Plantas vivas

They were kind enough to include my little book about the life of plants in The Independent Photo Book blog. It’s being announced there, with a link to a website where there’s more info about buying it –in case someone is interested. The Independent Photo Book blog promotes independent books and zines, and has some very interesting things in their list:

http://theindependentphotobook.blogspot.com/

Incluyeron mi librito sobre la vida de las plantas en el blog de The Independent Photo Book. Ahí mismo hay un link para un sitio web con información para comprarlo –en caso de que alguien esté interesado. The Independent Photo Book promueve libros y zines independientes, y tiene materiales interesantes en su lista:

http://theindependentphotobook.blogspot.com/

Postmortem

English:

My friend Joanna Ebenstein has uploaded a post about a very interesting exhibit at the Merchant’s House Museum. The exhibition is called “Memento Mori”: The Birth and Resurrection of Postmortem Photography, and it features postmortem photographs from the Burns Archive, a collection of images owned by Stanley Burns. Besides having a vicarious post-mortem experience through the pictures, you can have your own postmortem photograph taken at the end of the show. I’ll definitely have mine taken. Meanwhile, check out the Mexican postmortem photo I share at the end of this post.

Español

Mi amiga Joanna Ebenstein publicó un post sobre una exhibición interesante en el Merchant’s House Museum. La exhibición se llama “Memento Mori”: The Birth and Resurrection of Postmortem Photography, y se compone de imágenes tomadas del archivo de Stanley Burns. Además de tener una experiencia post-mortem vicaria –a través de las imágenes-, la gente puede tomarse su propia foto postmortem al final del recorrido. Definitivamente me tomaré la mía, y la subiré luego. Abajo hay una muestra de una foto postmortem mexicana que incluí en una charla que di el año pasado.

Check out Joanna’s blog: Morbid Anatomy.

Info about the exhibit at the Merchant’s House Museum.

To check out the Archive: Burns Archive.

Foto cortesía de Alejandro Palacios

On the life of plants

¿Las plantas tienen vida psíquica? ¿Interactúan con los humanos en maneras que aún no alcanzamos a comprender? Cuando pienso en plantas como el café, el tabaco, las uvas, la ayahuasca y la salvia, me veo obligado a creer que las plantas se conectan a nuestros cerebros tanto como a nuestros estómagos.

Un amigo me prestó "El lugar del ser humano en el cosmos", de Max Scheler; en el libro él habla sobre la vida interior de las plantas, sobre cómo ellas también tienen vida psíquica. Al estarlo leyendo me puse a escribir algunos poemas; también tomé algunas Polaroids que me gustaría compartir.

Do plants have a psychic life? Do plants interact with humans in ways we do not fully understand? When I think about plants such as coffee, grapes, tobacco, ayahuasca and salvia, I can only believe that plants are connected to our brains as much as they are connected to our stomachs.

A friend of mine lent me Max Scheler's "The Human Place in the Cosmos;" in it, he talks about the interior life of plants, about how they too have a psychic life. I started writing some poems about the whole thing when I was reading it. I also took some Polaroid pictures that I would like to share.

Urge and Impulsion

Urge and impulsion are the seed of all psychic life. They push living organisms to move towards certain objects, and to move away from others. Urge and impulsion are the basis of the spiritual life of plants.