“Plant Time” is an intervention in the midst of one of the busiest shopping streets in Europe, via del Corso in Rome. The performance is a collaboration with a plant. The artist, sitting in the middle of the street, practices a mode of embodied attunement with the plant, a monstera. How can a human body learn time from a plant? Plant time is opposite to the fast-paced human time.

During the performance, the artist cleans the leaves of the monstera, washing them with a cloth and water mixed with peppermint essential oil (which is a natural pesticide repellent)—this method is specific for looking after plants with large foliage such as a monstera, in order to prevent dust resting on its leaves. Could we humans engage in an intimate path of discovery of plant time through actions of care?

In her artistic practice, Giulia Mattera investigates the interdependence of the human body with other-than-human entities, and how humans can learn modes of living from non-humans. “Plant Time” is part of the Festival de Performance CUERPAS Internacional (Valparaíso, Chile).