The Cultures of Entanglement: On Nonhuman Life Forms in Contemporary Art

The symbolic meaning of plants, their relevance to religion and the metaphorical provocations in the order of knowledge, culture and political power underline the role of plants as something more than passive objects. Current theoretical and artistic discourses have been seeking access to the world independently of man by focusing on the nonhuman other. The contributors to this volume examine the historical, philosophical and scientific findings that generate this idea. In what way are such perspectives manifest in contemporary art? Do artists develop a particular approach that enables nonhuman life forms like plants, insects or animals to have an impact?

Suzanne Anker is a visual artist and theorist working at the nexus of art and the biological sciences. She is the Chair of the Fine Arts Department at the School of Visual Arts in New York City.

Sabine Flach is a Professor of modern and contemporary art at the University of Graz, Austria, and Chair of the section Contemporary Art at the Departement of Art and Musicology, Universität Graz. She is member of the faculty at SVA, School of Visual Arts, NYC and Adjunct Professor at the University of Cincinnati.