Decolonizing Science in Latin American Art

Projects that bring the ‘hard’ sciences into art are increasingly being exhibited in galleries and museums across the world. In a surge of publications on the subject, few focus on regions beyond Europe and the Anglophone world. Decolonizing Science in Latin American Art assembles a new corpus of ar...

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Main Author: Page, Joanna
Format: Online
Language:English
Published: UCL Press 2021
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Online Access:ONIX_20211208_9781787359765_44
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author Page, Joanna
author_browse Page, Joanna
author_facet Page, Joanna
author_sort Page, Joanna
collection Directory of Open Access Books
description Projects that bring the ‘hard’ sciences into art are increasingly being exhibited in galleries and museums across the world. In a surge of publications on the subject, few focus on regions beyond Europe and the Anglophone world. Decolonizing Science in Latin American Art assembles a new corpus of art-science projects by Latin American artists, ranging from big-budget collaborations with NASA and MIT to homegrown experiments in artists’ kitchens. While they draw on recent scientific research, these art projects also ‘decolonize’ science. If increasing knowledge of the natural world has often gone hand-in-hand with our objectification and exploitation of it, the artists studied here emphasize the subjectivity and intelligence of other species, staging new forms of collaboration and co-creativity beyond the human. They design technologies that work with organic processes to promote the health of ecosystems, and seek alternatives to the logics of extractivism and monoculture farming that have caused extensive ecological damage in Latin America. They develop do-it-yourself, open-source, commons-based practices for sharing creative and intellectual property. They establish critical dialogues between Western science and indigenous thought, reconnecting a disembedded, abstracted form of knowledge with the cultural, social, spiritual, and ethical spheres of experience from which it has often been excluded. Decolonizing Science in Latin American Art interrogates how artistic practices may communicate, extend, supplement, and challenge scientific ideas. At the same time, it explores broader questions in the field of art, including the relationship between knowledge, care, and curation; nonhuman agency; art and utility; and changing approaches to participation. It also highlights important contributions by Latin American thinkers to themes of global significance, including the Anthropocene, climate change, and environmental justice. ‘Joanna Page presents a deeply researched account of contemporary art-science projects in Latin America. She situates them at the crux of current discussions on the decolonization of both the sciences and the arts: by questioning Eurocentric views on humanism and modernity, exploring expanded ideas of perception and cognition, and placing Western scientific knowledge within constellations of beliefs and practices that have been marginalised by colonial histories.’ – Mara Polgovsky Ezcurra, Birkbeck College
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spelling doab-20.500.12854ir-747502025-07-30T11:55:07Z Decolonizing Science in Latin American Art Page, Joanna art-science projects decolonisation Latin America cultural studies environmental humanities area studies art history media studies design south america thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JB Society and culture: general::JBC Cultural and media studies::JBCC Cultural studies thema EDItEUR::A The Arts::AG The Arts: treatments and subjects::AGA History of art thema EDItEUR::6 Style qualifiers::6C Styles (C)::6CP Colonial style thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JB Society and culture: general::JBC Cultural and media studies::JBCT Media studies thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JB Society and culture: general::JBC Cultural and media studies::JBCC Cultural studies thema EDItEUR::A The Arts::AG The Arts: treatments and subjects::AGA History of art thema EDItEUR::6 Style qualifiers::6C Styles (C)::6CP Colonial style thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JB Society and culture: general::JBC Cultural and media studies::JBCT Media studies Projects that bring the ‘hard’ sciences into art are increasingly being exhibited in galleries and museums across the world. In a surge of publications on the subject, few focus on regions beyond Europe and the Anglophone world. Decolonizing Science in Latin American Art assembles a new corpus of art-science projects by Latin American artists, ranging from big-budget collaborations with NASA and MIT to homegrown experiments in artists’ kitchens. While they draw on recent scientific research, these art projects also ‘decolonize’ science. If increasing knowledge of the natural world has often gone hand-in-hand with our objectification and exploitation of it, the artists studied here emphasize the subjectivity and intelligence of other species, staging new forms of collaboration and co-creativity beyond the human. They design technologies that work with organic processes to promote the health of ecosystems, and seek alternatives to the logics of extractivism and monoculture farming that have caused extensive ecological damage in Latin America. They develop do-it-yourself, open-source, commons-based practices for sharing creative and intellectual property. They establish critical dialogues between Western science and indigenous