Unfolding A Semiosis Of Non-Presence: On Situational Ontology Of Viscous Cycle

16.02.2022.

How do we engage with the non-presence? To a certain extent, multiplying of “ghostly” objects and semi-disclosed entities, becomes a pronounced ontological conundrum in the era of Anthropocene, but nonetheless, during the current pandemic, requiring novel theoretical and artistic assessments. In this short statement, we explore how the mutating otherness of non-human entity within mundane and sensory sites during the first months of the 2020 pandemic, unfolded within what we term as a viscous cycle: an improvisational semiotic attempt to encounter the non-presence. Building upon Harman’s thesis on “surplus reality” and Kohn’s semiotic accounts, we tentatively explore a model of viscous cycle on interviews conducted with 20 respondents from Belgrade (Serbia) and accompanying materials.