Zheng Bo's 'Wanwu I' Book Explores Plant Politics and Ecoporn

Hong Kong-based artist Zheng Bo's new book 'Wanwu I' investigates the political agency of plants through a tactile publication featuring photographs of naked young men interacting with forest ferns, part of his ongoing film 'Pteridophilia' (2016–) shot in Taiwan. The book, published by Walther und Franz König and priced at €38 in softcover, includes a prologue by Stephanie Rosenthal, former director of Gropius Bau in Berlin, linking it to Zheng's 2021 exhibition 'Wanwu Council' at that venue. 'Wanwu' translates to '10,000 things' or 'myriad happenings,' reflecting Zheng's aim for a world where all entities are interconnected. In 2013, Zheng shifted from social practice with humans to plants after encountering weeds in Shanghai's West Bund development area, admiring their beauty and persistence. The volume contains conversations with scientists like Matthias Rillig, garden historians such as Phillip E. Bloom, artists including Annie Sprinkle and Beth Stevens, and writers like T. J. Demos and Ye Ying, interspersed with images of Zheng's drawings and artworks. These discussions explore how plant communities communicate and exist symbiotically in the natural world, with Zheng advocating for less preaching and more practicing in response to environmental catastrophe. His daily plant drawings on Lantau Island serve as a Buddhist path to enlightenment, emphasizing art as a way to spend time with plants.