Micro-Landscapes of the Anthropocene

Suzanne Biniahan 6

6. J Uexkull at the role of a tick (insect) and its lifespan of hatching, latching onto a mammal, releasing and leaving butyric acid (to , leaving eggs and dying. The questions he asked is “Is the tick a machine or a machine operator? Is it a mere object or subject?” (p. 45). Ticks, in general we presume as a factor of uncleanliness but they are a part of a ecosystem that funnels through a machine of animal atmospheres, microscopic and gigantic, that live through each other. Like the ticks lifespan, the species has its own purpose, world, and can survive in conditions that humans may not – ticks can stay alive without food for eighteen years (p. 52), they are an undesirable species, but nevertheless can withstand nature in ways that humans cannot.


Ref.

O’Neill, J., Sagan, D., Winthrop- Young, G., Young, G., Uexkull, J., Uexkull , J., & Von Uexkull, J. (2010). A foray into the world of animals and humans: With, A theory of meaning (1st University of Minnesota Press ed., Posthumanities: 12). Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.

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