Sym-Poisis in Indigenous Art

Part I or II

This is part of a university essay a wrote a few months ago. I am going to be posting two parts from this paper. Paid subscribers can read the whole thing now, otherwise part two will be out next week!

Sym-poiesis is a term coined by Donna Haraway to describe collective, co-dependent processes of making and becoming. The idea comes as an opposition to autopoiesis, which refers to self-production or making. Sym-poiesis instead focuses on the importance of collaborations and interconnectedness. Haraway introduced the concept to help better understand the complex relationships between different beings, such as humans, animals, technologies, and environments. Sym-poiesis highlights the idea that everything comes into being and evolves in relation to each other, emphasising the interdependent nature of systems rather than simply focusing on individual autonomy. To summarise, sym-poiesis emphasises that the ways in which anything is created and grows are not isolated processes but a part of a larger, collaborative, and dynamic system.[1]

For Haraway, sym-poiesis relates to thinking, writing, and creating.[2] This is what allows for and envisions new ways of working together, often in a more holistic way. She focuses mainly on how sym-poiesis applies to multi-species becoming and co-making. This idea suggests that a collaborative process involves multiple different species. Instead of focusing on the individual, there is an emphasis on interconnection and mutual influences. In contrast to auto-poiesis, which focuses on self-creation and self-production, sym-poiesis implies collaborative and mutual efforts. There is a co-creative relationship between different beings instead of an individual and self-focused process. Haraway relates her idea of sym-poiesis to the act of storytelling. There is a constant cycle of back and forth and interrupting in order to create a dynamic and continually evolving narrative. Stories emerge when we talk about things that we genuinely care about. In Haraway’s case, these stories tend to focus on the integration of systems into the larger concept of “worlding” in which nature and culture are inherently intertwined with one another.[3] Sym-poiesis is a collaborative and generative process that involves multiple different species. It is a mode of storytelling that expresses and realises this interconnectedness. Haraway emphasises the importance of acknowledging the collective nature of ideas and the constant loop of interruption and evolution that occurs in storytelling.

This idea of sym-poiesis can be applied to forms of Indigenous knowledge in several ways. The idea of “multi-species-becoming-with”[4] reflects a holistic and interconnected world view. Many traditional Indigenous knowledge systems focus on this type of interconnection between all living beings and the environment, recognising the relationship and interdependence between humans, animals, plants, and nature. The idea of "making-together" and "co-making" aligns with Indigenous perspectives that view humans as co-creators with other beings in the environment. Indigenous knowledge often acknowledges a shared responsibility for maintaining balance and harmony in the natural world.[5] Haraway claims to tell "stories about working and playing critters."[6] This suggests an appreciation for non-human entities and the roles that they play on larger scales. Many Indigenous cultures have rich oral traditions that include stories about animals, plants, and natural elements. These stories often depict animals and nature as sentient beings with their own agency. Haraway emphasises the importance of giving credit to and remembering the collective and the avoidance of portraying ideas as entirely original. This resonates with Indigenous traditions that prioritise collective knowledge and the passing down of wisdom across generations. Indigenous knowledge often incorporates ancestral teachings and communal learning. Haraway’s focus on "biologies intimately part of worlding" and the inseparability of "naturecultures"[7] is similar to Indigenous perspectives that see humans as parts of nature, rather than separate from it. Many Indigenous cultures emphasise a deep and respectful connection to the natural environment. A final way in which Haraway’s concept of sym-poiesis can be understood in relation to Indigenous knowledge is through storytelling and oral traditions. Storytelling is a powerful way to share knowledge, values, and practices from generation to generation. Indigenous stories often tell important stories about the relationship between humans and the natural world.

