Abstract
The study sets out how through my artist research I draw together the diverse discourses of solastalgia, ecological art, rhizomatic thinking, univocity of ‘Being’, and magic(al) realism in the multisensory installation An Everyday World of Wonder and Weirdness to elucidate the problems of climate change by connecting the audience to nature in ways that offer hope. The work involves a collaborative partnership between digital art and biological materials and the application of mycorrhizal thinking. Mycorrhizal networks are fungal networks that communicate across species in ways that are embedded in natural scientific processes yet seem strange and wondrous. The immersive multisensory installation is a collaboration with mycorrhizal networks and fungi exploring how hope might be restored in ways that reduce eco-anxiety and connect the audience to the natural environment. In An Everyday World mycelium broke down hessian and muslin butter cloth, symbols of colonial cultural paradigms. These deconstructed materials became the central structures onto which new ways of understanding and interacting with the natural world were projected. The resulting installation is an immersive experience of sound, touch, smell, colour, and light where natural scientific processes have been embedded in an experience that evokes wonder through the experience of the weird. Calling on art and science An Everyday World critiques the devastation caused by climate change and blurs the boundaries between the real and virtual to offer audiences hope and new ways of connecting with the natural world that privilege mystery, empathy, and tradition.
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
2024 Special Focus—-Art for Sustenance
KEYWORDS
HOPE, JOY, WONDER, WEIRD, FUNGI, NETWORKS
