worlding
The scale of our relationships with the planet begins right at our doorsteps. How much do we truly understand?
To navigate Gaîa’s intricate balance through species interdependence, the Office for Planetary Relationships offers guidance to collectively explore the consequences of our decisions within the critical zone.
Together, we will map our environment’s cycles across time and space to trace the ripple effects. Our Worlding process, a holistic nature’s portrait, aim to bring a fourth dimension in new creative narratives and dialogue.
To navigate Gaîa’s intricate balance through species interdependence, the Office for Planetary Relationships offers guidance to collectively explore the consequences of our decisions within the critical zone.
Together, we will map our environment’s cycles across time and space to trace the ripple effects. Our Worlding process, a holistic nature’s portrait, aim to bring a fourth dimension in new creative narratives and dialogue.
Starting from the critical zone, as defined by Bruno Latour, these are special areas where nature and human activity closely interact, and where the health of our planet is constantly negotiated.
Located at the center of our map, it includes the main component of our direct environment: Moon, Sun, Soil. The cycles of the Moon and the sun have a direct impact on agriculture but also on ourselves and could be an indicator in design. The soil is where the cycles are crossing and is at the heart of the life supporting system: carbon, water, decay and many more happens in the soil. Its health and biodiversity needs to be protected.
Then we will assess different factors:
Air: quality, what we are rejecting impacts the climate but is also the air we breathe.
Water abundance or scarcity is a sign of life and we cannot do without.
We have then two crossing line bonding two elements where we need to locate ourselves :
Are participating at the community (human or non human) or working with individuals?
Are we impacting/collaborating with the birds or the mycelium (or everything in between)?
This first constellations of answers will help us assess where we start from.
By playing with those different levels of analysis, we also want to provoke a reaction about the occidental cosmology in its distinction between humans & non-humans. Inspired by Descola’s ontology, we are placing Humans as a species with the non-human in its interdependence for survival.
We are distinguishing social constructs to allow perspective and transformation. The ethical self will allow for a personal understanding and interpretation of the analysis.
This framework hopes to integrate indigenous knowledge and cosmology in its example.
1. The abiotic:
Through it long cycles, the always moving elements of the abiotic world are the essential conditions to life. Geology, geography, climate are all elements that goes beyond our lifetime and understanding.
2. The biotic:
The biotic world regroup all livings: Human & all Kingdoms of lifeEubacteria, Archaebacteria, Archezoa, Protozoa, Chromista, Plantae, Fungi, Animalia
There is no hierarchy or scale in our study, we only want to recongnise the interdepense of all species from the smallest (in size) to the biggest (in impact).
3. The Cultural:
The cultural are all our construct: society, politics, organisation that will influence our actions.
4. The Ethical:
We are looking at this section as the Ethical self. What is our believes and attitude near the critical zone?
In this section we will look at time and balance. The responding aspect of this framework is essential.
It got inspired by the future cones. But we cannot look at the future without looking at the past.