thought, reconnecting a disembedded, abstracted form of knowledge with the cultural, social, spiritual, and ethical spheres of experience from which it has often been excluded. Decolonizing Science in Latin American Art interrogates how artistic practices may communicate, extend, supplement, and challenge scientific ideas. At the same time, it explores broader questions in the field of art, including the relationship between knowledge, care, and curation; nonhuman agency; art and utility; and changing approaches to participation. It also highlights important contributions by Latin American thinkers to themes of global significance, including the Anthropocene, climate change, and environmental justice. ‘Joanna Page presents a deeply researched account of contemporary art-science projects in Latin America. She situates them at the crux of current discussions on the decolonization of both the sciences and the arts: by questioning Eurocentric views on humanism and modernity, exploring expanded ideas of perception and cognition, and placing Western scientific knowledge within constellations of beliefs and practices that have been marginalised by colonial histories.’ – Mara Polgovsky Ezcurra, Birkbeck College 2021-12-09T04:02:12Z 2021-12-09T04:02:12Z 2021-12-08T12:16:15Z 2021 book ONIX_20211208_9781787359765_44 OCN: 1244622303 https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/51812 9781787359765 9781787359772 9781787359789 9781787359796 9781787359802 https://directory.doabooks.org/handle/20.500.12854/74750 eng Modern Americas open access image/jpeg image/jpeg image/jpeg n/a n/a n/a https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/20.500.12657/51812/1/9781787359765.pdf https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/20.500.12657/51812/1/9781787359765.pdf https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/20.500.12657/51812/1/9781787359765.pdf UCL Press UCL Press 10.14324/111.9781787359765 10.14324/111.9781787359765 29b9f0a3-1b0d-4bdd-99d7-b4d3432d7fcc 9781787359765 9781787359772 9781787359789 9781787359796 9781787359802 UCL Press London open access
spellingShingle art-science projects
decolonisation
Latin America
cultural studies
environmental humanities
area studies
art history
media studies
design
south america
thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JB Society and culture: general::JBC Cultural and media studies::JBCC Cultural studies
thema EDItEUR::A The Arts::AG The Arts: treatments and subjects::AGA History of art
thema EDItEUR::6 Style qualifiers::6C Styles (C)::6CP Colonial style
thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JB Society and culture: general::JBC Cultural and media studies::JBCT Media studies
thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JB Society and culture: general::JBC Cultural and media studies::JBCC Cultural studies
thema EDItEUR::A The Arts::AG The Arts: treatments and subjects::AGA History of art
thema EDItEUR::6 Style qualifiers::6C Styles (C)::6CP Colonial style
thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JB Society and culture: general::JBC Cultural and media studies::JBCT Media studies
Page, Joanna
Decolonizing Science in Latin American Art
title Decolonizing Science in Latin American Art
title_full Decolonizing Science in Latin American Art
title_fullStr Decolonizing Science in Latin American Art
title_full_unstemmed Decolonizing Science in Latin American Art
title_short Decolonizing Science in Latin American Art
title_sort decolonizing science in latin american art
topic art-science projects
decolonisation
Latin America
cultural studies
environmental humanities
area studies
art history
media studies
design
south america
thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JB Society and culture: general::JBC Cultural and media studies::JBCC Cultural studies
thema EDItEUR::A The Arts::AG The Arts: treatments and subjects::AGA History of art
thema EDItEUR::6 Style qualifiers::6C Styles (C)::6CP Colonial style
thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JB Society and culture: general::JBC Cultural and media studies::JBCT Media studies
thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JB Society and culture: general::JBC Cultural and media studies::JBCC Cultural studies
thema EDItEUR::A The Arts::AG The Arts: treatments and subjects::AGA History of art
thema EDItEUR::6 Style qualifiers::6C Styles (C)::6CP Colonial style
thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JB Society and culture: general::JBC Cultural and media studies::JBCT Media studies
topic_facet art-science projects
decolonisation
Latin America
cultural studies
environmental humanities
area studies
art history
media studies
design
south america
thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JB Society and culture: general::JBC Cultural and media studies::JBCC Cultural studies
thema EDItEUR::A The Arts::AG The Arts: treatments and subjects::AGA History of art
thema EDItEUR::6 Style qualifiers::6C Styles (C)::6CP Colonial style
thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JB Society and culture: general::JBC Cultural and media studies::JBCT Media studies
thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JB Society and culture: general::JBC Cultural and media studies::JBCC Cultural studies
thema EDItEUR::A The Arts::AG The Arts: treatments and subjects::AGA History of art
thema EDItEUR::6 Style qualifiers::6C Styles (C)::6CP Colonial style
thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JB Society and culture: general::JBC Cultural and media studies::JBCT Media studies
url ONIX_20211208_9781787359765_44
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