A Slobjects Exercise: What’s in Our Pockets?
This exercise is designed to facilitate a more direct, personalized understanding of the ways in which individual humans, nonhumans, and their attendant objects are connected to the large, often abstract concept of the Anthropocene. “Slobjects” (slow objects) takes as its premise the concept that any mundane object can be looked at afresh and analyzed for its connections to other objects, life forms, ecological processes, and human activities. This activity is designed to be carried out by small groups working with a facilitator and can be adapted for diverse populations, from primary school learners to mixed groups of adults.
As an example, the diagram above is based on an experience had by participants of the “Slow Media” seminar in examining objects we were carrying with us when we met. We found a host of connections and associations by comparing two of the objects we produced: an oak gall and a square of silk. While writing about, drawing, and diagramming those relationships over the course of the workshop, we had a rich conversation around the entanglement of humans, history, ecology, and technology.
Our conversation led us to draw out the following unifying concepts:
- Unity and diversity of codes: ink to write, holes in Jacquard looms, punch cards and oak galls, algorithms and computers, text as stories and binary codes
- Multiscale weaving: from cellulose fiber synthesis in leaves (nanometric scale) to textile weaving (metric scale)
- The question of domestication—from the domesticated silkworm to the domestication of humans via textiles and computers
- Nonhuman intelligence: plants as solar energy converters, insects as transformers and converters of plant material
- Resource use: human dependency on plants as a resource base, the cyclical tendencies of the biosphere versus the noncyclical tendencies of the technosphere
How to approach this exercise
- Facilitator directs the group to sit in a circle around several large sheets of paper.
- Each group member empties their pockets/purse/backpack and selects several objects to present to the group.
- Participants introduce themselves and the objects they have selected. The facilitator leads the group in asking a series of questions about each of the objects. The facilitator takes notes on one of the pieces of paper in the center of the group (or on a whiteboard).
- Working with each other and with the facilitator, the group selects two objects to contrast and compare as a group.
- The facilitator guides the process of creating a drawing (on a fresh piece of paper, referring to the notes from step 3), combining text, objects, and lines to create a mind-map showing how the objects relate to each other, to humans, and to other lifeforms. The facilitator may choose to ask for or assign a scribe(s), or do the writing or drawing her- or himself.
Questions around the objects
- Who made this object?
- When was this object made?
- What is the object made of?
- Where did the materials to make this object come from?
- How long will this object last?
- Will it turn into something else once it is no longer in its current form?
- Who uses this object?
- Does it have more than one use?
- What speed does this object have?
- Is this object domesticated, wild, or domesticating?
- Any other questions you like…
Making sense of the conversation and the connections
- The group analyzes their collective drawings.
- The analysis considers how the pair of objects are connected (in many ways).
- What stories can these connected objects tell about the Anthropocene?
- The group finishes the process by adding a title to their drawing relating to the themes or ideas they explored.
