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Micro-Landscapes of the AnthropoceneMain MenuMarginal WorldsPlant WorldsAnimal WorldsAmy Huang, Natasha Stavreski and Rose RzepaWatery WorldsInsect WorldsBird-Atmosphere WorldsContributed by Gemma and MerahExtinctionsMarginal WorldsSam, Zach and AlexE-ConceptsAn emergent vocabulary of eco-concepts for the late AnthropoceneSigi Jöttkandt4115726eb75e75e43252a5cbfc72a780d0304d7d
CRITICAL REFLECTION
1media/soil-profile.jpg2018-09-17T07:59:52-07:00Sigi Jöttkandt4115726eb75e75e43252a5cbfc72a780d0304d7d3098621Reflecting on our ecocritical project...plain2018-10-18T00:53:12-07:00Sigi Jöttkandt4115726eb75e75e43252a5cbfc72a780d0304d7dIn our anthropocentric, contemporary society, human beings are positioned at the centre of the world, while other forms of nature are trivialised and marginalised; relegated as resources and commodified in terms of global capitalism. Our decision to engage with the concept of "marginal worlds" - posited by American marine biologist Rachel Carson - allowed us to destabilise the notion of humankind as a dictatorial planetary force vis-a-vis submissive animals, plants, elements and atmospheres, by instead highlighting the complex and overlooked connections and dichotomies that exist between these various entities. Our research covered a wide scope of theoretical frameworks, from Stacy Alaimo and Karen Barad's focus on "intra-activity" - denoting the links between the human and the non-human - to Bill Brown's "thing theory", a concept which emphasises the autonomy of "thingness" in the articulation of social significance. By applying these rich theories to key features of our modern zeitgeist - urban planning and garbage disposal; furniture and Google Earth - we were able to engender an 'eco-skeleton' in the face of anthropocentric thought. The 'eco-skeleton' refers to the intra-active exchanges between forms of nature which effectively structure, constitute and restrain the mobility of all environmental entities, including human beings. Moreover, the eco-skeleton explicates the vulnerabilities of human beings - conventionally perceived as the colonisers of the planet - by exposing humanity's limitations and vulnerability in its interaction with other aspects of nature.
Furthermore, this theoretical framework is enhanced by American environmental historian William Cronon’s introductory passage in his 1996 text Uncommon Ground: Rethinking the Human Place of Nature, which provides invaluable insight into situations where environmental thinking simply does not work,“since we have no clear indication of what would be ‘natural’ or ‘unnatural.’” (28) Essentially, thinking about nature is rendered redundant by archaic assumptions of the natural world as a passive entity in the background of the lives of humans, who occupy the foreground and cater to the survival and destruction of the anthropocentric perception of the ‘natural.’ The case of the Rocky Mountain Arsenal (pictured) is a key case of the ‘Naturecultures’ concept, exemplified by the manner in which the approach to finding a solution to the toxic environment was manifested in the combination of human rationality and intellect via western sciences and ideologies.
Stemming from Cronon’s analysis, it is important to acknowledge two different modalities of ecocriticism: macroecocriticism – referring to large-scale examinations of nature, such as Cronon’s wild, blazing, disastrous fire – and microecocriticism, referring to aspects of the trivial and mundane, such as a discarded Coke can or a page of paper, which simultaneously provide a comprehensive and wholesale analysis of the natural world. By acknowledging the diverse levels at which the natural world can impact human experience, we can learn to appreciate and observe what could be considered 'eco-microagressions': subtle ways in which nature 'revolts' against anthropocentric ideologies on a daily basis. This notion is postulated in our short film and photo essay, which highlight the differences between the big and small, the macro and the micro, the unforgettable and the forgettable, the local and the global, the personal and the public... thus achieving a complex understanding of humanity’s multi-faceted relationship to its surrounding environment.
Images of the Rocky Mountain Arsenal and its marginal portrayal
1media/lawn.jpgmedia/lawn.jpg2018-10-06T13:51:47-07:00Sigi Jöttkandt4115726eb75e75e43252a5cbfc72a780d0304d7dA Correlationist FantasySigi Jöttkandt16As described by Timothy Mortonimage_header2021-03-22T23:38:42-07:00Sigi Jöttkandt4115726eb75e75e43252a5cbfc72a780d0304d7d
