Neo-extractivism and nature in Daniel Fitte’s artistic production: situated practices and relational strategies

Abstract

This article analyzes a set of artworks produced by the artist Daniel Fitte (Sierras Bayas, 1960) based on considering them as intervention strategies against the advance of neo-extractivism in Sierras Bayas, a small town located in Olavarría district (Buenos Aires, Argentina). In tension with the modern concept of nature, Fitte's productions on the progressive mutation of the landscape and devastation of local ecosystems caused by mining activity, invite us to think about other links and representations —of nature and of others— outside of the logic of dominance and exploitation. The situational and relational become fundamental features of many of these productions. They are artworks that mark the landscape and delineate routes; they produce stories - sometimes in tension - about their own territory and recover the interdependence, reciprocity and complementarity typical of the ethic of care as features of a sustainable society (Gilligan, 2013; Svampa, 2015).