This paper examines Supertopia, a hybrid art project investigating the intersections between media archaeology, material reconfigurations, and ecological discourse. Created through interdisciplinary research across residencies in Brussels and Cairo, Supertopia utilizes ferrofluid to embody the entanglements between technological histories and extractive practices. By mobilizing this dense, viscous material to map human and geological movements, the project subverts notions of inert matter, suggesting instead a vibrant materiality informed by ecological crises. Drawing on theories from Morton, Bennett, and Parikka, this study argues that Supertopia exemplifies a hybrid landscape that rematerializes extractive processes, thereby contributing to the discourse on more-than-human ecologies, deeply embedded in specific temporal and spatial contexts. The project interrogates the material and ecological costs of extraction, linking the physicality of ferrofluid to the broader histories and geographies of technological development. In doing so, Supertopia underscores the geological materiality of our technological present, reminding us that the devices we rely on are embedded in global networks of extraction, transformation, and waste.

Authors:
Ana Teresa Vicente, Instituto Politécnico de Leiria & Escola Superior de Artes e Design (ESAD), Portugal

About the Presenter(s)
Ana Teresa Vicente is currently a Photography Lecturer at ESAD.cr (PT) and an integrated researcher at CIEBA, University of Lisbon, Faculty of Fine Arts (PT).

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