Lichenizing Pedagogy: Art Explorations in More-than-Human Performance and Practice

Abstract


 This project of performative writing and visual inquiry proposes the concept of “lichenizing” as a collaborative methodology for engaging with the lively pedagogy of the more-than-human. Looking to the multispecies mosaic of Lichen as teacher and ally, this arts-based, collectively produced foray considers transcorporeal, intermingled relationships as a pedagogical tool for fostering a radical, ecologically-centered curiosity for learning and making. To support our theorizing, we present two collaborative art projects where tenets of lichenizing were utilized to instruct process and form, and suggest further exploration and research on the practice of “lichenizing.”

Arts Practice as the Daily Extraordinary: A Philosophy of Inclusivity

“…The additional dimensionalities of performance, sound and film, create an enfolding time-within-time and world within worlds, where an audience might release their daily concerns and become re-enchanted with life (Bennett 2001). Performative practice situates the artist and audience among the 'larger than life'the more-than-humanin what Zollinger et al (2022) have called, 'Lichenizing pedagogies'that reach out into the unknown and weather all sorts of conditions as lichen do. Artist educators and students are also reaching into computer-generated processes that offer multiple experimental versions of artworks on a daily basis, appearing and being remade in an instant.…”

“…Performative practice situates the artist and audience among the ‘larger than life’ – the more‐than‐human – in what Zollinger et al . (2022) have called, ‘Lichenizing pedagogies’ – that reach out into the unknown and weather all sorts of conditions as lichen do. Artist educators and students are also reaching into computer‐generated processes that offer multiple experimental versions of artworks on a daily basis, appearing and being remade in an instant.…”