Micro-Landscapes of the Anthropocene

Inside Us All Along

The new age of the Anthropocene has seen the transition of many hyperobjects into omniobjects. Whilst these omniobjects have been influenced by the actions of humanity, their existence is predicated upon their success in achieving the permeation typical of an omniobject. This requires a style of manifestation comprised largely of particulates, which aid the viscosity and permeation of the omniobject.

An example of an omniobject flourishing under conditions brought about by the Anthropocene is the microplastic. This new phenomenon has seen a significant global permeation. Microplastics are an example of the transition from hyperobject to omniobject: as the manifestation form changes, so too does the hyperobject transition out of phasing and into complete permeation and intraobjectivity. Form is particularly important in distinguishing the omniobject: as the larger form of plastic breaks down into microplastics, the ability to permeate increases. This also displays a version of the molten temporality found in omniobjects: as crude oil becomes plastic becomes microplastic, the breakdown is both a continuing cycle and an example of the changing properties of the hyperobject as its manifestation changes.

As we become aware of the properties of microplastic, we can see the effects of its local temporality. This article shows microplastics being found in every sample taken from water in the Great Barrier Reef, with a range of plastic sizes: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0025326X2200861X

As the foundation of the ecosystem, it is then trivial to discover that fish and seabirds are found to have consumed microplastics: https://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/uc-santa-cruz-study-microplastics/3078819/

And, in a display of the total permeability and locality, microplastics have been found in human breastmilk: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9269371/

It significant to note that the omniobject can travel within ecosystems: within this, the true test of the omniobject stands. We are entangled both with microplastics themselves and the systems we have made to create them. Such viscosity characterises the omniobject founded in human enterprise.
 

This page has paths:

This page has replies:

  1. I'm excited by the concept of the "molten temporality found in omniobjects." A beautiful and apt phrase; it conjures many images for me, and echoes the slippage between not only crude oil and plastic, but also inside and outside, human and nature. I am reminded of a profound text I have read recently written by Gordon Hall, a visual artist and writer. Their 2016 creative essay, 'Reading Things,' proposes a critical theory of reading objects as teachers, and as catalysts for remodelling our practices of looking. The theory calls on us to welcome the 'molten temporality' of objects; their malleable meanings, ambiguous functions and how they should really, if we read them closely, produce more questions than answers. 'Objects as dance teachers? As gym coaches? As lovers?' This living book prompted me to consider how omniobjects might collide with this theory, or more accurately, how they might melt and slip through one another. What can we learn from the many manifestations of these omniobjects, how can we treat them as an embodied pedagogy? Within the Age of the Anthropocene, we undoubtedly have objectified the living beings around us; plants, animals and even the sun, are understood only to the extent that they can serve our human systems. 'We learn only as much as we need to know.' As these theories permeate one another, I ask what we could learn from reading clouds as dance teachers? Monkeys as gym coaches? And lemon trees as lovers? For further reading on Object Theory, see "Reading Things: On Sculpture, Gender and Relearning How to See" (2016) by Gordon Hall, for Walker Reader.
  2. I'm excited by the concept of the "molten temporality found in omniobjects." A beautiful and apt phrase; it conjures many images for me, and echoes the slippage between not only crude oil and plastic, but also inside and outside, human and nature. I am reminded of a profound text I have read recently written by Gordon Hall, a visual artist and writer. Their 2016 creative essay, 'Reading Things,' proposes a critical theory of reading objects as teachers, and as catalysts for remodelling our practices of looking. The theory calls on us to welcome the 'molten temporality' of objects; their malleable meanings, ambiguous functions and how they should really, if we read them closely, produce more questions than answers. 'Objects as dance teachers? As gym coaches? As lovers?' This living book prompted me to consider how omniobjects might collide with this theory, or more accurately, how they might melt and slip through one another. What can we learn from the many manifestations of these omniobjects, how can we treat them as an embodied pedagogy? Within the Age of the Anthropocene, we undoubtedly have objectified the living beings around us; plants, animals and even the sun, are understood only to the extent that they can serve our human systems. 'We learn only as much as we need to know.' As these theories permeate one another, I ask what we could learn from reading clouds as dance teachers? Monkeys as gym coaches? And lemon trees as lovers? For further reading on Object Theory, see "Reading Things: On Sculpture, Gender and Relearning How to See" (2016) by Gordon Hall, for Walker Reader.
  3. I'm excited by the concept of the "molten temporality found in omniobjects." A beautiful and apt phrase; it conjures many images for me, and echoes the slippage between not only crude oil and plastic, but also inside and outside, human and nature. I am reminded of a profound text I have read recently written by Gordon Hall, a visual artist and writer. Their 2016 creative essay, 'Reading Things,' proposes a critical theory of reading objects as teachers, and as catalysts for remodelling our practices of looking. The theory calls on us to welcome the 'molten temporality' of objects; their malleable meanings, ambiguous functions and how they should really, if we read them closely, produce more questions than answers. 'Objects as dance teachers? As gym coaches? As lovers?' This living book prompted me to consider how omniobjects might collide with this theory, or more accurately, how they might melt and slip through one another. What can we learn from the many manifestations of these omniobjects, how can we treat them as an embodied pedagogy? Within the Age of the Anthropocene, we undoubtedly have objectified the living beings around us; plants, animals and even the sun, are understood only to the extent that they can serve our human systems. 'We learn only as much as we need to know.' As these theories permeate one another, I ask what we could learn from reading clouds as dance teachers? Monkeys as gym coaches? And lemon trees as lovers? For further reading on Object Theory, see "Reading Things: On Sculpture, Gender and Relearning How to See" (2016) by Gordon Hall, for Walker Reader.