PHOTOPHAGIA:
The Secret Life of Plants
will be described by gardeners and shown without the picture
The Secret Life of Plants is a 1979 documentary based on a book by the same name. The content of both has been critiqued as pseudoscience, yet continues to inspire reverence for plant life and a sense of cosmic interconnectedness.
The soundtrack was created by Stevie Wonder, a fact that conspiracy theorists hold up as evidence that Stevie Wonder is not actually blind. Yet, as noted by The Organist podcast Stevie Wonder probably experienced the visual aspects of The Secret Life of Plants through a simple technology: audio description, likely provided in a casual way by his assistants.
While conventional audio description may have its place, I’m invested in experimenting with the form and how its de-professionalization can open up access in pleasurable ways. This summer I invited people who have relationships with plants (gardeners, florists, biologists, herbalists, master gardeners, plant scientists, farmers, etc.) to each describe a scene of the film, imagining they were describing it to a friend who was watching with their eyes closed. I’ve been thinking of this informal approach to audio description as “community description.”
The audio created by plant-affiliated contributors will play alongside the documentary, which will be screened without the picture at the Princess Twin Cinema during Culture Days on September 28, 2019.
This work is produced by Ontario Culture Days and will screen as part of the province-wide exhibition, DO BLUE BUTTERFLIES EAT PARTS OF THE SUN? curated by Dave Dyment on the occasion of Culture Days’ 10th anniversary.
PHOTOPHAGIA will screen at The Princess Twin Cinema (46 King Street North, Waterloo, ON) at 2pm on Saturday September 28th. The event is free and all are welcome. The Princess Twin is wheelchair accessible. It is a relaxed screening and community members are invited to do what they need to feel comfortable. Please help us create a fragrance-free space by avoiding the use of all scented products. For more on how and why to be fragrance-free please see: bit.ly/how-to-scent-free
For any venue-related access questions, please contact the cinema directly at 519-884-5112 or manager@princesscinemas.com
For all other access inquiries (or other questions) please reach out myself at aislinn.zaria.thomas@gmail.com or Ontario Culture Days at on@culturedays.ca
To read the full event listing and to read about the other works in the exhibition please see the Culture Days website.