Date of Award

2026

Document Type

Dissertation - Restricted Access (SIA Only)

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Department

Contemporary Art

Abstract

This dissertation explores how contemporary art cultivates a biocentric aesthetics that challenges anthropocentric paradigms and redefines the relationship between humans and the more-than-human world. It critiques the fact that dominant ecological discourses remain fundamentally human-centred, framing nature as a passive backdrop and an inexhaustible resource for human survival. In contrast, art offers a critical and visualised mode of inquiry that empowers nonhuman entities and proposes an interdependent relationship beyond humancentric hierarchy and control, simultaneously reflecting the systemic issues that have shaped this ideology. Drawing on art practices from both Western and Eastern contexts, the study develops a more comprehensive and cross-cultural perspective on how artists respond to the current climate crisis and ecological issues. By juxtaposing Western philosophical frameworks of environmental thought, such as T. J. Demos, Donna J. Haraway, Val Plumwood, with Eastern cosmologies that emphasise harmony and interconnectedness, the dissertation situates biocentric aesthetics as a global discourse of coexistence. Ultimately, this dissertation calls for a reorientation of perception, urging readers to contemplate and confront the entrenched dualistic thinking that separates humanity from nature and to embrace a more reciprocal, symbiotic mode of existence with other beings that share the same planet.

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