On Trying to be Collective

In this article we ask in what way can the notion of care, collectivizing and the collective become a primary part of contemporary art practice? And further, what types of art practices address these central tenets of democracy? We do this by reflecting on the political potential of care and its importance as a tool for achiev- ing an equal society. Uniting the action of care and collectivity, we conclude that together these two undertakings represent a political force of commoning within the public sphere. Utilizing the writing of Beech, Hutchinson and Timberlake, who argue for collectivism over collaboration as a way towards societal change, we reflect upon the political implications for art when artists work collectively. We consider the practices and function of other art collectives examining their key purpose for acting collectively. We employ our previous practice as the Freee Art Collective, as well as our more recent work as the Partisan Social Club to consider in what ways our practice can be deemed collective

Making Energy Infrastructure:Tactical Oscillations and Cosmopolitics

The infrastructuring of environments to integrate renewable energy sources into the power grid is a key concern in Denmark and many other countries. To redesign current energy systems and ease the transition into a low-carbon future, energy infrastructures must become a matter of public interest and concern. This paper analyses an attempt to make energy infrastructures a public issue. Focusing on the Land Art Generator Initiative (LAGI), a biannual competition that invites artist, architects, and engineers to submit ideas for large-scale public artworks that can generate renewable energy, LAGI offered an attempt to spur peoples’ imagination with regards to energy. The article shows that this effort to make energy a public issue was premised on a set of tactical oscillations. Tactical oscillations are ways of moving with and around various kinds of stakeholders to ensure the success of the competition. While the project had negligible impacts on any on-going infrastructure redesign practices in the Danish setting, the case opens for new questions around how and by what means renewable energy sources become part of established energy infrastructures. It also raises the important question of the possible role played by art and design when imagining and designing for new ways of living with energy.Integrating renewable energy sources into the power grid and ensuring public interest in energy is a key concern in many countries. What role may art play, and what political strategies do artists employ, in order to intervene in the infrastructuring of energy and public environments? As the case study here, a Copenhagen art and energy competition invited artists and designers from around the world to submit ideas for large-scale public artworks that can generate utility-scale renewable energy. The competition process had a smooth and consensus-seeking political strategy, manifested in a set of tactical oscillations. In order to engage with local stakeholders and ensure the success of the competition, the project managers oscillated between presenting the competition as part of existing policy initiatives and as posing alternatives to existing policy. They oscillated between being situated in a pragmatic present and in an unprecedented future; between being tied to the specific site of the competition and belonging to no place in particular; and not least between being predominantly an art project and primarily an infrastructure project. Remarkable differences between cosmopolitics and smooth politics appear here, especially compared to the literature analysing the roles played by art and design when imagining new ways of living with energy. Oscillation between smooth politics and cosmopolitics may provide a generative way forward for actors wishing to engage in the infrastructuring of environments.<br/

Fish Architecture : A framework to create Interspecies Spaces

Fish Architecture embraces the common spaces that we inhabit with aquatic animals. Here, we develop an approach to redesign these spaces as an interspecies collaboration. First, we should empathise with the non-human perspectives, while acknowledging limitations in understanding non-human perspectives of our mutual Umwelt. Next, we imagine new spaces that do not follow pre-existing human concepts. To achieve this in the framework of Fish Architecture, we merge the two disciplines art and science and apply their complementary methods to understand and imagine Interspecies Spaces. The Fishy Manifesto captures our process and explorations, as well as, offering a practical approach to coexistence. Fish Architecture is divided into three distinct phases, each offering room for observation and experimentation in different ecosystems. The third phase allows us to join aquatic and terrestrial life at the surface, paving a path to genuine ecological coexistence.publishe