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<p>The humble organism sheds a new light on the bonds between ecology and politics</p>
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Skye Sherwin

Artist Nolan Oswald Dennis on the importance of thinking like a lichen

<p>‘My contribution to the World Weather Network is called <em><em>symbiont-sociont. A lichen metacosmology, or dreaming with a lichen teacher&nbsp;</em></em>(2023), and is how I attempt “to think lichenly.” The lichens I’m looking at are specific to the weather station in collector Nicoletta Fiorucci’s garden in Grasse, France, but they have a global presence, too. The project orbits around questions of distance and proximity: I have never been to the site myself, only accessed it remotely.</p>

<p>‘Lichens are compound organisms that consist of two parts: an alga, or bacterial, partner and a fungal partner. These are distinct organisms, which have other lives besides being in this lichen partnership, but they support each other. The fungal partner builds the structure that you see. The alga or bacterial partner converts solar energy into chemical energy, which the fungal partner then uses to expand the structure. They’re in a symbiotic relationship. The idea of being symbiotic, or socio-ontic – always emerging from a relationship and thinking of yourself as made up of multiple parts – really resonates with me. </p>
<p>‘Lichens also give us warnings. They’re the first victims of any changes in the climate. For me, this mirrors one of the most unfair aspects of climate change, which is that it’s the generally more impoverished citizens of the Global South who are the first to be impacted.</p>

<p>‘The diagram I’ve created functions partly as a way for me to think through the connections, proximities, and gaps in meaning [conjured up by the lichens] as I try to find my way in this subject, and partly as an invitation to others to think alongside me. It can be downloaded, printed, cut up, and turned into an object. Central to my practice, such diagrams are my personal evolution of the popular science inserts I used to get in magazines as a kid: interactive, infographic tools that you pulled out, cut up, and stuck together to learn something about the world and your place within it.</p>
<p>‘The object you can make from <em>lichen metacosmology</em> is a strange shape called an octahemioctahedron. It’s composed of triangles and hexagons that pass through each other to make a single form, which relates to how lichens comprise two elements that combine to create a single entity. I’m also trying to incorporate into my thinking about lichens an unexpected relationship that emerged between ecology and politics. The diagram additionally references Black feminist ideas, mostly from the theorist Sylvia Wynter. This symbiotic, lichen-like way of thinking about the world mirrors the Black feminist notion of the socio-ontic, with a particular emphasis on the African diaspora.</p>

<p>‘The diagram is accompanied by a reading list: texts drawn from the different worlds of queer theory, liberation theory, and symbiotic ecology that I’ve found necessary in supporting my thinking around lichens. There are also fragments from my notebooks – like my poem ‘The Meditation For Parts’ – as well as memories, extracts from resonant texts, and previous works. The diagram is not a solution to the question, “How should I think about lichens?” It’s a toolkit for continuing to reflect on lichen-cosmic relations.’</p>
<p>Part of a series of stories on the <a href="http://worldweathernetwork.org/">World Weather Network</a>, a constellation of 28 artist-created weather stations around the world, initiated by Artangel, London, in response to climate change.<strong></strong></p>

<p><a href="https://www.artbasel.com/catalog/artist/7534/Nolan-Oswald-Dennis">Nolan Oswald Dennis</a> is represented by <strong><a href="https://www.artbasel.com/catalog/gallery/1143/Goodman-Gallery" target="_blank">Goodman Gallery</a>&nbsp;</strong>(Johannesburg, Cape Town, London). </p>
<p>Skye Sherwin is an art writer based in Rochester, UK. She contributes regularly to <em>The Guardian</em> and numerous art publications.</p>
<p>Published on April 18, 2023.</p>
<p>Caption for full-bleed video and images:&nbsp;Nolan Oswald Dennis, <em>symbiont-sociont. A lichen metacosmology, or dreaming with a lichen teacher</em> (2023). Courtesy of the artist and Nicoletta Fiorucci Foundation.</p>

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