If art has been instrumental in the formation and sedimentation of the naturalist conception of the world, it also has the power to break it apart by participating in the invention of viable relationships with living beings. But what paths may we take to replace the naturalist relationship with healthier, more enriching, and more intense connections with non-humans? By what means and under what conditions can art best produce an enduring transformation in our rapport with other living creatures and the rest of the world? It is from this perspective that I will examine the work of contemporary American artist Fritz Haeg.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These considerations are informed by ideas developed by Jacques Ranci\u00e8re in The Emancipated Spectator<\/em> (2009). In this work, Ranci\u00e8re focuses on art\u2019s enduring transformative effects, through a comparative analysis of different forms of socially engaged art and of the effects they produce. The conventional model of engaged art, Ranci\u00e8re says, is dedicated to creating critical devices that strive for a dual effect: \u201can awareness of the hidden reality and a feeling of guilt about denied reality.\u201d\u2009^{1<\/sup><\/a><\/span>} 1 <\/a> - Jacques Ranci\u00e8re, The Emancipated Spectator<\/em>, trans. Gregory Elliott (London, New York: Verso, 2009), 27.<\/span> As the author points out, however, the guilt born from awareness does not readily translate into a change in representations or a spectator\u2019s decision to act. We are all to some extent aware of the irremediable destruction of primary forests, of polluted oceans, of the disappearance of countless species, and yet this does not change our relationship with nature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n