In an interview in February 2018 Byung-Chul Han writer and doctor of philosophy, professor of Philosophy and Cultural Studies at the Berlin University of the Arts said:
“… For three years I have cultivated a secret garden that has given me contact with reality: colors, smells, sensations … It has allowed me to realize the otherness of the earth: the earth had weight, I did everything with my hands, the digital one does not weigh, does not smell, does not resist, you swipe a finger and that’s it … It is the abolition of reality; my next book will be this: In Praise of the Earth. The Secret Garden. The Earth is more than digits and numbers.
Author of a collection of works where he exhaustively analyzes current society and the future that we will find if we maintain the same course, he published his book “Lob der Erde: Eine Reise in den Garten” (In Praise of the Earth: a journey in the garden) the same 2018, (edition in Spanish in 2019 by Herder editorial, english edition still not available) and more than an essay, they are the confessions and reflections of Han that emerged in the time dedicated to his garden.
Han turns gardening into an art where to practice meditation and reflect on beauty, life and the need to return to nature, to feel it and respect it. Halfway between philosophy, spirituality and poetry, the book offers beautiful texts and illustrations about each of the plants cultivated by the philosopher.
According to Han, consumerism leads you first to objectify the subject, turning him into an object of consumption, and secondly, to a “not knowing how to care” since if something breaks it is replaced, the culture of disposing of , (including people), that is why we do not make an effort to care, to care by looking, caressing, leaving their space.
“Since I have been gardening, I perceive time differently. It passes much more slowly. It stretches.”
“With the garden I am slowly learning what it means to provide assistance, to care for others.”
“Garden time is a different time, the garden has its own time. “
Our respect for the land, common to all indigenous peoples, has disappeared, becoming a selfish possession. If we want to avoid its destruction, and therefore ours, we must regain respect and take care of it.
“The word human comes from humus, earth. The earth is our space of resonance.“
More about the author and some interesting reviews HERE.
