Leonardo: Arts of Living on a Damaged Planet

The ecosystem of our planet does not particular need us humans to survive and would probably be better off without us. As shown in the past it will no doubt generate other life forms. If we want to stay part of the equation we will have to come down from our high horse and start paying attention to what we form part of. Arts of Living gives an excellent indication of where to start with.

Arts of Living on a Damaged Planet (Tsing et al)Where the 20th century created and sustained the fiction of individuality, the 21st century shows that a (renewed) awareness of the entanglement between the human and nonhuman is unavoidable if we want to survive the damaging effects of our self-inflicted Anthropocene. Individuality understood as consisting of single, independent entities, whether human or nonhuman, might not have to be thrown completely out of our frame of understanding as long as it is understood that it can only exist in relation to the other. Arts of Living on a Damaged Planet, the fascinating outcome of the conference of the same name that took place at UC Santa Cruz in 2014, makes this very clear. 

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Published in: Leonardo
By: Edith Doove