“What I have termed ‘oceans as method’ draws deliberately on the dynamic materiality and rich metaphoricity of the sea as both a technique of writing colonial legal history and as a conceptual frame that foregrounds movement and change.” — Renisa Mawani

Thinking with and from the oceans raises questions of methodology. This second semester of Ocean / Uni has sought to engage with forms of fluidity and mobility that point towards the possibility of rethinking the dominant terracentric and sovereign frameworks which produce and shape epistemological biases. To conclude this second semester, Oceans as Method gathers voices affiliated with TBA21–Academy’s practices that have engaged with the oceans in varying ways, seeking deeper engagement with the ontology of this material space and its many waters.

The final session of the second semester of Ocean / Uni takes the form of an extended seminar, a space of encounter uniting various researchers that have contributed to the recent public programming of Ocean Space, as well as the new voices that will inhabit the space and continue to shape its discourse. The session is deliberately devoid of a centralized case study to advance a broader critique of knowledge politics through the multitude of ocean-based practices illustrated by the participants.

Contributors: Francesca Thyssen-Bornemisza (TBA21 Founder and Chairwoman); John Palmesino (Co-founder of Territorial Agency); Daniela Zyman (TBA21 Artistic Director); Barbara Casavecchia (curator, writer, and educator); Taloi Havini (artist); Rosalyn D'Mello (writer, 2021 Ocean Mentor); Cécile Hummel (artist, 2021 Ocean Mentor); Chahinez Bouguerche (parasitologist, 2021 Ocean Fellow); Mikki Stelder (researcher and educator); Alice Sartori (art historian and curator)Moderation: Daniela Zyman and Pietro ScammaccaRespondent: Markus Reymann