Systems of Attention and Intention: Haapoja. Foucault. Lineaus,
Since categorizations reflect entrenched cultural values, the significance of the conference reported in this blog lies far beyond intellectual curiosity and mental antics. Instead, it delves into the core values that define the ecological, economic, political, religious, and social practices that distinguish the contemporary era.
The symposium in question was co-organized by Terike Haapoja for the current Venice Biennale. It is titled it “A Counter Order of Things”. The 'counter order' refers to the search for alternatives to the Linnaeus tree of taxonomical knowledge that has long ruled the biological sciences.
The phrase is also a rif on Michel Foucault whose seminal book is entitled The Order of Things. Written in the 1960s, it asserts the limitations of standard taxonomies. Foucault replaces the reasoned order that accounts for Linneaus's renown with a new system of thought that he calls the "exotic charm" that comprises a basis for post-modernist thought.
Once again, Linnaeus’s tree of taxonomical knowledge is being criticized by environmentalists because it infers the supremacy of human kind above all other entities.
Replacing an anthropocentric perspective is essential to Haapoja’s artistic approach that promotes an egalitarian way of being-in-the-world.
Linneaus’s system is formulated upon kingdoms that are divided into classes, orders, families, genera, and species. The following categories might seem quizzical and eccentric because they reflect a fluid thought process that distributes attention to living and non-living entities, objects and systems, conditions and behaviors:
action
animals
art
art / design
birds
cattle
climate
flight
food
fungi
green
insects
invasives
jellyfish
land
menus
necrocracy
ocean
PDX
petrochemsurvey
plankton
plants
squirrels
superorganism
water
http://www.frame-finland.fi/fallingtrees/category/labiennale/