THE CRITICALITY AND EDUCATIONAL POTENTIAL OF ECO-ART: A STUDY THROUGH ZHENG BO'S PRACTICE

This manuscript centres on the critical condition and pedagogic worth of eco- art by examining the work of a contemporary Chinese artist Zheng Bo. The research is concentrated on how Zheng criticises the anthropocentric worldview, suggesting more multispecies alliances and its alternative to mainstream education on ecology, grounded in insights into posthumanism and critical pedagogy. His most famous, such as Pteridophilia, Botanical Curriculum, The Forest Curriculum and Living Archive; they illustrate that eco-art can be both a cultural argument and a philosophical investigation and pedagogical transformation all at the same time. The paper follows a qualitative case study research design where art-based research (ABR) and critical thematic analysis are embraced to examine Zheng visual and performance work. Video recording has also been applied to secondary data, artist interviews, curatorial essays and exhibition documents. This observation indicates that the eco-art, which Zheng produces, suggests a posthumanist ethos, as it decenters human capability, supposes a queer ecological orientation, and prioritises interspecies cooperation. Freirean principles of dialogical and embodied education are preconditioned by his collaborative and place-based practises and inspire ecological literacy and social change. The discussion is part of a broader understanding of eco-art as a tool of environmental cognition-education and criticism.