More-than-Human Wellbeing

Abstract

The ‘More-than-Human Wellbeing’ exhibition draws on several research studies conducted in the Vitalities Lab and UNSW Node of the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision-Making and Society. As a research translation and engagement initiative, the exhibition presents materials that communicate the key concepts and findings of these projects. We use multimodal arts-based and multisensory methods – both digital and non-digital – to highlight ways of knowing and being within and beyond the world of self-tracking apps, electronic medical records and smart devices for documenting illness and promoting health and wellbeing. The exhibition seeks to attune visitors to their role in more-than-human ecologies and how their health and wellbeing and that of the planet is entangled. It shows that digital software, data and devices are only part of the manifold ways that people learn about their bodies and their health. It acknowledges that human health is always more-than-human health, and that natural and human-made objects and spaces are intertwined