The Hydrocene Eco-Aesthetics in the Age of Water

• Main Author: Bailey-Charteris, Bronwyn
• Format: eBook
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford Taylor & Francis 2024
• Series: Routledge Environmental Humanities
• Subjects: Agricultural science; Agriculture and farming; Anthropocene; Applied ecology; Blue humanities; Climate change; Climate crisis; Contemporary art; Cultural and media studies; Cultural studies; Earth sciences; Earth Sciences, Geography, Environment, Planning; Eco-aesthetics; Environmental humanities; Environmental justice; Environmentalist thought and ideology; Feminism; Gender studies, gender groups; History; History and Archaeology; History of art; Hydrocene; Hydrology and the hydrosphere; Oceanography (seas and oceans); Pollution and threats to the environment; Social groups, communities and identities; Society and culture: general; Society and Social Sciences; Technology, Engineering, Agriculture, Industrial processes; The Arts; The arts: general topics; The Arts: treatments and subjects; The environment; Theory of art; Water; Water crisis
• ISBN: 9781032501949; 1032501944; 9781040018729; 9781032501321; 1040018750; 1003397301; 9781003397304; 1040018726; 1032501324; 9781040018750
• DOI: 10.4324/9781003397304

This book challenges conventional notions of the Anthropocene and champions the Hydrocene: the Age of Water. It presents the Hydrocene as a disruptive, conceptual epoch and curatorial theory, emphasising water's pivotal role in the climate crisis and contemporary art. The Hydrocene is a wet ontological shift in eco-aesthetics which redefines our approach to water, transcending anthropocentric, neo-colonial and environmentally destructive ways of relating to water. As the most fundamental of elements, water has become increasingly politicised, threatened and challenged by the climate crisis. In response, The Hydrocene articulates and embodies the distinctive ways contemporary artists relate and engage with water, offering valuable lessons towards climate action. Through five compelling case studies across swamp, river, ocean, fog and ice, this book binds feminist environmental humanities theories with the practices of eco-visionary artists. Focusing on Nordic and Oceanic water-based artworks, it demonstrates how art can disrupt established human–water dynamics. By engaging hydrofeminist, care-based and planetary thinking, The Hydrocene learns from the knowledge and agency of water itself within the tide of art going into the blue. The Hydrocene urgently highlights the transformative power of eco-visionary artists in reshaping human–water relations. At the confluence of contemporary art, curatorial theory, climate concerns and environmental humanities, this book is essential reading for researchers, curators, artists, students and those seeking to reconsider their connection with water and advocate for climate justice amid the ongoing natural-cultural water crisis. The Open Access version of this book, available at http://www.taylorfrancis.com, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives (CC-BY-NC-ND) 4.0 license.