Mixed fibres: Human and non-human collaboration

Ephemeral and durable; humble and ubiquitous – paper is a complex material of unique necessity in human lives, treading a line between climatological pariah and saviour. It degrades, rots and burns but can outlast our ephemeral bodies, spending its days withdrawing beneath our activities. This article considers a performance practice with paper in response to the new materialist theories of Karen Barad, as more than the continued instrumentalization of a pervasive yet passive material, but an artistic collaboration. This acknowledges the more-than-human relations we are part of and how we must find ways to work together in consideration of feminist and eco-critical concerns.