Pteridophilia, 2016 – ongoing

Zheng Bo, Pteridophilia (2016 – ongoing), video

Section: Garden of Flows

Pteridophilia explores eco-queer potential. Seven young men walk into a forest in Taiwan and engage in intimate contact with ferns. They make love with the plants, sensing each other’s textures, aromas, and pleasures. They rely on bodies rather than language to initiate affective relations. Ferns are abundant in Taiwan. They have been cherished by indigenous tribes, but overlooked by Japanese colonialists and immigrants from the mainland. Only when we extend our imagination can we learn to appreciate the complex existence of all living things. Only then will we learn to live more intelligently on this planet.