Images in the Age of Petrochemical Organicism

For the early 20th century, organicism referenced life forms and holism, contending that all “organic molecules” derived from life.  That program cracked with synthetic chemistry.  We now face an entirely different world: where the fossil fuels threaten the planet with destructive global warming. In this talk I will argue that new forms of images of organic matter have broken through to alter public opinion and national policies. At the same time, invisibilization takes many forms, from physical access through attentional misdirection to legal obfuscation.  These images, their production and distribution, raise media-theoretic issues, even as they stand at the intersection of political-economic and aesthetic crosswinds.  This is a report of joint work with the art historian Caroline Jones on the continuing struggle to reveal and conceal technical land, technical seas, and technical air.