Speaking Sphagnum — carolinevitzthumstudio

Caroline Vitzthum

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Speaking Sphagnum (2023), experimental writing, extracts out of chronological order from a current 207 pages.

I have always had a fascination with moss. As a child, I spent countless hours in the woods – kneeling, bending, and curiously inspecting these miniature forests, imagining what it would be like to be the size of an ant. I still remember the first time I set my eyes on moss magnified forty times – a moment that nearly made me cry, as I realised the limitations of our (human) vision in truly appreciating something so intricate, fantastic, and fragile at the same time. Looking through the microscope felt as if a whole new world were opening up in front of me.

My interest in Sphagnum moss was initiated in spring 2022 during a three-month research period at the National Botanic Garden of Wales. While working with the garden’s extensive dried botanical collections, I came across a nineteenth-century Sphagnum moss herbarium. I was immediately struck by its aesthetic qualities—delicate, star-shaped mosses, pressed and mounted onto sheets of pastel-coloured paper. Intrigued to find out more, I soon recognised Sphagnum’s direct connection to one of today’s most threatened habitats on our planet: peatlands.

Speaking Sphagnum is an experimental piece of writing that interlaces a fictional voice written from the perspective of Sphagnum moss with my own personal memories. The work proposes a ‘language’— a mode of seeing, communicating, and appreciating the world of Sphagnum moss and the species, narratives, and relations coexisting with it. It presents an extract from a more extensive text I am currently developing and results from the many conversations and encounters I have had over recent months with both human and non-human beings.