Nonhuman Nonsense

Nonhuman Nonsense

Nonhuman Nonsense is a research-driven art and design collective working in the realm of social dreaming and world-making. Their projects engage with the nonhuman: animals, objects, ecology, technology, and the spectres between and beyond categories.

They use nonsense as an antidote to “common sense” – embracing paradoxical stories to explore the ethical and metaphysical layers of our relationship with the (nonhuman) world. The collective creates contradictory scenarios and propositions in which they appropriate ideas from fields such as science, computing, law and mythology.

Nonhuman Nonsense enjoys curiosity, cherishes compassion, and recognises that separating the human from the nonhuman is nonsense.

Artworks

Mud & Flood – The Return of Nehalennia

2022
seashells, prints, aquariums, electronics, test tubes, concrete, etc

A contemporary temple to a long-forgotten goddess of the Zeeland sea, where she emerges as a 21st-century hydrofeminist. In collaboration with scientists from the Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (NIOZ), the project advocates for soft, natural borders between land and water, rather than hard dykes and barriers.

Amidst the climate crisis, countries below sea level, like the Netherlands must reform their relationship with the sea to avoid catastrophic flooding. The project highlights the importance of returning reclaimed land to mudflats and salt marshes, coastal ecosystems that naturally protect from rising seas and floods.

By resurrecting the ancient goddess Nehalennia, the project blends science and mythology, offering a narrative about coexistence in times of a paradigm shift. It contributes to a global discourse in which the climate emergency forces us to re-evaluate our entire relationship with non-human beings and forces.