Research Catalogue

This is an edited version of the peer review comment, which the author has used as an aid when finalising their exposition:

Does the exposition fit the theme of the issue?

The exposition responds to the theme of the issue in several ways. As its title suggests, the notion of dark matter is central as a claim to embrace unknown relations that may partly account for humanity’s limited understanding of vegetal life, of the universe, and the contingency of things. It could be said that the work revolves around the statement found on the section “Materia och mörker”, which I translate: “We perceive a dark materiality - a nature of the world, which includes everything and everyone who perceives it, an impossibility to finally make a difference, on where we end, and they begin. The grey pea Timo goes towards such a dark materiality, something that escapes our gaze, which is difficult to put into words, and which contains only a small amount of visible matter. The dark materiality includes the unwanted, the hidden, the forgotten, and the ambivalent, that which is subject and object about each other.”

Which aspects of the exposition are of particular import?

The best about the exposition is the open-endedness proposed by a heterotopian scheme that goes through eclectic material weaving together the human and the vegetal. In spite of its eclecticism, this is done in a “section by section” manner, using one-image compositions with links and reading aids through sound that makes the exposition accessible. Thematically, of particular import in this sense is the staging of the becoming Timo of the human and of the becoming Timo of the pea. Also, the evolutionary aspect of the possibility of survival of the human species with the help of DNA from the plant kingdom sustains the symbolic-symbiotic thread of the work.

Is the exposition of interest as artistic research?

The play with the symbolic and symbiotic holds the “artistic” thread in potentia: open, to continue to be activated. Part of the strength of the exposition lies in the mode of referencing through experiential accounts weaved together with scientific references. The activation of written information through sound media as an artistic device resonates with the layering of meaning. This is a practice that challenges ontological and epistemological notions that can be further developed through research and the multimedia and symbolic extension of the work.

How does the exposition illuminate the relationship between artistic practice and research?

As mentioned, the play with the symbolic and symbiotic holds the “artistic” thread in potentia: open, to continue to be activated. This is somehow the “promise” of this exposition, a signalling of further artistic work to come (by having set up a fertile agenda) rather than the achievement of accomplished work. In light of the latest understanding of vegetal life and enactive approaches to cognition, the practices of the exposition (in its current proposition) are of relevance since they resonate across the scientific-artistic spectrum.

Does the exposition design and navigation support the (artistic) proposition?

In spite of its eclecticism, the navigation of the exposition works through a “section by section” manner, with one-image compositions with links and reading aids through sound that makes the exposition accessible. The hyperlinks to further archives and work contribute to the transparency of the research. Yet, it has the potential to use video, sound, or photography (for example of vegetal chemical compounds) to further sensitize or attune the viewer of the exposition to the theme of dark matter and the more specific theme of the vegetal. At the moment, the existing artistic work is “backgrounded”, made less prominent and more difficult to relate to. What becomes foregrounded in the exposition is the train of thought and strands of history and personal dialogues with scientific expertise in the field.

Your Conclusions

I understood this exposition as probing, as exploratory ground for further research, rather than as a finished or accomplished work; what I mentioned as “the promise” of this exposition, a signalling of further artistic work to come (by having set up a fertile agenda). As such, and as a strength, the exposition is effective and invites to the development of its many entries through all kind of practices. As a weakness, it needs to further develop its potential (its use of video, or sound, or the visualization of vegetal chemical compounds for example) in relation to the theme of dark matter and the more specific theme of the vegetal. In my understanding, the existing artistic work is “backgrounded” and made less prominent in this exposition. All in all, its open-endedness and its nonlinear agenda are strengths, and the personal and scientific registers of the work make it a valuable contribution to “working the vegetal”.