Tectonics

Featuring artworks by fourteen contemporary artists whose work is themed around geoaesthetics and geological thinkings. The catalogue accompanies the online exhibition of the same title found at http://lethologicapress.org/tectonic/ which was put together for a roundtable/panel at Nga tohu o te huarere: Conversations beyond human scales, the 8th ASLEC-ANZ Conference Aotearoa 23-26 November 2021 at Te Whanganui-a-Tara (Wellington). Participating artists: Erich Berger (Finland),...
More Description

Featuring artworks by fourteen contemporary artists whose work is themed around geoaesthetics and geological thinkings. The catalogue accompanies the online exhibition of the same title found at http://lethologicapress.org/tectonic/ which was put together for a roundtable/panel at Nga tohu o te huarere: Conversations beyond human scales, the 8th ASLEC-ANZ Conference Aotearoa 23-26 November 2021 at Te Whanganui-a-Tara (Wellington). Participating artists: Erich Berger (Finland), Ecological Gyre Theory (Chantelle Mitchell and Jaxon Waterhouse, Australia), Ilana Halperin (Scotland), Lee Harrop (Australia), Rob Kettels (Australia), Linda Knight (Australia) and Alys Longley (New Zealand/Aotearoa), Kelly Leonard (Australia), Christine Lorenz (USA), Annette Nykiel (Australia), Perdita Phillips (Australia), Nien Schwarz (Australia), Elizabeth Shores (USA).A variety of artists today are working with geoaesthetics and/or long-term scales of thinking that relate to geological processes or geological timescales. Vulcanism, earthquakes, weathering and/or the stages of change in plate tectonic processes are dealt with directly, or as analogical and metaphorical terrains for wider issues. The artists recognise the large-scale processes that may go backwards or forwards in time at scales that are more-than-human. Tectonic thinking looks at social, ecological, political, and human issues through the lens of 'deep time', particularly recognising forces causing change at different scales: from the local and structural to the significant or considerable. It reverses the polarity of human-centred reasoning. Diverse approaches and media are included in the online exhibition. Some creative works explore exchanges of energies or radiation; others work with geo-materiality. Responses include speculations, performance, video, sculpture and site specific works.