- A cybernetic organism - A hybrid of machine and organism - A creature of social reality (blurs boundary between fiction and reality) - A matter of fiction and lived experience - We are cyborgs; the cyborg is our [[Ontology]]; it gives us our [[Politics|politics]] - "a kind of disassembled and reassembled, postmodern collective and personal self" (302) ![[Danna Haraway Cyborg.png]] --- ![[The modern subject vs the post modern self.screenshot.png]] This is interesting, to see how modern [[Art]] has evolved beyond a rigid view of 'subjective' to a radically new version.. transforming the subjective into one that embraces [[Ecology]] and all the implications that implies, connected to everything rather than being separate from. ### **1. Embracing the Troubled Beauty of the Anthropocene [[Timothy Morton]]’s _[[Dark Ecology]]_ emphasises the entangled, messy, and unsettling aspects of ecological reality. It rejects the simplistic binaries of “[[Nature]]” versus “[[Culture]]” and instead explores the deeply intertwined [[Relationships]] between humans, non-humans, and the environment. Modern art reflects this through: #### • **Interconnectedness and Collapse of Boundaries**: Many contemporary artworks highlight the inseparability of human and non-human worlds. Installations like Olafur Eliasson’s melting ice blocks (_Ice Watch_) bring the viewer face-to-face with the visceral reality of [[Climate Change]], illustrating Morton’s point that humans are already deeply embedded in ecological systems. #### • **Aesthetic of the Sublime and the Eerie**: Morton’s notion of the “dark” involves an aesthetic of disorientation. Works like [[Anselm Kiefer]]’s apocalyptic landscapes evoke the sublime but with an eerie twist, showing the decay and fragility of ecosystems impacted by human actions. The eerie aesthetic captures Morton’s idea that ecological awareness is both beautiful and unsettling. #### • **Engaging with the Non-Human Perspective**: Works such as Pierre Huyghe’s living ecosystems (_After ALife Ahead_), which combine organic and technological elements, reflect Morton’s concept of ecological awareness that decentres the human. These pieces invite viewers to consider life from the perspective of plants, animals, and even inanimate materials. ### **2. Staying with the Trouble (Haraway’s Ideas)** Haraway’s call to “stay with the trouble” in her book of the same name encourages humans to acknowledge the challenges of the Anthropocene without succumbing to despair or escapism. Modern art often mirrors this by focusing on: #### • **Collaborative and Multispecies Thinking**: Haraway’s emphasis on _sympoiesis_ (making-with) is reflected in art that involves collaboration across species. Works like Tomas Saraceno’s _Spider/Web Pavilion_ invite audiences to witness the creative processes of non-human beings, symbolising the interconnectedness of all life forms. #### • **Cyborgs and Hybridity**: Haraway’s _Cyborg Manifesto_ explores the blurring of boundaries between humans, animals, and machines. Contemporary art frequently engages with this theme. For example, Stelarc’s body modifications and robotic enhancements explore human-technology entanglements, embodying Haraway’s vision of hybrid futures. #### • **Speculative Futures**: Artists inspired by Haraway often create speculative or fantastical visions of posthuman worlds. These works do not aim to offer utopian solutions but instead encourage imaginative engagement with complex ecological and social issues. This is seen in works like Patricia Piccinini’s hyperreal sculptures of hybrid beings, which provoke questions about the [[ethics]] of biotechnology and multispecies kinship. ### **3. Materiality, Time, and Non-Human Agency** Both Morton and Haraway challenge the notion of human dominance over time and matter. Modern art reflects this through: #### • **De-Centring the Human Narrative**: Works by Agnes Denes, such as _Wheatfield – A Confrontation_, use landscapes to highlight how human history is embedded in ecological processes. These pieces reflect the temporal scales Morton and Haraway describe—geological, ecological, and beyond human comprehension. #### • **Exploring Non-Human Agency**: Artworks that use organic materials like algae, fungi, or living systems (e.g., works by Heather Barnett) reflect the agency of non-human entities. Haraway’s and Morton’s views on relationality and [[Symbiosis]] resonate in these projects, showing the power of non-human life forms to influence and shape art. #### • **Thinking Across Deep Time**: Morton’s insistence on acknowledging ecological “hyperobjects” (entities like climate change that are vast and beyond human comprehension) is echoed in modern artworks that engage with deep time. Katie Paterson’s _Future Library_ project, where books will only be read a century from now, invites reflection on human impact across vast timescales. ### **4. Critique of Anthropocentrism** Both Morton