Hyperobjects

2024

Hyperobjects—entities so massively distributed in time and space that they transcend human comprehension—challenge us to rethink our place within the world. They are the forces that shape our lives invisibly and persistently: climate change, global supply chains, and ecological systems we both depend on and disrupt. To confront hyperobjects is to grapple with the profound interconnectedness of existence, to recognize that our actions resonate far beyond our immediate surroundings, and to accept that we are enmeshed in systems far greater than ourselves. This project explores the material and moral consequences of these entanglements, urging us to reconsider how we live, consume, and respond to the complexities of the natural world.

Hyperobjects is an editorial exploration of humanity’s entangled relationship with the natural world, inspired by Timothy Morton’s concept of hyperobjects and Jane Bennett’s The Agency of Assemblages. Through a combination of essays, personal analysis, and photography, the project examines the moral and ecological implications of human actions. It focuses on vast, interconnected systems—such as climate change, resource extraction, and environmental disasters—that transcend individual comprehension yet shape our shared existence.

Through essays, photography, visualizations, and curated narratives, the work challenges traditional notions of nature and humanity’s place within it. Themes include the ethical complexities of resource extraction, such as cobalt mining, the disproportionate impacts of environmental disasters on vulnerable communities, and the global consequences of technological dependence. By situating these real-world issues within a philosophical framework, the project emphasizes the scale and urgency of our moral responsibilities.

Key questions guide the project: How do we live responsibly in a world shaped by incomprehensible forces? How can we cultivate a more integrated and ethical relationship with the environment? Combining academic inquiry, personal reflection, and visual storytelling, Hyperobjects critiques humanity’s extractive practices while envisioning pathways to coexist with the intricate web of life.

Combining research, analysis, and visual storytelling to explore humanity’s entangled relationship with the natural world. Inspired by Timothy Morton’s Hyperobjects and Jane Bennett’s The Agency of Assemblages. Beggining with the analyzation of essays that interrogate themes of ecological interconnectedness, morality, and material consequences. These texts provided a framework for the project’s narrative and structure.

The visual language reflects the overwhelming scale, imposition and complexity of hyperobjects. Photography was central to the project, combining natural landscapes with industrial and human-made interventions to highlight the tensions between ecological systems and human actions.