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Planted Journal

@planted_journal

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Bridging the gap between human and nature for personal and planetary well-being.
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What happens when the things we consume become the landscape we leave behind?

Photographer Deborah Latorre (@deborahlatorre_) explores the tension between the natural landscape and human presence in her project ‘Stramondo’ (Strange World). Through collection and documentation of discarded, predominantly plastic materials washed to shore by coastal storms, she makes visible the consequences of an abundance driven by consumerism, inviting the viewer to consider the impact of human activity on coastal ecosystems and the wider world.

The black background placed behind the found objects creates a sense of a “timeless, suspended dimension—an invitation to observe [the objects] in their entirety, free from distraction,” she says. By presenting the materials in a manner so striking, the wastefulness of our habits becomes palpable – and by thus altering our seeing, there is hope yet of redefining our relationship with abundance.

Read more via the link in our bio and subscribe to our newsletter for more stories that bridge the gap between humans and nature for personal and planetary well-being.

Design by @valentina.arosa Photographer Deborah Latorre (@deborahlatorre_) explores the tension between the natural landscape and human presence in her project ‘Stramondo’ (Strange World). Through collection and documentation of discarded, predominantly plastic materials washed to shore by coastal storms, she makes visible the consequences of an abundance driven by consumerism, inviting the viewer to consider the impact of human activity on coastal ecosystems and the wider world. by @planted_journal

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17 minutes ago

The sound of pine trees in rain

A pine tree can stand for decades, sometimes centuries, quietly recording the history of its environment in its wood.
Its needles are specially adapted leaves. Their narrow shape and waxy coating reduce water loss, allowing many pine species to survive in cold, dry, or nutrient-poor environments.
When rain falls, the pine becomes a natural sound instrument. Water collects on its needles and branches before falling downward in countless small drops. Wind moving through the dense needles creates vibrations and changes the pattern of sound. The result is not one sound, but thousands happening simultaneously.

Video by @1rann___ by @planted_journal

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a day ago

How can we imagine and design possible futures for collective liberation?

This is a question that has led Lebanese-Canadian researcher, educator, author, and designer Céline Semaan @celinecelines to co-found @theslowfactory and @everything_political, sharing knowledge, narratives, and archives of systemic injustice that mainstream media censors.

“Slow Factory started as an art experiment of using design as a way to change systems, by sharing knowledge and breaking barriers for the majority of people to understand how systems work, because ultimately systems are invisible.”

Céline talks with @anna.borrie about the design flaw in systems that exclude, extract, and dominate, such as X and Meta, and how they impact the ways in which we are able to imagine and design possible futures.

“If we want to counter this monoculture across all fields – from science to agriculture to entertainment – we need plurality, we need diversity.”

Read more via the link in our bio and subscribe to our newsletter for more stories that bridge the gap between humans and nature for personal and planetary well-being.

Design by @valentina.arosa How can we imagine and design possible futures for collective liberation?

This is a question that has led Lebanese-Canadian researcher, educator, author, and designer Céline Semaan @celinecelines to co-found @theslowfactory and @everything_political, sharing knowledge, narratives, and archives of systemic injustice that mainstream media censors.

“Slow Factory started as an art experiment of using design as a way to change systems, by sharing knowledge and breaking barriers for the majority of people to understand how systems work, because ultimately systems are invisible.”

Céline talks with @anna.borrie about the design flaw in systems that exclude, extract, and dominate, such as X and Meta, and how they impact the ways in which we are able to imagine and design possible futures.

“If we want to counter this monoculture across all fields – from science to agriculture to entertainment – we need plurality, we need diversity.” by @planted_journal

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2 days ago

Every organism has a world of its own

Each organism inhabits its own sensorial reality; the same landscape has a different message for each. In this edition of seeds, @priyanka.parihar16 explores the concept of Umwelt, introduced by Jakob von Uexküll, the unique sensory experiences of different organisms, and the limits of human perception. It questions how art and creativity can challenge existing systems and expand our understanding of reality, expanding the boundaries of our perception and imagination

She writes, “Within human reality, our individual Umwelt is also shaped by culture, experiences, memories, and language. We enter one another’s Umwelt through words, language and stories, creating a shared reality together.”

Read more via the link in our bio and subscribe to our Seeds newsletter.

Design: @valentina.arosa Each organism inhabits its own sensorial reality; the same landscape has a different message for each. In this edition of seeds, Priyanka Singh Parihar explores the concept of Umwelt, introduced by Jakob von Uexküll, the unique sensory experiences of different organisms, and the limits of human perception. It questions how art and creativity can challenge existing systems and expand our understanding of reality, expanding the boundaries of our perception and imagination by @planted_journal

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4 days ago

The Miracle of Bees

A curious tradition near Athens places painted religious icons inside beehives each spring. As the colonies expand, the bees cover the images with layers of wax yet the faces of Christ, Mary and the saints can remain surprisingly clear. There may be a simple explanation. The painted and varnished surfaces of icons can be less suitable for wax attachment, while differences in colour, texture and light reflection may also affect where bees choose to build.

