The idea of a romanticized nature as a background scenario or neutral framework where human activity takes place is no longer valid and must be replaced by a broader and more complex reflection. In this online course, Nature will be explored as one of the main cultural constructions of modernity, focusing on contemporary perspectives that address environmental and ecological issues, and help foster interspecies relationships between humans, non-humans, matters, and technologies. Through a series of online sessions and lectures, we will explore the entanglements between art, philosophy, and the environment proposing successive decentralizations towards a non-human-centered perspective.

In what ways can new ecological perspectives redefine our relationship with the environment? What philosophical questions arise from the notion that nature and culture are deeply intertwined? How does the concept of postnature challenge the binary classifications of the natural world, and how can we ethically navigate its consequences and implications? What future scenarios can we envision where postnature and new ecological thinking lead to coexistence, empathy, and desirable ways of inhabiting the planet?

In this online course, we will explore nature as a central cultural construct of modernity, focusing on contemporary perspectives that address environmental and ecological issues. Using various theoretical approaches, we will examine the key terms that define new ecologies, analyzing interspecies interactions, cultural productions, ecological awareness, and the challenges faced by artistic, design, research, and curatorial practices in the context of the current climate crisis.

This seminar covers a wide range of issues and themes, including botany, archaeology, media studies, technologies, postnatural territories, ecofeminism, and postcolonial approaches. By using a broad methodology, the seminar engages with many contemporary debates. Through case studies, collective readings, virtual explorations, and critical analyses of various matters and events, the seminar aims to foster interspecies relationships among humans, non-human entities, matter, and technology.

Session I 22 / 04 / 2025 New Ecologies: Dissolving the Nature/Culture Binomial This introductory session proposes an approach to contemporary ecologies that defy rigid categorizations, whilst exploring matters and stories that blur the boundaries between the cultural, the natural, and the artificial. Revolving around the concept of Postnature, and understanding it as a political subject, it will function as a debate platform from which to investigate, communicate, and discuss new approaches to artistic practice.

Session II 29 / 04 / 2025 From the Anthropocene to the Cthulhucene We will raise a critique of the contemporary understanding of the Anthropocene and deploy other terminologies and approaches, both theoretical and material, in order to think about desirable worlds of the future.

Session III 06 / 05 / 2025 Soundscapes of the Phonocene Soundscape is better defined as the raw composition of sounds that fills an environment, while the phonocene is a proposition to inhabit and generate kinships with the sonic at the center. What changes can be manifested when we understand the entanglements between the exterior acoustic environment and the frequencies of our emotions, memories, and dreams? In this session, we will focus on active listening as a practice for radical ecological care.

Session IV 13 / 05 / 2025 Queer Worldings Through the lens of queer ecology, we will explore the genre of interspecies relations and ecosexuality as a way to rethink our relationship with non-human entities. This type of non-binary thinking and embodiment functions as a tool to break the taboos of coexistence and social constructions that come with inhabiting human cultures.

Session V 20 / 05 / 2025 Gardens of Delights Via a digital visit to botanical gardens, we will explore how we have built the idea of nature into a specific space of the urban landscape that is layered with political, economic, and aesthetical complexities. From queer plants to the rare ginkgo tree, we will investigate how we exploit plants for medical purposes, how we shape nature for aesthetic pleasure, and how botanical gardens have inspired artists in their practices.

Session VI 27 / 05 / 2025 Interspecies Communication: Affect and Coexistence To truly engage in interspecies communication, we must first dismantle the human/animal binary as best we can. An anthropocentric approach to interspecies communication inherently creates questionable hierarchies. Field recordings and artificial intelligence, for example, can help us reflect on the differences between sonic appropriation and new means of interspecies care.

Gabriel Alonso

Gabriel Alonso

Yuri Tuma

Yuri Tuma