{"id":209,"date":"2020-05-14T12:12:41","date_gmt":"2020-05-14T11:12:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/pgrsociology\/?p=209"},"modified":"2021-04-29T15:00:42","modified_gmt":"2021-04-29T14:00:42","slug":"complexity-contradiction-and-the-symbiocene","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/pgrsociology\/2020\/05\/14\/complexity-contradiction-and-the-symbiocene\/","title":{"rendered":"Complexity, Contradiction and the Symbiocene"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Shane Finan<\/em><\/strong> is a visual artist\nfrom Ireland who works\nwith mixed media installation to create places<\/a>. Through his art he tries to\nunthread some of the complexities and contradictions inherent in \u2018networks\u2019.\nHere he discusses these ideas in relation to \u2018The Symbiocene\u2019 \u2013 a world in\nwhich humans live mutualistically with the natural world. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Image credit: Shane Finan<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

 “Infinity and nothingness are infinitely threaded through one another so that every infinitesimal bit of one always already contains the other.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Barad, 2012, p. 17)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nglobal, the local, the branches, the roots, the city, the rural, the home.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

1.   \nComplexity<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

In the 19th<\/sup> Century, people did\nnot believe that extinction was possible. The complex idea of a species\ndisappearing contradicted the popular belief that God would not allow a\ncreature to die out. Thomas Jefferson believed he would one day astound the European\ncontinent by finding\na living mastodon<\/a>. The complex idea (extinction) contradicted the dominant\nbelief (religious consistency) making it difficult for people to resolve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, in the 21st<\/sup> Century, any five-year-old\ncan explain extinction. This is an example of complexity, contradiction, and\neventual resolution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Any dynamic idea is complex, and art is great at untangling complex ideas. The literature of Beckett, Kafka or Lispector unpicked the complex ideas of existentialism. The music of John Cage untangled the roots and branches<\/a> of forests and fungi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The network in forests sustains itself through complex networks. The sulphur tuft mushroom thrives on dead wood, living off death, to feed other forms of life.\n\nImage credit: Shane Finan\n\n\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In my art, I have looked at complex\ncontradictions over the past twelve years. My focus is on the idea of \u2018place\u2019,\nand how perceptions of place differ from one person to another. The aspects\nthat make up a place include history, communication, ecology and environment. No\n\u2018place\u2019 is a unique entity: it is part of a global whole. A wind will not stop\nat the edge of a field because the land beyond belongs to a different person:\nidentity is more than borders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I am working on unthreading the complex\nideas of \u2018networks\u2019: of people, and of plants (see ongoing videos from this\nproject here<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2.   \nContradiction<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

Thinking about complexity often requires\nbelieving in ideas that are contradictory. A strong example that is common\nthroughout the western world is the paradoxical belief that Jesus Christ was\nsimultaneously god and man (Visser, 2015). This apparent contradiction formed the basis of one of the most\nwidespread religions in the world and is widely accepted among Christians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To understand two contrasting topics\nsimultaneously, scepticism and curiosity are needed in equal measure. The Santa Fe Institute<\/a> in New Mexico specialises in\ncomplexity, using areas as diverse as art, experiential philosophy and data\nanalysis to understand complex aspects of our world. This combination of\napparently disparate ideas leads to unusual or unexpected discoveries and is\narguably the easiest way to overcome issues of prejudice or bias. By retaining\ncomplex thinking, the assumption is that a subject can be viewed from many\nangles: social, scientific, political, philosophical, historical, contemporary,\nartistic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The multi-disciplinary application of\ndifferent schools of thought applied to an individual subject creates an\nopportunity for questioning the subject in-depth, through its complexity. Further\nto this, collaboration between disciplines opens new possibilities of\nunderstanding. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

3.   \nThe \u2018Symbiocene\u2019<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

Philosopher Glenn Albrecht believes that after the Anthropocene (the period where humans are having an unprecedented effect on the geology of our planet), we need to move into a way of living mutualistically with one another and with the natural world around us. He coined the term<\/a> symbiocene <\/em>to describe this idea of mutualism. Albrecht<\/a> sees this as an activity across disciplines. It requires a major paradigm shift from the dominant belief system (competitive expansionism) to another (mutual collaboration).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To move out of a dominant belief system, it\nis important to first identify and challenge that system. The grave danger in\nprejudice is the \u2018locking in\u2019 of prejudiced ideas. For example, cognitive\ncapitalism encourages the idea of constant growth through the extraction of\nnatural materials, exploitation of human work and amalgamation of data. This\ndominant ideology argues, from a position of power, that economic capital leads\nto better societies. This may be true, but without a competing ideology, it is\nimpossible to test and verify. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other philosophers, including Rosi Braidotti<\/a> and Judith Butler, highlight this need for a mutual approach across different areas, from science to technology, from sociology to environment. Butler has lamented that this view is often seen as na\u00efve, but points out that the naivety is suggested by those in the same dominant belief system (Butler, 2020). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The city is a human network of infrastructures, that is dependent on complex natural and artificial processes. Image credit: Shane Finan<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

4.   \nNetworks<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

The overall goal of my research into\nnetworks is to point to how ideas and practices can be brought together. Part\nof the aim of this work is to offer a different perspective on the world. For\nexample, one view of nature is that all species are in competition, pushing for\nsurvival of the fittest. In this view, flowers evolve to control insects and\nmake them transfer their pollen. An alternate\nview<\/a> is that nature is collaborative: flowers offer food to insects, who in\nturn transfer pollen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A belief in a mutualistic worldview\nrequires this paradigm shift in thinking about how the world works. This is\ncomplexity and contradiction. My artworks are built to encourage this\nmutualism, by encouraging a new type of network between people and people, and\nbetween people and other organisms. This would be a small step in moving toward\na symbiocene.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

—<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The universal.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

—<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All images are copyright of Shane Finan<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

—<\/p>\n\n\n\n

References<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Barad, K. (2012). What Is the Measure of Nothingness?\nInfinity, Virtuality, Justice. 100 Notes\u2013100 Thoughts. dOCUMENTA (13). In:\nHantje Cantz Verlag.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Butler, J. (2020). The Force of Nonviolence: The Ethical in the Political<\/em>: Verso\nBooks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Visser, M. (2015). The geometry of love: Space, time, mystery, and meaning in an ordinary\nchurch<\/em>: Open Road Media.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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