English Title
Gaïa’s Names: Thinking about the End of the Anthropocene
Author
Małgorzata Sugiera
Journal
Prace Kulturoznawcze, vol. 22, nos. 1–2
Publisher
University of Wrocław
Year
2018
DOI
10.19195/0860-6668.22.1-2.2
Language
Polish, with an English abstract
Inclusion
Wonbin Yang’s Species Series (2012) is named in the Polish and English abstracts and discussed in the closing section of the article. Sugiera examines Segnisiter continuus and Umbra infractus as speculative, artificial life forms emerging from the discarded materials and technological systems of contemporary cities.
Page Numbers
Article: pp. 15–30.
Discussion of Wonbin Yang’s work: pp. 28–29 (PDF pages 14–15).
Małgorzata Sugiera examines debates surrounding the Anthropocene and alternative names proposed for the present planetary era. Drawing on the work of Isabelle Stengers, Donna Haraway, and Bruno Latour, the article considers how naming shapes both the diagnosis of ecological crisis and the futures that can be imagined in response.
Sugiera introduces Wonbin Yang’s Species Series as an example of artificial forms that complicate the boundary between living and nonliving matter. She describes the contemporary metropolis as a new kind of prebiotic environment from which unfamiliar forms of life might emerge from civilization’s discarded materials, or “junkware.”
The discussion focuses on Segnisiter continuus, constructed from crumpled newspaper, and Umbra infractus, constructed from a broken black umbrella. Sugiera considers their invented scientific names, species descriptions, and documentary-style videos as elements that question the cultural and scientific conventions through which something is recognized as natural, technological, or alive. She uses the works to expand the concept of “natureculture” toward a relationship among nature, culture, and technology.
Related Publications
Marta Tomczok later quotes Sugiera’s discussion in Węglopolis – metropolitalne związki miast i „pod-powierzchni” (2023).
Sugiera also discusses Yang’s practice in “Reel Nature: Speculative Gardens of Eden,” published in Emerging Affinities: Possible Futures of Performative Arts (2019). This is a separate publication.
Links
Article record and full text through the DOI.
The artist extends sincere appreciation to Małgorzata Sugiera for her thoughtful discussion of Species Series and for positioning the work within debates on speculative life, technology, and post-anthropocentric ecologies.
Wonbin's YouTube Channel