and Haraway critique the anthropocentric worldview, and many modern artworks echo this critique by decentralising the human figure or focusing on the more-than-human: #### • **Posthuman Representations**: Works like those by Cecilia Vicuña, who integrates indigenous perspectives into her art, question the dominance of Western human-centric narratives and instead foreground ecological and cultural [[plurality]]. #### • **Fragmented Narratives**: Many contemporary artworks avoid clear, linear stories, favouring fragmented or layered experiences that reflect the entangled and unresolved nature of ecological and social realities. This approach mirrors Haraway’s encouragement to “stay with the trouble” and Morton’s critique of oversimplification. ### **5. Provocation and Ethical Engagement** Haraway’s insistence on ethical collaboration and Morton’s call for ecological awareness often manifest in art as a provocation to re-evaluate our relationships with the world: #### • **Participation and Immersion**: Artists like Yayoi Kusama and her infinity rooms encourage audiences to feel immersed in non-human scales, inviting reflection on their place within larger systems. #### • **Activist Art**: Works by climate-focused artists like Banksy and Extinction Rebellion’s use of visual spectacle connect directly to Haraway’s call for responsibility and collective action in the face of ecological crises. Modern art challenges viewers to confront the entangled, messy, and emotional reality of ecological existence. Through its exploration of interconnectedness, temporality, and multispecies collaboration, it reflects the complexity of “staying with the trouble” and facing the dark, eerie beauty of a world deeply shaped by human and non-human forces. --- ![[Screenshot 2024-06-22 at 9.52.13 PM.png]] She breaks down the distinctions imposed by [[Society]] ![[Screenshot 2024-06-22 at 9.56.16 PM.png]] --- Donna Haraway is deeply influenced by postmodernism, particularly in her critique of foundational ideas about identity, power, and the boundaries between categories such as human/non-human, natural/artificial, and male/female. Her most famous work, _A Cyborg Manifesto_ (1985), embodies postmodern thought by deconstructing essentialist views of identity and proposing hybrid, fluid, and interconnected models of being. **Haraway’s Connection to Postmodernism** 1. **Critique of Universal Truths**: Haraway, like postmodernists, challenges grand narratives about human nature, progress, and science. She critiques modernist assumptions that knowledge is objective and identity is fixed. 2. **Deconstruction of Binaries**: She aligns with postmodernism in rejecting rigid binary oppositions (e.g., male/female, human/machine), instead embracing ambiguity and hybridity. 3. **Interdisciplinarity and Systems Thinking**: Postmodernism’s tendency to dissolve boundaries between disciplines is reflected in Haraway’s synthesis of biology, technology, feminism, and cultural studies, emphasizing networks and systems over individual autonomy. **Modern Subject vs. Postmodern Self in Haraway’s Thought** Haraway draws a sharp contrast between the **modern subject** and the **postmodern self**, reflecting the transition from Enlightenment-based humanism to postmodernist frameworks of identity. **1. Modern Subject:** • **Characteristics**: • Autonomous and self-contained. • Unified and stable identity, based on the notion of a coherent “human nature.” • Defined by rationality and individuality, reflecting Enlightenment ideals. • Emphasises universalism and timeless truths about what it means to be human. • **Critique**: Haraway sees this view as overly simplistic and tied to structures of power, such as patriarchy and colonialism, which have historically excluded women, non-Europeans, and non-humans from this ideal subjectivity. **2. Postmodern Self:** • **Characteristics**: • Fragmented and multiple, with identities shaped by intersecting social, cultural, and technological systems. • Fluid and adaptable, rejecting essentialist notions of human nature. • Constructed through relationships and self-creation rather than fixed attributes. • Embraces hybridity, such as the merging of human and machine (as seen in her cyborg metaphor), breaking down the boundaries between categories. • **Significance**: This vision aligns with postmodern critiques of stable identities, highlighting the constructed, contingent, and relational nature of selfhood. **Conclusion** Haraway’s comparison reflects a broader postmodern rejection of the modernist emphasis on stable, universal identities. By embracing fluidity, multiplicity, and hybridity, Haraway offers a vision of the postmodern self as a site of ongoing negotiation and redefinition, particularly in the context of technology and intersectional feminist politics. Her work encourages us to think beyond rigid categories and envision identity as relational, systemic, and dynamic.