I have seen house plants as a form of decoration. They bring colors, vibrancy and character into a space. I have never felt a deeper connection to a plant. It might be the reason, I have had trouble keeping my plants happy. I think I have finally grasped what it means to have a connection to a plant. Perhaps it’s a short of connection you would have with a domesticated animal. A feeling of care and empathy towards it. A feeling that maybe you even understand each other.

Musician and independent scientist Ben Jordan explores in his video essay if sound really affects plant growth. He goes briefly through the history of research and literature in this field and then conducts an experiment himself.

His approach is obsessive and curious, which I like. In his experiment he was rabbit holeing into every possible variable, but the video still manages to keep up a good and entertaining tempo. Jordan makes science about it and the evidence is super interesting, but I think it’s not so much about a trial on optimizing the growing of crops, but more about finding connections between us and plants. Oh plants apparently like to enjoy sound waves also!

Jordan is claiming that anthropomorphism (projecting our human feelings on other species) is a problem in science and I do agree in some sense, but is it necessary for creating empathy?

Inspired of this essay, I did a sonic journey with my tiny Scindapsus pictus (silver vine). I chose an album “Sisarusten toistuva uni” from a Pori based musician Juho Toivonen. (https://discreetmusicgbg.bandcamp.com/album/sisarusten-toistuva-uni) I sat down on the floor, put the plant between me and the speakers and set the record on.

The album begins with a forest like atmosphere, where beautiful melodic tunes seduces you into a sensual and nostalgic trip. At some point you find a campfire and someone sitting on its side drumming. I lifted the plant and started to examine it closer. I gave it some water and held it on my lap. I felt the primitive bass tune resonating in my body. Like waves the music flowed through our matter and finally faded away.

– Uljas

ps. here’s the video I was talking about