Past Nature in Contemporary Art. How Art and Philosophy Interact

Monique Peperkamp | University of Amsterdam | Past Nature in Contemporary Art. How Art and Philosophy Interact | Supervisors: Christa-Maria Lerm Hayes, Miriam van Rijsingen, Peter Sonderen.

Nature is a key concept in modern culture, related to the romantic-modern idea of the subject and the rationale of art in modernity. Many contemporary works of art address nature in a state of catastrophic transformation, nature appears in neologisms such as ‘transnatural’, ‘next nature’, ‘postnature’, and anthropocentrism is simultaneously challenged by new materialisms. This research investigates how art and new tendencies in philosophy are related to these transformations. It therefore inquires into works of art and art practices concerned with nature, and theory, to understand what the pivotal positions, core concepts and implications concerning nature and art are.