An ode to the future plants that live in the sky

As the climate warms the boundaries in which a plant can live move up the mountain. Eventually, the plant will be on the very top of the mountain and have nowhere to go, except into the sky. Plants have an amazing ability to adapt and will be able to live in the clouds.

I am a small flowering plant on the high hills of Greenland. My leaves are as long as your eyelashes. My roots know how to cling to rock. Sometimes I am covered in snow and I live above it. Because snow is a safety blanket. Winter freezes me, but I live above it. Beneath me is a vast undulating land that was once under a sheet of ice. When the ice sheet retreated, the land that was once hidden was revealed. Above me is nothing but the sky. I am at the very top of a mountain. My ancestors used to live below the slope. My future descendants will live in the sky. As the climate changes, the contours of our habitats shift gracefully. As a transgenerational organism, we walk up the slopes. Step by step. Generation by generation. Our seeds act as legs. How do I exist in the sky? Do my roots cling to the clouds and absorb their nutrients? Do my leaves get more sunlight when I am above the clouds? What does it feel like to float?

studio mokii, An ode to the future plants that live in the sky, Performance with Hanna Maria Semper, Finland, 2023