Still, the sight carries a deeper meaning within Christian tradition. Bees have long been associated with purity, diligence and order, while honey and beeswax hold their own biblical and liturgical significance. The connection appears in Christian art too, from the medieval story of bees gathering around the infant Saint Ambrose to the Gothic Miracle of the Bees.

What may be ordinary bee behaviour therefore takes on an extraordinary cultural meaning: a modern hive echoing centuries of symbolism around bees, faith and the sacred.

Via @steffan A curious tradition near Athens places painted religious icons inside beehives each spring. As the colonies expand, the bees cover the images with layers of wax yet the faces of Christ, Mary and the saints can remain surprisingly clear. There may be a simple explanation. The painted and varnished surfaces of icons can be less suitable for wax attachment, while differences in colour, texture and light reflection may also affect where bees choose to build.

Still, the sight carries a deeper meaning within Christian tradition. Bees have long been associated with purity, diligence and order, while honey and beeswax hold their own biblical and liturgical significance. The connection appears in Christian art too, from the medieval story of bees gathering around the infant Saint Ambrose to the Gothic Miracle of the Bees.

What may be ordinary bee behaviour therefore takes on an extraordinary cultural meaning: a modern hive echoing centuries of symbolism around bees, faith and the sacred. by @planted_journal

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3 days ago

Nature is making a home everywhere

Expanding outward from the author’s backyard into the broader landscape of Los Angeles Ayla Gard (@aylagardening) reflects on the bounty of nature that exists within often-overlooked spaces—in our homes, along highways, even in the “dead” parts of our gardens.

“The longer I live in L.A., the more I have come to see it not as urban wasteland patchworked with garden oases, but as a city thriving with nature in all of its parts.”

Local ecosystems intersect and interact in myriad ways, their abundance maintained by the landscapers and other mindful people who recognize the wildness within everyday life and move in reciprocity with the land.

Read more via the link in our bio and subscribe to our newsletter for more stories that bridge the gap between humans and nature for personal and planetary well-being.

Design by @valentina.arosa Expanding outward from the author’s backyard into the broader landscape of Los Angeles Ayla Gard (@aylagardening) reflects on the bounty of nature that exists within often-overlooked spaces—in our homes, along highways, even in the "dead" parts of our gardens.

“The longer I live in L.A., the more I have come to see it not as urban wasteland patchworked with garden oases, but as a city thriving with nature in all of its parts.”

Local ecosystems intersect and interact in myriad ways, their abundance maintained by the landscapers and other mindful people who recognize the wildness within everyday life and move in reciprocity with the land. by @planted_journal

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9 days ago

What if imagination could become a way of researching history?

Join Caribbean photographer and artistic researcher Lisandro Suriel for our next Sacred Ecologies Study Club, The Supernal Atlas: Mapping Atlantic Imagination.

Drawing from his long-term project Ghost Island, Suriel explores the intersections of mythology, ancestral memory, ecology, identity, and the Black Atlantic.

“I steadily maintain that the mythical lens is the best through which to view how unseen agents engage identity and the telling of history.”

Through artist talks, visual presentation, guided creative exercises, and collective reflection, participants will explore imagination as an epistemic tool—and begin constructing their own Atlas of Imagination through images, archetypes, memories, stories, and landscapes.

He asks: “Whose dream, or whose imagination, are we living in without question?”

Saturday 26 September 2026
 15:00 CEST Online 120 minutes

Most ticket proceeds go directly to the artist.

Artworks and video by the artist

Read Lisandro’s interview and book your place via the link in bio. by @planted_journal

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10 days ago

Step into the cracks where nature, city, and human stories meet. Come experience Shared Habitat in Milan.

Human settlements are carved out of natural spaces, concrete structures that take over the landscape. The horizon is slowly replaced by glass buildings reflecting the movement of clouds, rising where forests once stood. Yet nature persists on the threshold between city and countryside, between arrivals and departures, marginality and possibility.

Shared Habitat merges the human and the more-than-human, weaving diverse species into the web of life, both individually and collectively. Imaginary artificial boundaries crumble as the desire to exist emerges from cracks in the asphalt, along walls, and beneath fences, inviting life forms to persist and be known.

Vettabbia Park opens up the neighbourhood south of Corvetto, countering urban density with a space to breathe and think freely. Nearby, Studio Ardaco reflects on the many lives, languages, and cultures seeking recognition. Through installations and soundscapes, new perspectives and forms emerge, intertwining the fragility and strength of coexistence.

Curator and Artistic Director @priyanka.parihar16
Artist and Producer @Enzmonz
A part of @distudio_instudio

Free admission

19–20 SEPTEMBER 2026 16:00–20:00
 Studio Ardaco Productions Via Privata Pietro Gaggia 1/A 20139 Milano taken in Milan, Italy by @planted_journal

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14 days ago

“Whose dream, or whose imagination, are we living in without question?”

