Tracing the Mountains: reflexões gráficas no contexto da Crítica Infraestrutural e crise climática

Abstract

This article discusses the relationship between infrastructures,
the climate crisis, and extractivist practices through
artistic research in the project “From the Top of the Mountains
We Can See Invisible Monuments” (i2ADS - Institute for
Research in Art, Design, and Society). The works “GRAMMAR” and
“The Observers’ Plateaus” are presented to speculatively, retrospectively,
and guidedly explore concepts analysed through a
reflective methodology (Anke Haarmann) that aligns with Infrastructural
Critique, aiming to visualise how infrastructures
shape artistic and cultural practices (Marina Vishmidt).
By analysing the political, economic, and scientific echelons
that sustain infrastructures, the article argues that
artistic practice can expose the tensions between technological
development and the resilience of social movements. In
the context of practice-based artistic research, the metaphor
of the “negative mountain” suggests the “inversion” of extractive
ecosystems, proposing new perspectives on how to live and
inhabit landscapes. The article also addresses the topic of
the production of space and the uncertainties of the current
period, highlighting, for example, the recent decision by the
International Union of Geological Sciences to reject the Anthropocene
as a new geological epoch.
Thus, the article seeks to contribute to the debate on
environmental justice, emphasising the need to recognise
epistemological diversity in discussions about the climate
crisis, capitalism, and colonialism. This essay presents the
manifestations of an investigative process that values artistic
practice as a way to tackle the impasses of a period
marked by the convergence of economic, climate, and social
crises, as well as the rhetorical forms of power structures
and significant decisions.