| dc.description.abstract | The global economy depends substantially on the material resources extracted from the environment. Extractivism is a process of intensive extraction of natural resources, which are used as energy sources or materials for producing goods that tend to exceed the capacity of the environment to regenerate itself. Recently, the concept expanded to mean a mentality that enables the exploitation and exhaustion of the other-than-human. As a response to a growing concern with the scale and unsustainability of extractivism, a new concept has been developed: post-extractivism. Post-extractivism assumes as little extraction of natural resources as possible and the lowest possible impact of human society on the other-than-human.
In this exploratory study situated in the Western context, I combined art and science to investigate how artistic embodiment practices can facilitate the development of post-extractivist imaginaries, which assume a non-exploitative, reciprocal and regenerative relationship with the other-than-human. To expand the societal and practical contributions of my research, I conducted interviews with artists and embodiment practitioners, participated in and/or conducted desk research of their practices, and developed an embodiment workshop for people from my local environment.
My main results indicated that artistic embodiment engaging with dialogue and attunement, through intimacy, touch and embodiment of the other-than-human has the potential to enable post-extractivist imaginaries. In the view of the artists I interviewed and workshop participants, the recognition of the interconnectedness between the human and the other-than-human and stepping beyond human-centredness can support a shift towards post-extractivism.
My research laid the foundations for further exploration of the concept of post-/extractivist imaginaries as well as of embodiment as a methodology to learn and practice reciprocal, regenerative and non-exploitative ways of interaction with other-than-human beings. It contributed with some examples of how six artists, based in the West and recognising the other-than-human in their artistic practices, are researching and practising post-extractivist ways of being. | |
