There are things in this world that are yet to be named, 2020
There are things in this world that are yet to be named centers around Solanum plastisexum - an Australian tomato whose sexual expression is unpredictable and unstable, challenging even the fluid norms of the plant kingdom. Footage of the team of botanists who recently used their Solanum research to explode notions of sexual normativity in any plant or animal is combined with a voiceover of letters sent between science writer Rachel Carson and her lover Dorothy Freeman. There are things in this world that are yet to be named is a meditation on erasure, indefinability, and the intersection of queer and environmental histories.
Directed and Produced by: Erin Johnson
Directors of Photography: Erin Johnson and Kanthy Peng
Editors: Erin Johnson and Matt Nelson
Sound Design and Mix: Matt Nelson
Additional Sound Design: Nikita Gale
Voice-over: Farah Al Qasimi
Featuring: Chris Martine, Cheyenne Moore, Ariel Antoine, Tanisha Williams from Bucknell University's Solanum plastisexum lab
Installation view from Unnamed for Decades, Center for Maine Contemporary Art, 2020
Installation view from NIGHTSHADE, Iris Project, Los Angeles, 2020