Thursday, November 5th from 12:40 EST-13:20 EST
Public
Hosted by Fibres & Material Practices – Concordia University
Online event: https://concordia-ca.zoom.us/j/83500455351
Amélie Bélanger: Towards A More Sensible Materialism
“In failing to recognize limitation as a terrain for fertile enquiries, my ancestors came to favour exploitation as a way to ascend. We have caused the downfall of several ecosystems because we wanted to possess nature’s bounty and beauty. Today, the environmental crisis is forcing us to consider our interconnectedness between all living, non-living, organic and inorganic things on this earth. As the editors of the essay collection Arts of Living on a Damaged Planet suggest in the introduction: ‘Suffering from the ills of another species: this is the condition of the Anthropocene, for humans and nonhumans alike. This suffering is a matter not just of empathy but also of material interdependence.’ (Tsing et al. 2017, M4)How can a practice rooted in materiality be adapted to the present ecological crisis by not contributing to the surproduction of waste and without falling into desperation and cynicism? How can we foster an attitude of respect, comprehension, and restriction towards the materials we generate to create an artwork? We must re-imagine our relationship with the resources we use and embrace limitation as a terrain for fertile inquiry. My research field is that limitation.” —Amélie Bélanger
Amélie can be found virtually at:
www.amzanger.com
@amz.anger on Instagram
Amélie makes art as one would enter a process of transformative grief. Her work is an ode to the wonders we’ve lost in the course of the capitalocene-anthropocene and beyond. She is a member of the Textile and Materiality Research Cluster from Milieux Institute and a MFA candidate at Concordia University.
ZOOM LINK: https://concordia-ca.zoom.us/j/83500455351
textiles + materiality research cluster 