What if imagination could become a method for researching history?

For our next Sacred Ecologies Study Club, Lisandro Suriel @lisandrosuriel invites participants to explore the Atlantic world through mythology, storytelling, ancestral knowledge, ecology, and visual imagination.

Drawing from his artistic research and his long-term project Ghost Island, Suriel will share how Afro-Caribbean cosmoperceptions and the mythical lens can open alternative ways of approaching histories shaped by colonial erasure.

The session will explore imagination not simply as fantasy, but as an epistemic tool: a way of tracing cultural memory, recognising unseen relationships, and questioning whose stories and systems of knowledge have been given authority.

Drawing on ideas connected to Aby Warburg’s Mnemosyne Atlas and aesthetic education, participants will be introduced to ways of constructing their own visual constellations—bringing together images, archetypes, memories, landscapes, stories, and ecological relationships. Through guided exercises and collective reflection, the workshop will ask how we might create our own Atlas of Imagination. Whether you work with photography, writing, filmmaking, research, installation, or another creative discipline, this session offers a space to experiment with associative research and decolonial approaches to visual storytelling.

Saturday 26 September 2026 15:00 CEST | Online 120 minutes

Read the full interview and resister for the study club via the link in bio.

Interview by @virgifilm
Design by @valentina.arosa by @planted_journal

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17 days ago

Nature hides some of its greatest transformations inside a chrysalis

Inside a chrysalis, a caterpillar undergoes one of nature’s most remarkable transformations. Its body doesn’t simply grow larger, it is extensively reorganized. Tissues break down, while specialized groups of cells called imaginal discs develop into the structures of the adult butterfly, including its wings, legs, eyes, and antennae.

The transformation is so profound that the adult looks nothing like the larva it came from. Yet it carries traces of its earlier life into its new form.
Metamorphosis is not a straight path from one shape to another. It is a process of dismantling, rebuilding, and becoming something entirely different.

Video by @grevidav
Cover photo via @cosmos by @planted_journal

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18 days ago

Does the image disturb our relationship to that violence, or allow us to feel that looking was enough?

Iraqi-Palestinian artist @sama_alshaibi explores the politics of looking using photography, moving images, and performances. Histories of exile, conflict, and survival are carried within bodies and landscapes; they are layered over cities and kept in memories, she explains in our latest Documenting Conflict interview.

“I am Palestinian and Iraqi, and political forces determined my distance from both places. Whether I could grow up there, return, or belong was never only a personal question,” she says. “At the same time, I am wary of what happens when large systems become the explanation for everything. Iraq can become a symbol of war. Palestine can become a symbol of displacement. Once a place is made to stand for an idea, much of what makes it particular disappears.”

The artist speaks with @anna.borrie about how representation isn’t always sufficient and how those living through war or displacement shouldn’t be expected to serve as spokespeople.

Read more via the link in our bio and subscribe to our newsletter for more stories that bridge the gap between humans and nature for personal and planetary well-being.

Design by @valentina.arosa by @planted_journal

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21 days ago

How Flowers Changed the World 🌸

Flowers shaped life on Earth. Their evolution transformed the planet by supporting pollinators, producing fruits and seeds, and creating food sources for countless species, including us.

Within the first 10 million years of their existence, flowers became highly successful species. Transforming the landscape and introducing new habitats, such as rainforests and grasslands. David George Haskell, in his book, ‘How Flowers Made Our World: The Story of Nature’s Revolutionaries’, perceives flowers as a revolutionary species that not only created new ecologies but also changed the fate of their animal kin. He suggests primates probably won’t exist without flowering plants. In the Late Cretaceous period, from flowers came the fruits, and from feeding on fruits came primates. In mysterious ways, flowers have blossomed, the beginning of humankind.

Photos by @mina.sharada

#PlantedJournal #Flowers #HumanandNature #Nature Flowers How Flowers Changed the World 🌸

Flowers shaped life on Earth. Their evolution transformed the planet by supporting pollinators, producing fruits and seeds, and creating food sources for countless species, including us.

.Within the first 10 million years of their existence, flowers became highly successful species. Transforming the landscape and introducing new habitats, such as rainforests and grasslands. David George Haskell, in his book, ‘How Flowers Made Our World: The Story of Nature’s Revolutionaries’, perceives flowers as a revolutionary species that not only created new ecologies but also changed the fate of their animal kin. He suggests primates probably won’t exist without flowering plants. In the Late Cretaceous period, from flowers came the fruits, and from feeding on fruits came primates. In mysterious ways, flowers have blossomed, the beginning of humankind.

Photos by @mina.sharada

#PlantedJournal #Flowers #HumanandNature #Nature #Flowers by @planted_journal

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