Last night, the Sonos Studio on La Brea Avenue held a special screening to celebrate the exhibition Sonic Garden. The special event offered visitors a chance to watch “The Secret Life of Plants,” a 1979 documentary that chronicles the experiments on plants that led to discoveries regarding their behavior.
Unlike the previous opening event, chairs were arranged in the center of the room facing a screen. Beanbags were laid out against the walls to provide anyone seeking extra comfort another option to use while watching the movie. A small affair with roughly thirty people total, the night was an education experience as well as an intimate performance.
Before the film began, Mileece, the artist behind Sonic Garden, took the spotlight to give a little explanation about what the film was all about and it’s relevancy to the exhibit. She explained that this was an old film that could get weird at some points and joked about the acid-fueled inspired musical scenes. She added that the film talks about how plants interact, feel and know their environments; this is the concept behind her exhibit.
Like the Sonic Garden’s use of sound and plants, music also played an important role in the film. Stevie Wonder did the soundtrack to the documentary and his presence can be felt throughout the entire 90-minute runtime. His keyboardist Victoria Theodore played a live score of the opening credits as the film began rolling.
The film itself used a lot of time lapsed photography to portray the movement of plants as they shaped the Earth. The beautiful shots of plant life dazzled the audience as music was overlaid to create hypnotizing visuals.
There were many experiments depicted in the documentary. Most of the experiments had different types of plants strapped to electrodes similar to Mileece’s plants. The plants gave off readings to a polygraph machine when triggered by an external event. One event involved chopping up a head of cabbage in front of another cabbage plant. The plant witnessing the slaughter gave off readings and even reacted when the assailant returned after a brief absence. This proved that plants could actually think.
As the film came to an end, Victoria Theodore returned to the front of the room to play another live score during the closing credits. When the credits were over, Mileece began a Q&A session to talk about the film and gauge everybody’s thoughts. She surveyed the room as to whether or not everybody liked the film. No one was opposed to liking the film.
Mileece dove into the history of the film and to her surprise, many of the audience members had backgrounds in production and were able to naturally speak to her and one another about the creation of the documentary.
The night was a success and definitely taught a few minds about the hidden life of plants. Be sure to plan a visit to the Sonic Garden while it’s still at the Sonos Studio.
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