The Anthropocene and techno-sublime oxymorons in contemporary art

Abstract

Based on the triangulation between art, Anthropocene and the sublime, the thinking of Bourriaud, Latour and Haraway combines to enhance these concepts from a historical perspective of contemporary art that boosts the projection of future scenarios. In an attempt to define a past conceptual framework, an archaeological exercise is developed considering works by Beuys, Haacke or Denes, adopted as points of reference for current trajectories and trends. The legacy of Buckminster Fuller will be considered, including the Biosphere 2 project, to establish the scientific-artistic dynamics, key to the philosophical speculation of such topics. Works by Goldsworthy, Turrell and Saraceno are then considered in light of the definition of spaces and times specific to each of the concepts in this article: Anthropocene (geological time and a space without exterior), sublime (historical-biological scale) and art (fictional space and individual time). Some works of Documenta 13 will be considered in order to highlight the mutually enhancing dynamics of the sublime and the Anthropocene, namely those by Huyge, Pentecost, Dong, Buch, Kyungwon and Joonho. Jameson’s techno-sublime will also be considered in order to enhance the post-human, considering the possible obsolescence of the human and some ways of prevent it.