Transecologies: contemporary art in the context of the climate crisis

Against the backdrop of multiple environmental crises, contemporary artists and artistic collectives are increasingly exploring the complex relationships and interactions between 'natural' and social, biological and technical-cultural systems. Furthermore, with regard to ecological destruction, they also reflect on the gendered or ethnically determined power relations and neo-colonial structures that are reflected, for example, in the division between the countries of the so-called Global South and the Global North. Due to a recent expansion of the concept of ecology, such links between social and ecological processes have also recently come to the fore in scientific disciplines. Contemporary art produced in the context of the climate crisis is therefore - according to the central hypothesis of the research network - concerned with trans-ecological aspects. In order to adequately explore the complex connections between diverse socio-ecological processes and their aesthetic-artistic negotiations, the network has set itself the task of developing a trans-ecological approach for art studies. By critically revising and synthesizing existing definitions of transecology from anthropology, political philosophy and gender studies, the network members aim to develop 'transecology' as an innovative theoretical concept and a new method for art studies. With this project, the network is responding to a gap in research. Despite the evident centrality of ecological themes in contemporary art production and in cultural studies theory, a well-founded examination of these phenomena in German-speaking art studies is still in its infancy.