Rhizoming Wind: Forecasting
2025
Two-channel video, HD, color, sound, 18:30 minutes
In Rhizoming Wind: Forecasting, the film explores stories connected to Gastrodia elata, also known as Tian Ma. This non-photosynthetic orchid forms a symbiotic relationship with the fungus Armillaria mellea on rotting wood and is referred to in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) as “the plant that can stop wind.” Its rhizome is commonly used to treat “wind-related diseases” such as strokes, headaches, and other neurological conditions.
The work reinterprets the classic weather forecast genre, attempting to trace the path of the wind and its influence not only on plants and human bodies (which, according to TCM, are neither closed nor isolated) but also on systems of knowledge and climate conditions. Wind, the natural movement of air, though invisible, reveals itself through the objects it encounters, bringing energy while also posing the potential threat of destructive disasters. Against this backdrop, weather forecasts strive daily to predict an elusive and abstract future, whether for today or tomorrow.
Rhizoming Wind: Forecasting goes beyond conventional forecasting purposes. delving into the imaginative possibilities and potentialities of rhizomatic and holistic understandings of relationships, offering a poetic yet thought-provoking exploration of the perpetual interconnections within the living world.
