In a world facing an ecological crisis, creating a new relationship with nature has become essential.

For contemporary artists, this challenge involves not only responding to the climate crisis through esthetic expression, but also collaborating with other species to generate new connections between humans and non-human life forms.

The works of artists such as Hong Kong-based Zheng Bo and Dan Lie, a Brazilian artist based in Berlin, rely on plants, soil, bacteria and other species as collaborators. These artists invite viewers to think about the interconnectedness of culture and the environment.

Such practices are commonly known as environmental art or eco-art — but I particularly like to call it multispecies art. This form of art, which brings living beings into gallery and museum spaces, isn’t new in the history of contemporary art.

In 1974, the South Korean artist Nam June Paik, more commonly known as the “father of video art,” created the pioneering multimedia installation TV Garden. Fifty years after its creation, as the circuit of contemporary art flourishes with collaborations across species, it’s a good moment to look back at Paik’s seminal work.

Paik’s pioneering contributions proposed new ways to understand the relationship between nature and technology at a time when these divisions were strongly reinforced. In TV Garden, plants are placed alongside dozens of TV monitors showing Paik’s video Global Groove (1973). The video is a visual mix combining performers from all around the world dancing in front of a green screen.

The blend of plants, television and moving images creates a unique garden that has been shown in........

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