Metabolic Landscapes: "Commons" and Art Practices

Authors

  • Maria Giovanna Mancini Università degli Studi di Bari "Aldo Moro"

Keywords:

Landscape Studies, Art, Society, Territory, Commonality

Abstract

Viewed from multiple perspectives, the landscape today is to be regarded as a complex field of inquiry in which the intricate interweaving of anthropological, historical, social and, not least, ecological issues (Ingold 1993, 2018) helps to liberate the landscape itself from its purely visual dimension. Recognising this complexity has, in recent decades, enabled the updating of the disciplinary terms and tools of landscape design. In particular, contemporary art—through artistic projects that employ performative, participatory and transmedia practices—has renewed design approaches, establishing itself as best practice within the territory, and has deconstructed the disciplinary terms that determine the forms and meanings of the landscape. This essay explores certain artistic practices that have significantly contributed to deconstructing a heritage-based conception of the landscape, moving towards a cultural paradigm shift that reposition the landscape within the realm of the commons. The landscape, understood in its implications of commonality, demands a shift in perspective that entails the concept of a metabolic civilisation; that is, it considers the relationship between humans and the environment in radically new ways, in co-evolutionary terms.

Author Biography

Maria Giovanna Mancini, Università degli Studi di Bari "Aldo Moro"

Maria Giovanna Mancini is Associate Professor of Contemporary Art History and History of Photography at the University of Bari “Aldo Moro”. Her research focuses on the methods of art history, with particular attention to postcolonial and queer theory. Part of her work has been devoted to the post-structuralist turn in art criticism shaped by the journal October, a subject she explored in depth in the monograph October. Una rivista militante (Luciano, Naples, 2014).
In recent years, she has concentrated her research on the analysis and critique of art in public space, to which she has devoted the monographs Paesaggi integrati. Arte contemporanea come progetto del territorio (Gli Ori, 2025) and L’arte nello spazio pubblico: una prospettiva critica (Plectica, 2011), as well as numerous essays and edited volumes, including Fare paesaggio in Puglia. Strumenti e metodi per lo studio dell’arte nel territorio (Edipuglia, 2025) and Attraverso. Territorio e scultura (Mimesis, 2025). Within the framework of her research on landscape, she is currently developing the project Linea Sud: paesaggio fotografico dopo il Duemila, supported by Strategia Fotografia 2025 and promoted by the Directorate-General for Contemporary Creativity of the Italian Ministry of Culture and several partners. She also works on archival practices in contemporary art and on the epistemological transformations related to large-scale interoperable and digital archives. In this field, she has developed an extensive research activity, including scholarly publications, participation in international conferences, and the curatorship of seminars and edited volumes.

Published

15-12-2025

How to Cite

Mancini, M. G. (2025). Metabolic Landscapes: "Commons" and Art Practices. Elephant & Castle, (36), 95–104. Retrieved from https://elephantandcastle.unibg.it/index.php/eac/article/view/584

Issue

No. 36 (2026): Raccontare il paesaggio

Section

Articoli

License

Copyright (c) 2026 Elephant & Castle

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.