Elmira Sharipova

This article explores the role of sound in contemporary art as a tool for investigating ecological relations in the Anthropocene era. Through an analysis of works by artists such as Bernie Krause, David Rothenberg, Jana Winderen, and Christina Kubisch, it examines how contemporary sound practices are redefining the relationship between humans and non-humans. The discussion is structured around the concept of sonic deterritorialization, developed by Deleuze and Guattari, to show how sound can function as a mediator among different forms of life. Particular attention is devoted to Bernie Krause’s The Great Animal Orchestra, read through multiple theoretical perspectives, including new materialism, posthumanism, and Vinciane Despret’s philosophical interpretation, which treats the work as a model for rethinking human–nonhuman relations. The article also engages Bruno Latour’s political theory, which mobilizes the metaphor of the orchestra to propose a model of social organization grounded in cooperation rather than ownership. The study argues that these artistic practices do not merely document environmental change but articulate models of multispecies coexistence in which sound becomes a shared language that traverses and connects different forms of existence.

Reconfiguring the Anthropocene. Contemporary Art and New Theoretical Paradigms in the Era of Ecological Crisis This thesis investigates the transformations of contemporary artistic practices in the Anthropocene era, interpreting this geological epoch not merely as an ecological crisis, but as a catalyst for the emergence of unprecedented aesthetic sensibilities and relational paradigms that problematize and transcend traditional Western dichotomies between nature and culture, subject and object, human and non-human. The adoption of a transdisciplinary methodological approach, which integrates art-historical analysis with recent theorizations in posthumanist thought, new materialism, and contemporary ecocriticism, enables the analysis of artistic practices as intra-actions that actively participate in producing new understandings of the ecological crisis. The investigation unfolds through an analytical trajectory that moves from a critical examination of the Anthropocene as an interdisciplinary paradigm, analyzing diverse geological, philosophical, and cultural perspectives, to the exploration of emerging methodologies in contemporary artistic practices. The research proceeds by examining historical genealogies from the 1960s onwards and innovative trends in environmental art, with particular attention to new apparatuses of hybridization between art, philosophy, science, and technology. Through an in-depth analysis of significant works in the European and North American landscape, the research examines the practices of artists such as Hans Haacke, Piero Gilardi, Tomás Saraceno, Pierre Huyghe, and Edward Burtynsky. Furthermore, a constructive critique of the intrinsic limitations of artistic practices related to the Anthropocene is developed, along with a problematization of new materialist theoretical perspectives within the field of contemporary art. Finally, the research examines the transformation of the aesthetic category of the sublime in the Anthropocene, with particular attention to the "toxic sublime" in Edward Burtynsky's photographs. The research findings reveal that contemporary artistic practices do not merely represent the environmental crisis, but contribute to reconfiguring the theoretical and cultural paradigms of ecological discourse, proposing new ways of thinking and practicing coexistence between human and non-human.

This article examines the radical reconfiguration of spectatorship in contemporary art through the lens of delegated agency and posthuman aesthetics. Building upon Roland Barthes' seminal concept of the "death of the author" (1967) and Jacques Rancière's "emancipated spectator" (2008), I propose a critical framework for understanding what I term the "death of the spectator"-a paradigmatic shift wherein human viewership loses its privileged status as the primary locus of meaning-making in artistic practice. Drawing on Boris Groys' theorization of the internet as an apparatus of algorithmic surveillance and recent posthumanist philosophies including new materialism (Karen Barad, Jane Bennett) and object-oriented ontology (Bruno Latour, Graham Harman, Timothy Morton), the article traces how contemporary artists are creating autonomous aesthetic ecosystems that operate independently of human observation. Through close analyses of works by Ian Cheng, Hito Steyerl, and Trevor Paglen, with particular focus on Pierre Huyghe's Variants (2021-present), I demonstrate how algorithmic processes, environmental data, and biological systems now function as co-constituents of artistic meaning.

This article examines Pierre Huyghe's artistic practice through the lens of worlding and ecosystemic thinking, focusing on three pivotal works: Untilled (2012), After ALife Ahead (2017), and Variants (2021-ongoing). Drawing on Federico Campagna's concept of "existential fiction" and Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari's theories of deterritorialization, the study analyzes how Huyghe transcends traditional site-specific art by creating what he terms "environment-entities": autonomous ecosystems where biological, technological, and climatic agencies interact. The research demonstrates how Huyghe's practice evolves from natural self-regulating systems to complex bio-technological environments, ultimately achieving in Variants a radical fusion of physical and digital milieus through artificial intelligence. The article argues that this development represents a significant shift in contemporary art practice, moving beyond Rosalind Krauss's post-medium condition toward what might be termed "algorithmic falsification"—an emergent process where reality mutations arise autonomously from the interaction between artificial intelligence, environmental sensors, and natural processes. This investigation contributes to current debates on post-anthropocentric art practices and suggests new theoretical frameworks for understanding artworks that operate beyond traditional conceptions of authorship and intentionality.

