Tomás Saraceno: Spiders, Collaboration, and Decentering the Human

Argentine artist and architect Tomás Saraceno (b. 1973) discusses his inspirations, spider webs, and the need to decenter humanity. He cites Vinciane Despret's book 'What Would Animals Say If We Asked the Right Questions?' as a key influence. Saraceno questions who is allowed to be an artist and what constitutes art, arguing for collaboration with non-human species. He points to a 1992 painting made by a horse's tail as an example of non-human art. Saraceno's work with hybrid spider webs, woven by multiple spiders simultaneously, represents involuntary social cooperation. He references spider divination in Cameroon as a model for a fluid relationship between past, present, and future. Saraceno criticizes Western demonization of spiders, noting that in some African countries, spider webs correlate with reduced malaria. He advises young artists to remain infinitely curious. The interview is part of Artribune's 'Futuro Antico' series.