Art, science and multispecies landscapes: collaborations between organic and digital systems

Abstract

The artistic poetics produced concerning science and nature increase prominence as they incorporated political, technological, and social changes into their discourse, aware of the environmental crises and their connection with the capitalist economic program. Hitherto, the union between artists and scientists has inspired the making of works that incorporate new forms of organization between living systems and symbolic processes. Many contemporary artists conduct their research through multispecies collaborations (van DOOREN et. al., 2016), forming works with a high potential for questioning and formulating deviant ways of knowledge. This thesis project aims to investigate the visual poetics that articulate relationships between non-human organisms (living and non-living) and technologies to provide alternative utopian models of the world. This research proposes the study of works that allow us to imagine other possible relationships with the systems of nature, technology, and society nowadays. Discussions about these works will take place through two main methodological movements: (I) historical-conceptual, focus on reviewing the relationships between art, nature, science, and technology from the 1980s onwards; (II) theoretical-investigative, given the development of the first analysis, which directs to an operative way to understand the poetic processes that act in these intersections. To support this discussion, the concept of Multispecies Landscapes will be developed from the thought of Thom van Dooren and Anna Lowenhaupt Tsing. Because of the scope of the proposed cut and considering that collaborative work is essential for the contemporary creative act, this research will be carried out in partnership with an international network of interdisciplinary artists and researchers linked to the field of art, science, and technology, aiming to the realization of an international remote event with the participation of laboratories, artists and thinkers of the area. Furthermore, a self-residence in partner laboratories and spaces is suggested, in person or remotely, depending on funding sources. (AU)