Naturally Hypernatural is a collaborative research project exploring the relation between “nature” and “art”. The project was launched in 2013 as a cooperation between the University of Graz, Austria and the School of Visual Arts (SVA), New York City.

About the Project
Nature, a topic central to art history, is concurrently a dominant concept in contemporary art and art theory. It is equally important in related disciplines such as cultural theory, philosophy, aesthetic theory and environmental studies. Looking at recent tendencies in contemporary art, one can observe an increasing dominance of “nature”. Yet, its forms of appearance are radically new – a striking development given that the relation between “nature” and “art” is evidently not new in itself.

In the twentieth century, artistic practices, techniques, strategies and materials refer to an idea of nature that is in many ways subjected to domination. Land Art and the ecologico-aesthetical movement of Eco Art use nature as material. These movements have been discussed in a multitude of art-theoretical and philosophical reflections. The project Naturally Hypernatural questions lines of tradition and predetermined categories that coexist with the topic of nature.

In 2016, two books have been published in the context of this project: Naturally Hypernatural I. Concepts of Nature and Naturally Hypernatural III. Hypernatural Landscapes in the Anthropocene. Moreover, conferences and exhibitions dealing with the topic have been held at the University of Graz, at Kunsthaus Graz, Austria, and the School of Visual Arts, New York.