Planetary Figuration
Theory of Anthropocene-Form
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.69498/ri.2026.23.604Keywords:
Aesthetics, Anthropocene, Form, FigurationAbstract
This article introduces five concepts to advance, in a preliminary way, an aesthetic of the Anthropocene. First, it takes Gayatri Spivak’s notion of figuration as a starting point to explore the planetary as a radical alterity. Second, it reconstructs Denise Ferreira da Silva’s definition of form as a rupture with its modern conception. Third, it draws on McKenzie Wark’s theory of the Anthropocene to present the concept of tectonics as the site of an inquiry into organization as a formal concern. Fourth, it examines Jennifer Gabrys’s concept of sensor as a way of defining contemporary distributed perception. Finally, it employs Patricia Reed’s concept of friction to reveal the differences immanent to tectonics. Together, figuration, form, tectonics, sensor, and friction constitute a provisional framework for a theory of Anthropocene-form.
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