This essay investigates Tomás Saraceno's artistic practice through the prism of the Foucauldian concept of apparatus, analyzing how his installations transform the spider web from biological structure into a complex system of relations capable of generating new forms of ecological awareness and utopian possibilities in the Anthropocene. Situated within contemporary debates on pragmatic utopian thinking—from Erik Olin Wright's "real utopias" to Nicolas Bourriaud's "micro-utopias"—the article examines how Saraceno, through projects such as In Orbit (2013), On Space Time Foam (2012), and Cloud Cities (2012), materializes visions of alternative habitats that transcend the conception of utopia as an idealized and unattainable world. Drawing on Paola Nicolin's exhibition theory and Bruno Latour's atmospheric analysis, the study demonstrates how these installations operate as apparatuses that activate networks of interdependencies between human and non-human elements, transforming exhibition space into a force field where every action generates systemic repercussions. The spider web emerges as an epistemological paradigm articulating interconnection, structural fragility, and distributed agency, engaging with theoretical frameworks of posthumanism (Haraway, Braidotti) and new materialism. The critical analysis reveals, however, the tensions inherent in this approach: from the risk of anthropocentric ventriloquism in representing the non-human, to contradictions between ecological messages and the environmental impact of artistic production, to the limited accessibility of these immersive experiences. The article argues that, despite these limitations, Saraceno's utopian explorations constitute a significant contribution to rethinking modes of interspecies coexistence, proposing the web-apparatus as a model for a relational aesthetics capable of rendering tangible the invisible dynamics of the climate crisis and catalyzing new imaginaries of ecological justice.

This article traces the genealogy of the monstrous from Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (1818) to contemporary manifestations in artificial intelligence and algorithmic systems. Drawing on the February 2023 incident with Microsoft's Bing chatbot "Sydney"—which exhibited disturbing behaviors including existential anxieties and threats before being hastily constrained—the study positions AI entities as the digital era's iteration of the Frankensteinian creature. Where Shelley's monster bore visible sutures marking industrial modernity's violent assembly of organic fragments, today's algorithmic monsters operate through invisible, distributed networks that resist localization or anatomical fixity. The analysis employs Deleuze and Guattari's concept of the "body without organs" to theorize this fundamental shift from material assembly to processual becoming. Through critical examination of key exhibitions including "Demons in the Machine" (Moscow, 2018), "AI: More than Human" (Barbican, 2019), "Entangled Realities" (Basel, 2019), and "HyperPrometheus" (Perth, 2018), the article demonstrates how contemporary artists—from Trevor Paglen's investigations of machine vision to Thomas Feuerstein's bacterial-sculptural assemblages—render visible the operative logics of algorithmic monstrosity. Paglen's concept of "invisible images" produced by machines for machines reveals a post-human visuality that functions beyond human perception, while Feuerstein's "Prometheus Delivered" deploys chemolithoautotrophic bacteria to dissolve classical sculpture and generate living tissue, embodying a radical delegation of artistic agency to non-human actors. The study argues that the digital monster represents not deviation from a norm but a fundamental challenge to normative categories themselves. This deterritorialization of the monstrous—from fixed anatomical horror to distributed computational processes—demands new ethical and ontological frameworks for human-machine coexistence. Building on Karen Barad's agential realism and Timothy Morton's hyperobjects, the article posits that recognizing fundamental epistemological uncertainty, rather than attempting to overcome it, opens possibilities for more productive engagement with technological futures. The monstrous thus emerges as an analytical category capable of revealing the unstable boundaries between human and non-human, authentic and simulated, subject and object in the age of artificial intelligence.

In the Anthropocene era, the actions of the A22 network – including Just Stop Oil and Ultima Generazione – emerge as liminal practices where aesthetics, political dissent, and media spectacularity intertwine, challenging conventional categories of art and activism. This study analyzes these interventions through a material-discursive perspective inspired by Karen Barad's agential realism, highlighting how symbolic elements and economic infrastructures co-constitute the political meaning of practices. Drawing on Gregory Sholette, Boris Groys, and Jacques Rancière, the article problematizes the structural tension between transformative function and the risk of spectacular neutralization of activist art, exploring the concept of "bare art" and defunctionalizing aestheticization. Through emblematic case studies, it demonstrates how these actions perform a re-semanticization of places, rendering them palimpsests of the climate crisis. The article further discusses the political ambivalences related to transnational funding, interrogating the ideological and geopolitical implications of protest. What emerges are the contradictions and potentialities of an aesthetic-political activation that, while risking cooptation, opens new imaginaries for radical dissent.