Caring with matter: towards new artistic forms of togetherness (R-11970)

The fact that humanity is threatened with extinction as a consequence of its exploitative activities at the expense of the non-human has led to urgent questions in both the arts and the social sciences. Situated between discourses of the New Materialism and the Anthropocene, this research proposes new possibilities for survival in order to rethink our relationship with the non-human. Within this research I suggest an art practice that explores a more inclusive approach to the non-human. Through sculpture and in situ interventions, I search for entanglements between the cycles of our existence and the cycles of the materials that surround us. My main thesis is that it is only by disclosing an affective intimacy between human and non-human that an empathetic relationship becomes conceivable that allows for the recognition that the human and the non-human share certain vulnerabilities. How can an artistic strategy uncover such affective intimacy and teach us to think with and through matter, allowing us to develop a broader notion of care and new forms of togetherness? As artistic output, I will develop affective assemblages: artworks in which affective and transformative behaviors between materials are presented as non-human affective attitudes, as empathic relationships and forms of caring between material entities. Finally, through the Hybrid Garden, which is conceived as an immersive communal environment where affective assemblages will interact with the visitor and the public space, I will explore the ways in which such interactions can give rise to an ethical approach to non-exploitative connectedness between the human and non-human worlds.

Keywords:Anthropocene, Care, New Materialism, Posthumous, Process Art

Disciplines:Ecological anthropology, Care ethics, Mixed media, Installation, Sculpture

Project type:Collaboration project