Rebecca Horn's Art as Ecological Critique

Rebecca Horn (born 1944 in Michelstadt, Germany) has been exploring the tension between nature and artifice since the 1970s. Her early body extensions—prostheses, busts, cocoons, feathers, cones—used her own body to relate to space. In later works from the late 1980s onward, objects take on life: copper tubes move like weary branches, glass cones hold coal dust (symbol of fire), robotic blue butterflies perch on volcanic rocks, and circular mirrors reflect the viewer, making them part of the work. Horn's pieces imitate nature but never fully deceive, highlighting a precarious harmony. The article draws a parallel between Horn and philosopher Donna Haraway (born 1944 in Denver), particularly Haraway's concepts of the Chthulucene, tentacular thinking, and response-ability—the ability to generate responses to present urgencies. Both address human impact on ecosystems without mythologizing the past or pinning hopes on the future. Horn's 1992 poem 'GET UP FOR FULL MOON' urges liberation through interspecies encounters, echoing Haraway's idea of becoming 'compost' rather than a superior species. The Earth Overshoot Day (EOD), when humanity begins consuming non-renewable resources, moved from December 31 in 1970 to July 28 in 2022, underscoring the climate crisis that art has been reflecting since the 1970s.