“A reflection upon the virtual is what guides our understanding of the real (or actual), while also retroactively affecting - and hence illuminating - the antecedents and the necessary preconditions of that reality" (Lefebvre 1991, p219)
In this second article in the series of The In-between, we shift our gaze towards arts and cultural production geared towards recalibrating our relationship with nature, embedding in the virtual. We will unpack two exhibitions and initiatives that begin to interrogate themes that expand the relationship of nature and art, earthly attention, kinship and community building between humans and non-humans.
“From Latin, natura course of things; natural character, constitution, quality; the universe,”1
The etymology of “nature” originates from the Latin term, natura, to embody and flow with a natural composition. This suggests a rethink of the possibilities of a kinship, drawing attention to our earthly connections. The first exhibition, “Feelin’ Biophilic, Love of Nature”, explores design and artistic practices that directly redraw our conversation with natural motifs, science, slow craft and performative design.
Presented as part of the 6.0 Design Showcase curated by Neue Artisans and Projek Sembang Sembang, the exhibition showcases 15 design initiatives and two installation pieces at Mari Café, Bangi, Selangor. The terminology biophilic is derived from
biophilia, a hypothesis written by the biologist E.O. Wilson (1984) which suggests “the urge to affiliate with other forms of life”. It is imperative to shift away from the anthropocentric view of natural worlds and to relearn methods of embedding into living bodies of our earthly existence.
Curated as a biennale event expanding on the cross-section of design, art and architecture, this year’s iteration is a close examination of practices which expand on small-scale practices. As it was conducted during conditional movement control order (CMCO), all the sharings were streamed on the @neuartisan Instagram account, with one presentation every hour. On both days of the exhibition, a design discourse session took place with some of the exhibitors, interrogating designers and practitioners about their own trajectories in relation to the notion of biophilia.