Sofiapechenaia at 21:44, 30 April 2025

2025-04-30T21:44:23Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 21:44, 30 April 2025
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	References:		References:

	Bennett, J. (2010) ~~“''Vibrant~~ Matter: A Political Ecology of Things”''		Bennett, J. (2010) “Vibrant Matter: A Political Ecology of Things”

	Murphy, M. (2017) “Alterlife and Decolonial Chemical Relations”		Murphy, M. (2017) “Alterlife and Decolonial Chemical Relations”
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	Mildeberg, S. (2021) “A Post-Industrial ‘Adventure Land?’ Challenges for Cultural Tourism Development in the Estonian Oil Shale Region”		Mildeberg, S. (2021) “A Post-Industrial ‘Adventure Land?’ Challenges for Cultural Tourism Development in the Estonian Oil Shale Region”

	~~'''~~Gabrys, J.~~'''~~ (2011) ~~“''Digital~~ Rubbish: A Natural History of Electronics”''		Gabrys, J. (2011) “Digital Rubbish: A Natural History of Electronics”

Sofiapechenaia at 21:43, 30 April 2025

2025-04-30T21:43:42Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 21:43, 30 April 2025
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	~~Idea Paper~~		Project title: “Duality of rust – symbol of loss and persistence” by Sofia Pechenaia


			Background info:

			In post-industrial landscapes like Narva, where oil shale extraction and Soviet-era infrastructure have left deep environmental scars, rusting metal is like an archive of the everchanging landscape, encapsulating its extractivist past while also symbolizing its post-industrial transformation. Rust alters its environment chemically, creates new habitats, and slowly breaks down rigid industrial structures, allowing new ecosystems to emerge. It documents the physical transformative processes, becoming a sort of a metaphor for the political and social shifts, happening parallelly but for the same reason.


			Description/Research question:

			I intend to investigate the duality of rust, and how it represents cycles of decomposition and recomposition. By observing, documenting, and sampling various rusted artifacts (parts of abandoned machinery and constructions), I hope to understand their roles as chemical agents and symbolic remnants. These objects mark a transformation not just in metal, but in social relations, economic priorities, and ecological structures. In a region shaped by imperial regimes and geopolitical tension, rust is an evidence for transformative processes within abandoned infrastructures and feral ecosystems, and relations between them. The main research question of my project is: how can rust be both a material memory of extraction and a sign of a new emerging ecosystems?

			Rust is also significant as a distributed agent of change – it releases iron particles into the soil, affects water quality, and contributes to microbial processes. I will explore how corroded materials affect the surrounding environments and how organisms, such as rust-loving bacteria, co-evolve with these surfaces. Focusing on rusted infrastructures in Narva like pipes, railings, storage tanks, metal surfaces, I will document and analyze their forms and effects. The anticipated outcome is a narrative mapping, showing how rust can represent corrosion and cultivation, metaphorically representing other social, political and cultural changes happening in the area, and how they are all intertwined.


			Tools, methods, process:

			I will use photography and video to document rust textures and formations on various infrastructures. I will also collect samples on sight, for elemental analysis and visual examination. I want to find both examples for how rust can represent the past environmental violence (harmful chemical residues present in samples) and a support for ecosystems (presence of living organisms such as lichens and mosses). These findings will be supported by a theoretical part, explaining their implications.


			References:

			Bennett, J. (2010) “''Vibrant Matter: A Political Ecology of Things”''

			Murphy, M. (2017) “Alterlife and Decolonial Chemical Relations”

			Mildeberg, S. (2021) “A Post-Industrial ‘Adventure Land?’ Challenges for Cultural Tourism Development in the Estonian Oil Shale Region”

			'''Gabrys, J.''' (2011) “''Digital Rubbish: A Natural History of Electronics”''

Sofiapechenaia: Created page with "Idea Paper"

2025-04-25T09:03:25Z

Created page with "Idea Paper"

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Idea Paper

GMU:Re-enchanting the field/Sofia Pechenaia - Revision history

Sofiapechenaia at 21:44, 30 April 2025

Sofiapechenaia at 21:43, 30 April 2025

Sofiapechenaia: Created page with "Idea Paper"