Solitary semi-social mapping of Ceginus by a duet of Nephila senegalensis - four weeks, a triplet of Cyrtophora citricola - three weeks, 2018
Tomás Saraceno
Photo: Courtesy the artist | Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, New York / Los Angeles
Collection
Spidersilk, archival paper on Dibond, fixative, ink
154 x 404 cm (framed)
Tomás Saraceno is known for his speculative research projects, such as Aerocene, an interdisciplinary artistic inquiry into alternative modes of transportation that do not require fossil fuels, and his collaborations with spiders. The Arachnophilia team at his studio attends to lively multispecies ecologies, cultivating different “arts of noticing,” and directing their caring attention to nonhumans. Arachnologists, entomologists, ethologists, and musicians come together with spiders to explore their complex architectures and webs of life. The Western understanding of human exceptionalism and agency, which disrupts our interactions with other species, is undone in favor of speculative interpretations of how shared and entangled ecologies might play out in the Chthulucene, a term for an alternative way of conceptualizing our current epoch coined by feminist theorist Donna Haraway. She describes it as a time when (the Western) human being ceases to be a destructive force on the planet and acknowledges and enjoys its kinship with many other forms of life and nonlife.
The two works on paper were made in collaboration with two different spider species. In combining genera that would not typically conspire, Saraceno, his studio, and their spider collaborators bring forth hybrid spider/webs created in multispecies gatherings. The series of spider imprints on paper offer a different way to interpret the architecture of the spider/web: as a topological map of movements and temporalities that trace the intricate complexities of these silken sculptures, or as bodily extensions that serve communication and emit/transmit sensory stimuli.
Click here to see the page on the work
Solitary semi-social mapping of HS 1700+6416 by a solo Nephila senegalensis—one week and a solo Cyrtophora citricola—three weeks, 2016
154 x 404 cm (framed)
Tomás Saraceno is known for his speculative research projects, such as Aerocene, an interdisciplinary artistic inquiry into alternative modes of transportation that do not require fossil fuels, and his collaborations with spiders. The Arachnophilia team at his studio attends to lively multispecies ecologies, cultivating different “arts of noticing,” and directing their caring attention to nonhumans. Arachnologists, entomologists, ethologists, and musicians come together with spiders to explore their complex architectures and webs of life. The Western understanding of human exceptionalism and agency, which disrupts our interactions with other species, is undone in favor of speculative interpretations of how shared and entangled ecologies might play out in the Chthulucene, a term for an alternative way of conceptualizing our current epoch coined by feminist theorist Donna Haraway. She describes it as a time when (the Western) human being ceases to be a destructive force on the planet and acknowledges and enjoys its kinship with many other forms of life and nonlife.
The two works on paper were made in collaboration with two different spider species. In combining genera that would not typically conspire, Saraceno, his studio, and their spider collaborators bring forth hybrid spider/webs created in multispecies gatherings. The series of spider imprints on paper offer a different way to interpret the architecture of the spider/web: as a topological map of movements and temporalities that trace the intricate complexities of these silken sculptures, or as bodily extensions that serve communication and emit/transmit sensory stimuli.
Click here to see the page on the work
Solitary semi-social mapping of HS 1700+6416 by a solo Nephila senegalensis—one week and a solo Cyrtophora citricola—three weeks, 2016
Soledad Gutiérrez, "Sensory scores: departing from the work of Tomás Saraceno", in Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary: The Commissions Book,, eds. Eva Ebersberger and Daniela Zyman (2020: Sternberg Press)
FIND MORE
Tomás Saraceno, Arachnophilia, project website
Tomás Saraceno, Aerocene, project website
Lauren Hinkel, 'Aerocene' soars at the 47th World Economic Forum," Oceans at MIT, MIT News, 2017
Isabelle Su, Zhao Qin, Tomás Saraceno, Adrian Krell, Roland Mühlethaler, Ally Bisshop, Markus J. Buehler, "Imaging and analysis of a three-dimensional spider web architecture," in Interface, Journal of the Royal Society, Volume 15 Issue 146, September 2018
Tomeás Saraceno, Arachnid Orchestra, project website
Ana Teixeira Pinto, "Tomás Saraceno: Cloud Cities," in Domus, 2011
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Born in San Miguel de Tucumán, Argentina, in 1973. Lives in Berlin, Germany.
Tomás Saraceno, Aerocene, project website
Lauren Hinkel, 'Aerocene' soars at the 47th World Economic Forum," Oceans at MIT, MIT News, 2017
Isabelle Su, Zhao Qin, Tomás Saraceno, Adrian Krell, Roland Mühlethaler, Ally Bisshop, Markus J. Buehler, "Imaging and analysis of a three-dimensional spider web architecture," in Interface, Journal of the Royal Society, Volume 15 Issue 146, September 2018
Tomeás Saraceno, Arachnid Orchestra, project website
Ana Teixeira Pinto, "Tomás Saraceno: Cloud Cities," in Domus, 2011
--
Born in San Miguel de Tucumán, Argentina, in 1973. Lives in Berlin, Germany.