It is important to note that Indigenous knowledge is diverse, even within one country such as Canada. Different Indigenous cultures have unique worldviews, practices, and ways of understanding their relationship with the environment. As Archer Pechawis argues “[i]f we are to survive as a species, there must be a paradigmatic shift in our approach to life itself, one that encompasses Indigenous modes of thought and experiential reality.”[8] Despite differences between territories, Pechawis emphasises the common thread of land-based knowledge and practices.[9] This type of knowledge is very site-specific. For example, in western Canada the landscape is comprised of mountains and forests with huge trees, a setting that plays out in local Indigenous traditions. [10] In northern Canada, by contrast, ice is a vital part of the environment. The melting of glaciers due to climate change is something that is affecting Indigenous communities living in the North.[11] As art historian, Amanda Boetzkes points out, all of these territories have been shaped by colonial impact. While there are different types of knowledge that converge and conflict with one another, colonial history has impacted how we see the associated landscapes. Historical ways of thinking about and representing the land, both Indigenous and colonial, have shaped current understandings and portrayals of climate change.[12]

When asked about the role of artists in relation to “the arts of living on a damaged planet,”[13] Haraway responds by emphasizing the importance of working with different species and collectively by finding points of intersection between art, science, and philosophy. The case that Haraway brings up in her response, the Crochet Coral Reef Project, also underlines the importance of feminism in art. In this project, sculptures in the shape of coral have been crocheted out of trash by a collaborative group of artists. This confronts viewers with the large amounts of plastic waste that ends up in oceans.[14] The choice of materials for the crocheted reefs, such as old tape and industrial cast-offs, reflects the artists’ dedication to repurposing waste into art. Haraway describes the project as both a fantasy and a nightmare, due to the various materials that symbolise the environmental challenges the planet faces. Despite the haunting nature of the materials, the resulting pieces are simultaneously beautiful and ugly.[15] In the Hawaiian Coral Reef Project, the artists explore the tension between the idealised version of coral reefs around the islands and the reality of the impact that colonialism and pollution are having on Hawaii’s ecology. The artists make viewers think about the issue of colonial fantasy, while at the same time using their work as a way to draw attention to the extreme destruction that has been done to Hawaii’s ecosystem.[16] This will also be seen in the case study that I will present in the next section. Haraway’s discussion of the CCR project highlights the importance of collective and sym-poetic aspects of art and how these can also be embedded in ecological practices.[17] Artists can create projects that are in response to current challenges of extinctions and other environmental crises. This can provide tangible and creative ways for those who witness the art to engage with and reflect on such issues. Haraway brings up the term “response-ability,” which is a proactive and responsible way of engaging with environmental issues.[18] Art projects such as the Crochet Coral Reef become forms of environmental activism by raising awareness. As Haraway notes, the dual nature of beauty and ugliness in the Crochet Coral Reef Project reflects upon the conscious effort of the artists to engage with the complex and multifaceted nature of environmental issues.[19]

The explanation of the Crochet Coral Reef Project that Haraway gives is both a feminist and environmental initiative where female artists engage with ecological issues, in this case specially the issue of plastic pollution and the degradation of coral reefs. The project goes beyond traditional forms of art and instead embodies response-ability and activism while embracing both the beautiful and the ugly in order to tell a story about the complex realities of environmental damage. The case study that I will present in the next section aims to do a similar thing.

Another key concept that Haraway discusses is science fiction, which underpins a theoretical and methodological framework that focuses on the passing on of patterns. In order to strengthen the arts of living on a damaged planet, we must re-imagine contact zones between nature, technologies, and different living beings.[20] We have to be in and of the earth if we want to deal with matters of great urgency. Probably Haraway’s most notable engagement with science fiction is the cyborg, a hybrid between machine and organism.[21] According to her, science fiction allows traditional boundaries between humans, technologies, natures, and cultures to be reconfigured and provides a space for alternative thinking and going against the grain, particularly when reimagining the future.

Haraway’s futuristic theories have similarities to the approaches of Indigenous futurism. This approach is multidisciplinary and similar to Haraway’s notion of science fiction, as it explores alternative ways of thinking about the future, specifically as it relates to the identities, practices, and beliefs of Indigenous peoples.[22] Jason Edward Lewis argues that Indigenous futurism is necessary for a better society in the future. [23] He explores how, for hundreds of years, Indigenous peoples have been forced to share a past and present with the culture of settlers. This is a situation in which their agency and cultures have deliberately been repressed. While settler cultures are “busy dreaming about the future, imagining what it might look like through science fiction […] Indigenous peoples have rarely appeared in those imaginaries.”[24] This creates an erasure of Indigenous cultures, as if their voices and opinions are not of importance. Indigenous futurism challenges this erasure and asserts that sustainable futures must be engaged with Indigenous ways of being in the world.

