In The Animate Landscape Kim Laybourn manipulates images of plants making their bodies perform movements that are not ordinarily observed in the plant kingdom. A group of nettles dance like cat’s tails, a beech sapling behaves like a bird of paradise trying to impress a mate, and a field of dandelions runs amok, furiously shaking off their little parachutes. Through his films, the artist explores how humanity perceives nature, and how difficult it is for us to recognise a living, sentient being unless it exhibits behaviour with which we can identify.

In his latest project The Realm of Things this exploration continues into the dark, silent world of minerals, incorporating new material gathered during the artist’s residency on Gotland. Stones the artist collected in his hometown are brought to life, to scurry and float about restlessly onscreen. By reanimating what is arguably ‘inorganic’ matter, The Realm of Things leans into our need to anthropomorphise our environment in order to better understand it. Kim Laybourn’s work shows us just how paradoxical and comical this quest for understanding is, as we try to understand a 'thing' by likening it to ourselves, when in reality we do not even know what we ourselves are. That being said, seeking understanding within the confines of human perception is by no means a futile undertaking, as paradoxes often lead to the most surprising and memorable insights.