Loving Orphaned Space: the art of occupying disappeared spaces of infrastructure
Topics: Cultural and Political Ecology
, Urban Geography
, Environmental Justice
Keywords: art science collaboration, narrative, infrastructure, care
Session Type: Virtual Paper Abstract
Day: Friday
Session Start / End Time: 2/25/2022 09:40 AM (Eastern Time (US & Canada)) - 2/25/2022 11:00 AM (Eastern Time (US & Canada))
Room: Virtual 57
Authors:
Mrill Ingram, CIAS, UW Madison
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
Abstract
Mierle Laderman Ukeles’s “maintenance art” strove to pull into view the disappeared and denigrated activities of human care (Ukeles 1969). Inspired by her work, I have similarly sought to understand a disappearance of land and territory rendered invisible by its role in maintenance infrastructure (Ingram 2022). I use the term “orphaned” to capture the passive forces and active expending of energies—efforts such as policing, lighting, fencing, cementing, mowing, and dumping of pollutants—that inhibit the emergence of diverse or uncontrolled social, ecological or other relationships. Orphaning inhibits the occupation of spaces of infrastructure. As many settled areas face climate change and pandemic-related challenges (urban heat islands, lack of local green and open space, water management issues, increasing costs of infrastructure), orphaned spaces are gaining notice. This new visibility contains opportunities and challenges for everyday urbanism as well as for attending to environmental justice and economic inequity (Chase et al, 1999; Gould and Lewis 2016; Wolch et al 2014). The emergence of new characters and relationships that can manifest even in the presence of active orphaning—is always a particular story, informed by local history and geography as well as by contemporary politics, agents, and larger forces. This presentation will discuss the work of building connections in disappeared maintenance spaces as well as the importance of these efforts as they challenge and redefine damaging, marginalizing notions of infrastructure.
Loving Orphaned Space: the art of occupying disappeared spaces of infrastructure
Category
Virtual Paper Abstract
Description
This abstract is part of a session. Click here to view the session.
| Slides