The Aesthetics of Climate

“Anthropocene” is a term that has frequently come to our attention in recent years when discussing the politics of ecology, especially climate change. This term, which we can also translate as the “Age of Humans,” implies that in the geological era we are currently in, the most defining factor regarding the functioning and physical structure of the world is “humanity.”

So, who exactly is the “human” and “humanity” referred to in the Anthropocene? The Aesthetics of Climate addresses this question in its political and ethical dimensions, focusing on the built environment and artistic production as the mediums where politics and ethics take shape. The book points out that discourses suggesting the entry into the “Age of Humans” tend towards an apolitical conception of “humanity.” It argues that this tendency conceals the real contradictions and divisions concerning the politics of ecology that need to be discussed.

Eray Çaylı is an academic who touches upon the disciplines of anthropology, geography, architecture, and art criticism, and studies the visual and spatial politics of violence and disaster. He approaches the Anthropocene not as a tension between a de-politicized “human” and another, or between “humanity” and “nature” conceived as homogeneous aggregates, but in light of the contradictions and divisions between the perpetrators and opponents of severe politics such as colonialism, capitalism, racism, and patriarchy. In doing so, the author places aesthetics at the center of his focus, which encompasses both ethics and politics and is a primary medium for both art and architecture. He demonstrates that aesthetics can play a role not only in the institutionalization of violent histories but also in their questioning.