2025

Created for Common Sentience at 601ArtSpace in New York, NY

Two French Marigold plants (Tagetes patula) of the same age, height, and development were grown in two identical environments and given two different treatments.

Marigold #1 was housed with a video recording of a string quartet playing the second movement of Air by Johann Sebastian Bach, 3rd orchestral suite (D minor; BWV 1068)*

Marigold #2 was housed with a video recording of shouted obscenities and insults.

 The sun’s rays entering through the window were recorded, on the adjacent wall, weekly, for two months.

The original marigold plants were replaced by another pair after one month. Contrary to expectations and previous studies, both pots of marigolds that were exposed to the shouting grew better than the ones exposed to the music.

* This follows the 1974 University of California at Irvine study on the positive effects of music on plant growth. Protoplasm, the translucent living matter of which all animals and plant cells are composed, is in a state of perpetual movement. The vibrations picked up by the plant might speed up the protoplasmic movement in the cells. This stimulation could then affect the system and improve performance, such as the manufacture of nutrients that develop a stronger and better plant.