Edge Effects

Happy Translation Tuesday! Today on Edge Effects, Nicolás Felipe Rueda Rey and Tomás Pino translate
@monikaszuba.bsky.social's essay on deep time and the politics of decay. Can we grasp geologic change and plastic waste in our short lifespans?

El Asunto del Tiempo Monika Szuba pregunta cómo los humanos lidian con el tiempo profundo a través del examen de la vida fosilizada, la vida contemporánea y la vida sintética.

¡Feliz martes de traducción! Hoy en Edge Effects, Nicolás Felipe Rueda Rey y Tomás Pino traducen el ensayo de
@monikaszuba.bsky.social sobre el tiempo profundo y las políticas de la descomposición. ¿Podemos comprender el cambio geológico y los residuos plásticos en nuestra corta vida? 🦴⏳

Happy Translation Tuesday! Today on Edge Effects, Nicolás Rueda Rey and Tomás Pino translate @monikaszuba.bsky.social's essay on deep time and the politics of decay. Can we understand geological change and plastic waste in our short lifespan?

Cyborg Horses, Urban Growth and the Changing Nature of Labor Archives from Madison, Wisconsin show the role of mechanized horses, or equine "cyborg" labor, in the growth of U.S. cities.

Today on Edge Effects, former managing editor Bri Meyer explores the multispecies assemblages that built U.S. cities: how horses were mechanized to perform "cyborg" labor, how these multispecies relationships changed in the automobile era, and the lasting equine footprints in Madison, WI. 🐴🤖

Visuals and Verse Across Borders Photography of street art across the Americas inspires ekphrastic poems and translations in this unique, cross-national collaboration.

Today on Edge Effects, poet Ann Fisher-Wirth collaborates with photographer Wilfried Raussert and a team of translators led by Sarli Mercado and @salianoche.bsky.social. This novel "gathering of voices" explores the interconnectedness of people and nature in urban environments. 🎨 📷

Snapshots of the Anthropocene in Iran These photographers capture the complex layers of memory, ecological change, identity, and diaspora in the contemporary landscape of Iran.

Today on Edge Effects, Angelica Modabber discusses her exhibition, "Water and Oil." Through stunning photographs of peripheral spaces and faces, she explores the topography of memory in Iran: how ecological change, exile, and diaspora is ossified in the land and its inhabitants. 👣 📷

Choose your next read/watch from the favorites of these brilliant thinkers on env. futures and futurity: @sgallini.bsky.social @jessicahurley.bsky.social @ceirr.bsky.social @scobrien.bsky.social @jpietruska.bsky.social Leida Fernández Prieto & Michael Rawson 🫶

Faculty Recommendations: Environmental Futures and Futurity Faculty recommend books, films, and exhibits that critically examine the construction, utility, and politics of environmental futures.

Today on Edge Effects, scholars from a range of disciplines share books/films they are most excited to teach this year on environmental futures and futurity. Their gift for our present, these recommendations span from science fiction to documentary, speculative poetry to historical exhibit. 📚💭

Knowledge Politics and the Making of Indian Environmental History: A Conversation with Ramachandra Guha - Edge Effects Ramachandra Guha discusses his new book, Speaking with Nature (2024), and the history of environmental thought in India.

Today on the Edge Effects podcast, Laleh Ahmad speaks with Ramachandra Guha about his new book, Speaking with Nature (2024). They explore how identity and knowledge politics shape environmentalism and environmental history in India and around the world. 🇮🇳☀️ #envhum #envhist

Do Cows Appreciate Poetry? And Other Musings On Our Bovine Friends These poetic fieldnotes on befriending feedlot cattle reflect on our broken food system and life under constraint.

Today on Edge Effects, Mia Werger's poetic fieldnotes and stunning drawings bring a powerful conclusion to our Companion Species series. While befriending feedlot cattle, Werger reflects on the more-than-human experience, surviving amidst hopelessness, and dreaming of a free tomorrow. 🐄🖤

Humanizing Migrants and Miners of Southern Africa - Edge Effects This multimedia exhibit aims to humanize the stories of migrant mining workers of Southern Africa using archives and art.

Today on Edge Effects, Christopher Conz and Christina Balch mesh archival documents with art to humanize the migrant mining workers of southern Africa. Their exhibit draws attention to the systems of extractive capitalism that demonize migrants around the world. 📜🎨

Is Seasteading Another Word for Colonialism? Libertarian's interest in seasteading parallels nineteenth century oceanic colonialism, as represented by Robert Stevenson’s The Ebb-Tide.

Today on Edge Effects, @poisoniv3y.bsky.social draws parallels between contemporary libertarian visions and oceanic colonialism of the 19th century. Seasteading may seem like futuristic science fiction, but Robert Stevenson's The Ebb-Tide offers grave warnings about how this old idea plays out. 🛳️🏖️

Benjamin Chin-Hung Kao is a Ph.D. student in Geography from Brazil and Taiwan at the UW-Madison. Kao’s doctoral project explores Transpacific settler colonial geographies of Pokémon and its worlds. 🐻 Read his full essay here: edgeeffects.net/bears-in-jap...

