Recognition of More-than-Human (MTH) entities is increasingly important in the face of anthropogenic climate change.The contemporary popularity of participatory and collaborative approaches can see artists, designers and other practitioners and researchers seeking to apply such collaborative methods to ‘partner’, ‘consult’ or ‘design with’ the MTH entity. Such approaches are however fraught with epistemological challenges. The concepts around participation and agentic capacity within participatory methodologies are still rooted in established beliefs about human users, often burdened by the dominating, singular, positivist, and universal perspective that commentators like Haraway (1991) have denounced as insidiously partisan and inadequate for non-male, non-western humans – let alone anything pertaining to the More-than-Human. The Whanganui River exemplifies this: granted legal standing and rights in the singular form - without recognition of its multiplicitous More-than-Human essence - the result was the river was protected, but not its waters (Salmond, 2014).
Located on the grounds of Barrambin (Kelvin Grove), and informed by methods used within our MTHF group, this hands-on workshop engages participants in creative and reflective tasks to prompt and explore issues around ‘making-with’ MTH entities. Workshop participants will be invited to contribute to a planned special issue on Making-With the More-Than-Human.
PRESENTERS:
Jen Seevinck
Jane Turner
Sarah Winter
Nicole Vickery
Anastasia Tyurina
