Living entanglement : toward an entangled design nexus

Abstract

Human-nature encounters more and more take forms of conflict, struggle, resistance and denial. Beneath the surface question of “how to survive”, these encounters reveal “entanglement” as the fundamental condition of the world. This new world view, supported by systems thinking and posthumanism, radicalizes the anthropocentric reductionistic belief. The shift informs a reposition of design from a method to produce (techne) to an invitation to co-becoming (phronesis). This article starts with a cross-disciplinary literature review to elaborate the concept of “entanglement” in three levels: relationality, co-becoming and blurred subject / object division. Then, the field work of an ecoliteracy program (“The Muddy School”) is shared in multiple vignettes which lead to theorization of an “entangled” design framework. I propose a new design proposition that a) redistributes power, b) builds knowledge in an open-ended process, and c) catalyses creative emergence. The experimentation of ecoliteracy education can be viewed both as a design intervention and a prototyping of “entangled” design approach in a “lab environment” mimicking the larger human-nature entanglement. I argue this new design proposition is not and should not be restricted to speculative works. Rather, it sheds lights in the actual worlding where not only anthropocentrism, but also patriarchy, colonialism, racism and other forms of hegemony are being challenged. The possibilities of an “entangled” design approach may be further explored in various tactical design-making practices as well as organizational or political contexts.