The bears of popular Japanese-based video games, in particular, animate contemporary colonialism.

"Video games invite players to reenact the process of erasure through play. By simulating colonial history, players become active participants in its present."

"Bear-related products are not a celebration of Ainu identity. Rather, the commercialization of Indigenous imagery facilitates the transformation of Ainu Lands into Hokkaido: culturally and economically."

The Indigenous Ainu people of Japan are imbued by artists and scholars "with bear-like characteristics, like hairiness, to emphasize their wildness. ... Western scholars have characterized Ainu as of the wild and threat to the wild, both bear-like and enemy to bears."

"Bears in Japanese popular culture are not just cute or kitschy. They accompany us as we experience haunting histories and presents of colonial violence."

The Dark History of Kitschy Japanese Bears Despite their often-cutesy appearance, the bears of Japanese popular culture are part of the country's violent colonial history and present.

Today on Edge Effects, our Companion Species series continues with Benjamin Chin-Hung Kao's excavation of the history of bears in Japanese popular culture. From Indigenous symbol to colonial icon, these charismatic mascots belie Japan's violent political history.

Jerald Lim is a queer, Singaporean Chinese, new media artist and poet playing in the intersections of the ecological, computational, and poetic. ☀️ Read and listen to their poems here! edgeeffects.net/twin-cinema/

"'roots' narrates the encounter between two seedlings whose roots meet in the underground mushroom mesh. Excited by their encounter, they dream of a larger family reunion."

"'aspen study' emerges from my observations of the bustle and drama unfolding on and around one of the aspen trees at the University of Utah over a week in August."

"Twin cinema makes for a good companion to not only think through, but also practice multispecies companionship. As I move to portray the rhizomatic qualities of plant life, I am simultaneously guided by them."

Twin Cinema: A Poetics for Plant Companionship Twin cinema, a poetic practice from Singapore, mimics rhizomatic entanglements and inspires alternative plant-human companionship.

Today on Edge Effects, Jerald Lim uses the twin cinema, a poetic form that originates from Singapore, to (re)present the perspectives and vibrancy of our plant companions. The rhizomatic structure of their poems help us imagine a world beyond dualism. 🍄🌳

The God in the Aquarium Axolotls trouble Western dualisms. As god, pet, and research subject, these creatures tell us about science, companionship, and futures.

A conniving, dog-headed god to the Aztecs and a cutesy "water puppy" in today's popular imagination, axolotls have a tumultuous history with humans. In today's Companion Species installment, Alex Ventimilla explores how these creatures trouble Western categories and dualisms. 🦎🐶

Play Nature in These Six (More) Board Games Nate Carlin is back to review six (more) nature-themed board games: the worlds they construct and the ecological stories they tell.

Today on Edge Effects, Nate Carlin is back with a review of six more of the latest nature-themed board games. What do these quintessential constructions of nature reveal about how we understand and relate to the environment? Nate plays with these ideas and more. 🌲♟️
edgeeffects.net/latest-envir...

What Comes After Earth Day? - Edge Effects Edge Effects and SustainUW collaborate to bring a glimpse of Earth Fest celebrations and underline environmental protection beyond one day.

Today on the Edge Effects Podcast, a special episode with SustainUW and professor Jim Feldman. We discuss the history of Earth Day in the United States, glimpse Earth Fest celebrations on campus, and underline embracing environmental protection beyond just April 22. 🌎 edgeeffects.net/earth-fest/

Why are people drawn to the other-than-human, sometimes to detrimental ends? I'm excited to share this piece on interspecies captiv(e-)ation:

Carp as Villians and Victims - Edge Effects Teri Harman considers resilience, fishy companionship, and the culpability of "invasive" carp in Utah Lake. Are carp villains or victims?

Today on Edge Effects, our Companion Species series dives into fishy companionship. Wading in the waters of Utah Lake, Teri Harman explores the history, resilience, and culpability of “invasive” carp in Utah Lake. Are carp the villains or victims of this story? 🐟
edgeeffects.net/invasive-carp/

A Cage of One's Own? On Interspecies Captive-ation - Edge Effects Quinn Georgic unpacks the concept of interspecies captivation through mutual power that binds humans and primates together.

Happy World Environment Day! Today on Edge Effects, Companion Species continues as Quinn Georgic uses the concept of captivation (or captive-ation) to unpack the mutual power that binds humans and primates together—from HBO's CHIMP CRAZY to fieldwork with lemurs. 🐒 edgeeffects.net/interspecies...

Kelp Can Help Build More Just Futures - Edge Effects Lydia Lapporte discusses how kelp recovery and decarceration intersect in Earth Equity’s radical vision for ecological restoration.

Today on Edge Effects, Lydia Lapporte adds to Companion Species by discussing the intersecting projects of kelp recovery and decarceration. She demonstrates that relational companionship and abolition ecologies can be useful for both kelp & incarcerated people. 🌿🌊 edgeeffects.net/kelp-recover...