Thinking Bateson with Deleuze and Guattari: Response-ability of Artisans-Artists-Designers in the Anthropocene

Abstract

In this essay I bring Gregory Bateson together with Deleuze and Guattari (primarily with the latter) to show their ecological compatibility, especially with Guattari’s ecosophy. I do this against the backdrop of the Anthropocene which presents us not only with a ‘climate’ of post-truth and political corruption, but also with the so-called climate crisis. In the context of these two broad examinations, I ask what can an artisan-artist-designer do given this problematic context? My reply is to call on ‘speculative design’ by an ‘avant-garde without authority’ to expose the symptoms of the Anthropocene era.