Speculative Ecologies: Art and Science Collaborations in the Anthropocene

The politics of ecology has found increasing resonance in the art world in recent years, and has given rise to a wide range of artistic responses to ecological emergencies like the human-induced climate crisis or the rapid loss of biodiversity and other forms of environmental destruction driven by the brutality of contemporary fossil fuels-based capitalism. At the intersection of art and science a new sphere has evolved that is particularly attractive to critical artists and hybrid practitioners, who often have backgrounds in art as well as in science. Artists have joined forces with scientists and have teamed up with environmental activists, philosophers, and curators to become effectively eco-activists and active players in the much needed dynamics of socio-ecological transformation processes towards a more sustainable future by articulating speculative narratives of possible futures that differ dramatically from current destructive and unjust anthropocentric development models. By creating insightful visual artworks and fostering collaborative actions together with scientists, these artists seek to increase community resilience and to inspire individual actions directed towards imminent environmental disasters and the future conflicts they will create. As a consequence, more and more artists are getting involved and forging ahead to the forefront of nature conservation while creating scenarios to imagine possible futures that are based on current scientific findings, which also include their predicted consequences under the auspices of capitalism and mass consumerism.