Artificial artifacts as remnants bearing witness to the evolution of civilization

This research takes the concept of non-human actors as its central framework and re-examines anthropocentric narratives of modernity through artistic practice. In the artworks, artificial artifacts serve as narrative subjects. Non-human actors such as the Perseverance rover and forestry robots are used to construct a visual narrative based on an “object-oriented historiography.” In this approach, history is no longer composed solely from a human perspective but emerges as a network of relationships formed by the interactions of multiple actors. Through nonlinear temporal narratives and shifts in object-based perspectives, the works attempt to challenge human-centered modes of historical writing, allowing objects and artificial artifacts—once regarded as silent—to regain a voice within artistic imagery.

This research also takes the historical case of deadwood management operations in Taiwan as a point of discussion. It examines how human decision-making systems, dominated by scientific rationality and the scalability of capital, often overlook non-human relationships within ecological systems. By transforming this historical event into an artistic narrative, the research reveals the impacts of modern technological and decision-making mechanisms on ecological environments and proposes the possibility of reconsidering human–nature relationships from a non-human perspective.

The contribution of this research lies in proposing a narrative method that integrates artistic practice with ecological critique. By treating artificial artifacts as narrative subjects with agency, the works move beyond the modern framework of instrumental rationality and anthropocentrism, further reflecting on the relationship between humans and nature under capitalist systems. This approach expands the narrative perspective of artistic creation and offers a way to reconsider the relationships among history, technology, and ecology.