THE AGENCY OF A PLANT

The goal of this project was to capture the essence of the entanglements within a space that was studied and documented extensively. From observing the chosen space—a houseplant next to my work space—I concluded that people have much more agency over plant than vice versa. Thus, I chose to create a piece of jewelry containing a small plant, which would compel the owner to interact with it on a deeper level and acknowledge the agency of that plant. I wanted to create a desirable object that was beautiful but functioned in allowing the plant to express its agency. It was also created to have a long life span, which would encourage the owner to consider it as a long-term, committed relationship and thus have emotional durability. The form of a ring was chosen since I wanted it to be present in the everyday interactions of the wearer but also to be in the individual’s line of sight. Further, the owner must also interact with it when it is not worn, thus, there is an interesting dynamic created between what/whom is wearing what/whom. The postcards are two-dimensional interpretations of the ring, which graphically depict the wearers interactions with the ring and vice versa and important concepts associated with it.