Art-Science Research in Botany: Reinvestigating scientific representations of trees

Collaborations in art and science work with explorative and uncertain research methods to find new ways of knowing about nonhuman actors such as trees. Methodologies and concepts common to modern science are questioned ontologically, in part through artistic practices. The epistemological process itself, its contextual meaning and philosophical level are investigated. In this paper, I analyse two case studies on trees that gathered and measured data on their sounds and smells and question the scientific representations of plants as inert objects.

Scientific research has highly influenced our perception of nonhuman actors, mainly from an anthropocentric narrative. This knowledge is created with scientific methods and narratives. In the sociology of science, this situatedness of knowledge in human experience and expertise is analysed in how it shapes the presentation of scientific knowledge (Latour 1987, Collins 2001). For trees, which have an essential impact on our environments as a habitat for many species, in their use by human beings and their influence on climate. Yet, trees as a taxonomy cannot be completely defined in botany or in common language. It is an anthropocentric conception that has created too narrow narratives for a “woody plant with secondary growth.”