Extinction Quilt
My second-generation symbionts brought my research into the second phase. Using lichen as the main body of the sculptures allows me to question “species hierarchy and Anthropocentric exceptionalism”[1] while suggesting a new way of posthuman thinking within affirmative ethics. Furthermore, through injecting the ecological and environmental indicator-lichen into my symbionts, I intend to inspire hope and the possibility of a sustainable future and become a force to reject dystopia.
In my extended research, I found the amazing lichen family. They are actually biological collaborations between a fungus and a photosynthetic organism (a photobiont), usually a kind of algae or a cyanobacterium. This relationship is non-hierarchical, and they co-exist with mutual benefit. Lichens are very sensitive to pollution and changes in temperature and humidity. Scientists have long been successfully using lichens as ecological indicators or environmental health thermometers.
In this iteration I presented the lichen symbionts on a handmade Extinction quilt, on which names of extinct species in the last one hundred years are embroidered. Informed by textile works of Faith Ringgold, Gunes Terkol and Nilbar Gures, I stitch the name of extinct species on the quilt as protest, and applique the symbionts on the quilt as my resistance to environmental degradation and advanced capitalism. At the same time hoping to inspire creative change for a more just and liveable future.
I hand painted map lichen and crochet fruticose lichen onto the symbionts. Aesthetically the result is quite pleasing even though the symbionts are far from being perfect or pretty. Their uneven limbs and disfigured bodies not only embodied our broken system but also embedded the art and beauty of “living with the trouble
[1] Rosi Braidotti, Posthuman Knowledge, (Cambridge. UK: Polity Press, 2019), p2.
My second-generation symbionts brought my research into the second phase. Using lichen as the main body of the sculptures allows me to question “species hierarchy and Anthropocentric exceptionalism”[1] while suggesting a new way of posthuman thinking within affirmative ethics. Furthermore, through injecting the ecological and environmental indicator-lichen into my symbionts, I intend to inspire hope and the possibility of a sustainable future and become a force to reject dystopia.
In my extended research, I found the amazing lichen family. They are actually biological collaborations between a fungus and a photosynthetic organism (a photobiont), usually a kind of algae or a cyanobacterium. This relationship is non-hierarchical, and they co-exist with mutual benefit. Lichens are very sensitive to pollution and changes in temperature and humidity. Scientists have long been successfully using lichens as ecological indicators or environmental health thermometers.
In this iteration I presented the lichen symbionts on a handmade Extinction quilt, on which names of extinct species in the last one hundred years are embroidered. Informed by textile works of Faith Ringgold, Gunes Terkol and Nilbar Gures, I stitch the name of extinct species on the quilt as protest, and applique the symbionts on the quilt as my resistance to environmental degradation and advanced capitalism. At the same time hoping to inspire creative change for a more just and liveable future.
I hand painted map lichen and crochet fruticose lichen onto the symbionts. Aesthetically the result is quite pleasing even though the symbionts are far from being perfect or pretty. Their uneven limbs and disfigured bodies not only embodied our broken system but also embedded the art and beauty of “living with the trouble
[1] Rosi Braidotti, Posthuman Knowledge, (Cambridge. UK: Polity Press, 2019), p2.