Of Scales and Times

Planetary Friction at Play in the Work of Simryn Gill

Abstract

This essay draws on the notions of scalability and friction elaborated by Anna Lowenhaupt Tsing in the context of South East Asian plantations to consider two series of works “Vegetation” (1999–2016) and “Naga Doodles” (2017) created by artist Simryn Gill (Singapore, 1959). By outlining the material properties, processes, and media Gill uses, it offers a critique of economic standardisation, and accompanying hierarchies that mobilise anthropocentric beliefs and assumptions about time and space. Importantly, it suggests that Gill’s works invite ecological readings and warnings that are cosmological and concern the fate of this planet.