Archaeology of Ruderal Futurism

Abstract

Language used to describe plant life and their environments is shaped by how plants are perceived. In turn this language reproduces how plants continue to be perceived and contributes to the further shaping of attitudes toward them. This essay presents the ruderal as a framework for understanding and envisioning being-with more-than-human others in a world altered by colonial and capitalist exploitation, extraction and expansion. Enacting an archaeological tracing of language and cultural thought towards ruderal plant species, consideration is given to: vernacular language applied to vegetal beings; identities of belonging applied to the movement of vegetation at a planetary scale; and decolonial modes of thinking-with and being-with vegetal others in the aftermath of colonialism and capitalism. Particular consideration here is given to the classification systems of botanist Albert Thellung, the thought of gardener and landscape architect Gilles Clément and the work of artist Andrea Callar. This paper extends an ongoing area of research I have previously examined in the curatorial research project Ruderal Futures (2022) for SixtyEight Art Institute and the essay ‘A brief constellation towards a ruderal futurism’ (2020).