Getting in Touch With Seaweed : Exploring a Non-Exploitative Relationship With a More-Than-Human Actor Through Design Research

Through human over-exploitation of nature, more and more ocean species approach ecological tipping points. On the other hand, more and more people suffer from climate anxiety. This thesis study explored an alternative relationship between humans and marine seaweed species through design research. Situated in posthumanist design, affirmative ethics, and kinship relations, the study experimented with non-exploitative human-seaweed encounters to stimulate reflection on the predominant perception of ocean species as resources for human use. By drifting through five design experiments, the study first investigated the current human- seaweed relationship at Ribersborg beach in Malmö and then invited participants to encounter seaweed from different perspectives in several interactive workshops. As the research study swayed through several threads of theory and practice, it found a prevalent distant stance towards seaweed. While participants who engaged in attentive interaction with seaweed showed an increased curiosity for the often- overlooked species group, the study found that an interdependency between humans and seaweed was either not perceived or negatively associated. Designerly speculation led to a performance of kinship rituals to encounter this vulnerability, which allowed room for reflection on current and future ways of being with seaweed in non-exploitative ways. The trialed practices of affirmative ethics involved human participants in coming up with these practices, which is of meaning in the further search for restoring the human relationship to nature through design