Emergence with Rocks

This living inquiry explores and documents the material-relational possibilities with natural rocks on a specific beach as a proactive participant in our encounter. I consider and take seriously the multimodal possibilities of the natural assemblages—ecological, cultural, political, and historical—as a means of cultivating a deep reciprocal relationship between myself and rock material. This inquiry is inspired by Stephanie Bunn (2011), Tim Ingold (2013), and Christopher Schulte (2018), as a way of critically engaging with multimodal ways of thinking with natural material and acknowledging beach rocks as a collaborative participant. Implementing a posthumanist framework, I begin to reconceptualize the normality of being with, engaging with, emerging with, and co-existing with natural material. Guided by Tim Ingold’s (2013) concept of attention as a way of actively listening and being consciously aware during the present moment with materials, I embrace the intricate web of reciprocal relationships in the bioregion. This journey considers the ethical elements of coexisting with the complexity, particularities, unpredictability, and unlimited possibilities of natural elements and more-than-human materials that reside in this area, while exploring, learning, opening myself up to the gradual rhythms and intrigues that are often overlooked, taken-for-granted, and unnoticed.