The Routes to Roots Networks and Beyond
Plants, fungi and bacteria can do something that we humans are not able to – they create
networks that provide optimal living conditions. For millions of years, they have perfected
the ability to build long-term relationships based on the distribution of goods. The forces
of nature are willingly using network solutions. It is high time that we begin following
their example.
prof. Władysław Polcyn, Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań
In the face of threats and challenges of the Anthropocene, when human activities exert a disruptive
influence over the environment, we turn to the roots – not only to metaphorical elements
constituting our heritage and ancestry, but to highly effective and resistant systems occurring in
the rhizosphere. Below the ground, where roots thrive, a vast number of interspecies cooperative
relationships are incessantly developing and sustaining a stable, plastic and incredibly adaptable
network. The Small Worlds Network model acts as the
rhizosphere’s operation system responsible for
resilience as well as distribution of resources. In this understanding, the rhizosphere may be
perceived as the source of inspiration for more sustainable organizational strategies and
solutions.
So, how can we use the wisdom of the roots to improve the quality of life of all world beings and
wisely head towards what we want to become, towards the world in which we want to live? We are
looking into root systems and the communication of the rhizosphere actors in order to explore new
ways towards better management and democratization of resources, information and knowledge. The
exhibition involves interdisciplinary conversations, which aim to raise awareness of the
environmental and societal issues of our time. In this mutual exchange, artists are instigated by
new scientific research related to sustainable solutions, biotechnology and ecology. In turn,
scientists, bioengineers and stakeholders can engage in a creative, productive dialogue that may
lead towards fresh innovative developments as well as new ways of disseminating knowledge.
Growing recognition of the functioning of the underground world based on symbiosis, diversity and
interdependence provides us with new perspectives. Looking at the interspecies, sustainable
relationships that cross the barriers of species, genera, classes or even domains helps us to
recognize the reality as a fully networked, complex and dynamic system. This, in turn, can lead to a
feeling of deeper bonding to the environment, as we find ourselves as part of a much bigger
“whole”.
Learning about the complex networks that have been evolving for thousands of years provokes
reflection pointing to the high value of local connections, which in the human-made, globalized
system became in recent decades more and more marginalized. Observation of the decentralized,
effective model of small worlds of the rhizosphere may point to the new paths of development, guided
by fresh economic priorities, local communities’ empowerment and more fair resources & goods
exchange.
We envisioned our global, human network as the rhizosphere, expanding not under our feet, but
everywhere around, entwining the Earth – a delicate network of symbiosis, diversity and
interdependencies. We connect and interact within this bio-tech planet, endlessly exchanging
information. Our actions influence the network’s well-being.
The exhibition comprises two interdisciplinary projects: Rhizosphere:
The Big Network of Small
Worlds and CHIC Project (with ASN Artists-in-Residence Program), providing an
international
survey
of artworks created by renowned as well as emerging artists in collaboration with scientists and/or
inspired by the research in the fields of life sciences and biotechnology. Rhizosphere is a
comprehensive art, research & education project evolved from a long-term cooperation between the
Studio of Transdisciplinary Projects & Research of the University of Arts in Poznań and the Faculty
of Biology of the Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań. CHIC is a project funded by EU Horizon 2020
Program, supporting the establishment of a responsible innovation pathways for the development and
application of New Plant Breeding Techniques (NPBTs) for chicory as a multipurpose crop for the
production of high-value consumer products (inulin, medical terpenes), in line with societal needs
and concerns.
Joanna Hoffmann & Karolina Wlazło-Malinowska
Art & Science Node
