The Art of Noticing

WORDS + IMAGES: ROBERTA TRENTIN
@BLUESPRUCEWANDERINGS

The Art of Noticing, inspired by Margulis and advocated by Tsing with her invitation to be attentive to what happens beyond industry's ruins, stimulated me, and inspired me to look at the world differently, to perceive and acknowledge our coexistence with other beings, and empower collaborations. Noticing is a form of listening and caring. The moment we stop looking forward but instead look around us is the moment we can begin to mend all relations. Sympoiesis, a concept introduced by Haraway, is a simple word; it means “making-with.” Nothing makes itself; nothing is self-organizing (D. Haraway, 2017). The idea of becoming with allows for encounters between artists, scientists, community members, and more-than-human beings. From this fusion, becoming each other's project, in each other's lives is possible; we can come to need each other in diverse, passionate, corporeal, and meaningful ways. In my practice and process, noticing takes a fundamental role. Compelled by the fascination with the smallest part that makes and merges into wholes, I never stop looking for those smaller units. With time, I started seeing the whole, which changed the meaning of those smaller units. I learned that the smallest units never exist in isolation but rather are comprised of coexisting assemblage. This lesson helps shed the belief that we are confined to a state of solitude and isolation. This journey has led me to embrace and adapt to the teachings of the more-than-human in my life. At the same time, I have learned to refrain from looking too far forward and instead remain in the present.

This is an archive of images with the mission of inspiring visitors to get closer to the unseen world around us and beneath our feet. To inspire the viewer to stay with the moment and gain awareness about the concept of the “we”.