Haraway importantly critiques the idea of fixed identities. She argues that science fiction allows for creative exploration of changing identities. Her example of the cyborg within science fiction expressly challenges the notion of fixed categories.[25] This is something that Lewis also asserts in relation to Indigenous identities, which cannot be fixed and classified within the rigid frameworks of settler colonialism. The lives and identities of peoples living together are intertwined and affect one another. The prevailing emphasis on settler experience denies this interconnectedness and erases the importance of Indigenous lives and contributions.[26]

The idea of contact zones is used to describe spaces where different cultures, ideals, and entities intersect. These zones are constantly changing and creating new ideas and connections. Interrogating this concept, Haraway points to missed contact zones, which she defines as cases where encounters and exchanges have failed to happen. These failed connections result from various barriers that can be social, cultural, or political, and prevent meaningful engagement and collaborations.[27] Lewis likewise points to the fact that the colonial world view has created and continues to create systems and structures that benefit the perpetuation of colonial dominance.[28] He argues for conversations and engagements that shape new media systems and for structures that allow Indigenous peoples to assert their own agency in future developments and creations. By assuming an active role, everyone is able to contribute to creating a broader foundation and changing the underlying systems that are currently in place while also integrating unique perspectives when thinking about how to shape the future within the current contact zones. [29] The creation of new media systems mentioned by Lewis describes a dynamic process that involves the collaboration of different cultures, technologies, and social influences. This can also be understood as a contact zone in which different elements interact with and influence one another. Claiming agency is a way to actively participate with contact zones. What is vital and necessary is for the integrity of Indigenous voices to be respected now and in the future.

[1] Haraway in conversation with Kenny, 260.

[2] Haraway in conversation with Kenny, 255.

[3] Haraway in conversation with Kenny, 260.

[4] Ibid.

[5] Donna Haraway, “Making Oddkin,” Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, 2017, YouTube Video, 57:15.

[6] Haraway in conversation with Kenny, 260.

[7] Ibid.

[8] Archer Pechawis, “Indigenism: Aboriginal World View as Global Protocol.” In Coded Territories: Tracing Indigenous Pathways in New Media Art, Steven Loft and Kerry Swanson ed, (Calgary, Alberta: University of Calgary Press, 2014): 31.

[9] Pechawis, 38.

[10] Pechawis, 31.

[11] Amanda Boetzkes, “How to See a Glacier in a Climate Landscape.” Weber—The Contemporary West, 34, no. 1 (Fall 2018): 127.

[12] Boetzkes, 128.

[13] Haraway in conversation with Kenny, 263.

[14] Haraway in conversation with Kenny, 265.

[15] Ibid.

[16] Haraway in conversation with Kenny, 265-266.

[17] Haraway in conversation with Kenny, 264.

[18] Ibid.

[19] Haraway in conversation with Kenny, 265.

[20] Haraway, “Making Oddkin,” 16:54.

[21] Haraway, “From Cyborgs to Companion Species,” University of California, Berkeley, Berkely, California, 2004, YouTube Video, 13:00.

[22] Grace L. Dillon, “Imagining Indigenous Futurisms,” Walking the Clouds: An Anthology of Indigenous Science Fiction, no. 69 (2012): 2.

[23] Jason Edward Lewis, “A Better Dance and Better Prayers,” In Coded Territories: Tracing Indigenous Pathways in New Media Art, Steven Loft and Kerry Swanson ed. (Calgary, Alberta: University of Calgary Press, 2014): 56.

[24] Lewis 58.

[25] Haraway, “From Cyborgs to Companion Species,” 14:17.

[26] Lewis, 57.

[27] Haraway, “From Cyborgs to Companion Species,” 15:30.

[28] Lewis, 61.

[29] Lewis, 63.