equate to a system I decided to break my map into sections concerning my different interpretations of a system. I looked into many different things and skimmed through a broad plethora of things, as opposed to becoming too obsessive about one path I found.

My topic is PHOTOSYNTHESIS. Plants, survival, light, color, food etc. And it goes on… Here’ s a photo of the map:

Which is a neater and more compact version of this thing:

In my neater/compact map the top-right regards systems that broadly regard photosynthesis and its energy output underneath the umbrella of agriculture. This begins with food, and the systems directly in correlation to it such as nutrients or carbohydrates… Bio-technology and and bio-energy are up there because I read a lot about the prospect and reality of artificial photosynthesis online and also in Wiley Blackwell’s Molecular Mechanisms of Photosynthesis. This leads to economic systems and renewable energies...

[https://www.zmescience.com/ecology/renewable-energy-ecology/semi-artificial-photosynthesis-8251344/] [https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120217145755.htm]

{https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bhH3_EY6uq8]

The bottom right regards photosynthesis and its role in the realm of academia. I went off on some tangents in my research process; I’ve discovered that there is speculation regarding all of plants’ capability to “do” photosynthesis. Fungi do not do photosynthesis apparently, and in my Culinary Physics class with Stefani Bardin, I found out about nightshade vegetables…or rather solanaceae…. which in some sources are said not to do photosynthesis, even though they do! Language and history are inscribed ... --> Further academic speculation about the very definition of plants, in addition to other findings about geo-biology and the history of photosynthesis.  

[https://www.britannica.com/plant/Solanales] [https://photosynthesiseducation.com/photosynthesis-in-plants/]

[https://www.pinalcentral.com/trivalley_dispatch/news/gibson-photosynthesis-is-essential-to-our-survival/article_2f2747bb-fb6c-5cf3-8cd2-3c25d8183453.html]

[http://scihi.org/melvin-calvin-calvin-cycle/] [https://nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1469-8137.2008.02705.x]

The bottom left of my map considers all of the systems/kingdoms of plants and animals that are involved directly in this process, in addition to systems that I figured made sense to be included when I did research that was more scientifically driven. What to do about information one doesn’t understand? Or needs another expert for? I suppose communicate with the expert…. ! I’d love to speak to someone more in depth about the light-gathering antenna systems and the perception of pigments of plants as opposed to the perception we have of them.

I feel that drawing analogies from this part of the map would be beneficial to make worthy observations about the the right side of the map.

[https://photosynthesiseducation.com/photosynthesis-in-plants/]

[https://www.khanacademy.org/science/biology/photosynthesis-in-plants/the-light-dependent-reactions-of-photosynthesis/a/light-and-photosynthetic-pigments] [https://www2.estrellamountain.edu/faculty/farabee/BIOBK/BioBookPS.html#Light] [http://photobiology.info/Zhu.html]

The top left is my “abstract zone.”  I feel it is missing some things, and that reading about the process of pollination, which is needed for photosynthesis to happen I couldn’t help thinking about immigration….

https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/1-4020-3324-9_95

And here are some questions/comments that came up from the Easterbrook reading:

*Are systems fixed? Are they subjective or objective in nature?

*Is a system always - inherently - politicized, because it is a system?

*Is the application that Steve applied to the Rothamsted protest, the best way of assessing a WICKED problem?