By Federico Federici.
a plant enters the supermarket without a receipt. the clerk doesn’t stop it. the plant looks at him. he feels seen for the first time by something that is not a customer. in the frozen food aisle, the plant opens its leaves like hands. the clerk takes note with the scanner. the plant absorbs the cold’s humidity. the clerk becomes slightly dehydrated. their connection begins as an involuntary data exchange. the clerk’s badge starts pulsing in a photosynthetic rhythm. the registers record a change in chlorophyll levels in the system. the store manager doesn’t understand. the plant brushes against him and he forgets the password to the management software. it happens that the clerk’s feet take root in the non-slip floors. the plant in the middle of the aisle emits a beep every time a customer passes. the customers don’t notice. they think it’s marketing. the plant’s leaves begin to glow under the neon lights. when watered, the clerk smiles. they speak without a common tongue. one offers discounts on bananas, the other channels water through its lymphatic circuits. the cameras watch without intervening. the data mingle in the audio system’s cables. from the speaker, a voice plays: «leaf, scannable, friendly price». the clerk bends more and more. his veins intertwine with the plant’s capillaries. they both lose track of shifts. they no longer sleep. they photosynthesise shared thoughts. the hybrid works tirelessly. the other plants in the gardening section begin to lean toward them. the tuna cans report interference. the refrigerator produces warm wind. no one notices that the scanner now also measures leaf heartbeat. the department head is fired for excessive humanity. the plant-clerk receives the employee of the month award. a child approaches and asks: «but what are you?» no one knows how to answer. time goes on sale. the air fills with resin and binary code. in the back room, a seed falls and something is born.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Federico Federici is a conceptual artist active in writing, video art, installation, and physics. His works have appeared in journals and anthologies including 3:AM Magazine, Art in America, Diagram, Perspektive, Jahrbuch der Lyrik, Poet Lore, Sand, The Shanghai Literary Review, and The Manhattan Review, among others. Books include A private notebook of winds (2019), Biophysique Asémique (2021), Profilo Minore (2021), I[c]onic Log (2025).
