Why bodies, technology, and Earth? According to Alemani, ‘the pressure of technology, the heightening of social tensions, the outbreak of the pandemic, and the looming threat of environmental disaster remind us every day that as mortal bodies, we are neither invincible nor self-sufficient, but rather part of a symbiotic
web of interdependencies that bind us to each other, to other species, and to the planet as a whole.” And thus, such a framework sets the stage for many of the artists’ work to be seen at the exhibition:
In this climate, many artists envision the end of anthropocentrism, celebrating a new communion with the non-human, with the animal world, and with the Earth; they cultivate a sense of kinship between species and between the organic and inorganic, the animate and inanimate. Others react to the dissolution of supposedly universal systems, rediscovering localized forms of knowledge and new politics of identity. Still others practice what feminist theorist and activist Silvia Federici calls the “re-enchantment of the world”, mingling indigenous traditions with personal mythologies in much the same way as Leonora Carrington.
The exhibition takes on a ‘transhistorical approach' that examines and reveals affinities between methods and practices among artists across generations, creating in the process a
means through which to better understand history and the relationships between people. The result, Alemani points out, “is a historical narrative that is not built around systems of direct inheritance or conflict, but around forms of symbiosis, solidarity, and sisterhood.” Such
certainly resonates with understanding human dignity and living a dignified human existence.
It should be noted that the exhibition was born
from conversations Alemani had with artists over the past few years. And in those
conversations, questions kept emerging around the threats our species were experiencing – which in turn led to more fundamental and historical questions that vexed thinkers and practitioners across time: How is the definition of the human changing? What constitutes life, and what differentiates plant and animal, human and non-human? What are our responsibilities towards the planet, other people, and other life forms? And what would life look like without us? And out of those questions, Alemani claims, a new paradigm surfaced – one which replaced “the universal ideal of the white male ‘Man of Reason’ as a fixed center of the universe and measure of all things” with “new alliances between species, and worlds inhabited by porous, hybrid, manifold beings that are not unlike Carrington’s extraordinary creatures.” This revealed, for Alemani, the fact that, “under the increasingly invasive pressure of technology, the boundaries between bodies and objects have been utterly transformed, bringing about profound mutations that remap subjectivities, hierarchies, and anatomies.“ It is a revelation that becomes readily apparent in just the select number of works presented in the accompanying slideshow.
The exhibition takes on a ‘transhistorical approach' that examines and reveals affinities between methods and practices among artists across generations, creating in the process a means through which to better understand history and the relationships between people.
— Cecilia Alemani, Curator
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