Chiara Gargiuli

Politics of Projecting Human/Non‑Human Relations in Contemporary Visual Culture

Beginn des PhD-Programms / Start of the PhD-Program: WS 2025

Betreuung / Supervision:
Thomas Macho

Human beings relate to their surroundings by humanising - or dehumanising - any object of speculation. This rather common phenomenon happens through the projection of one’s feelings: cultural studies and postmodern fine arts helped us get an insight on relationships between human and the humanised non-human (or, at times, the dehumanised human), as it happened with the increased diffusion of human-animal studies in the last decade. However, with the latest developments of AI, new questions arise. In this project, I will examine different combinations and possibilities of human/non-human relationships and the ways they are reflected and represented in contemporary art. Drawing from media philosophy, posthumanist theory, and critical cultural studies, I aim to explore how projection operates not only as a psychological mechanism but as a cultural and political process that shapes our ethical and aesthetic engagements with the world. How do processes of projection operate differently in human–human, human–dehumanized human, and human–humanized non‑human relations? In what ways do contemporary art and AI practices make visible or obscure the political logics of projection? And how can a critical image theory of projection redefine boundaries of representation and recognition in digital media?

Kurz-Biographie / Short Bio
Chiara Gargiuli (1999) is a curator and researcher from Rome, Italy. Her work explores the intersections of projection, perception, and collective trauma in contemporary art. After graduating with honors from her MA at the Accademia di Belle Arti di Roma (2024), she has worked with various institutions across Europe, including Kunstverein St. Gilgen, Galerie Layr, Lidice Art Gallery, combining curatorial and authorial work with a focus on ecological and urban narratives. She is particularly interested in how place shapes artistic production and experience, and how art can engage with the neuroscientific processes of human–non-human relations.

Email-Adresse / Email-Address:
chiara.gargiuli@kunstuni-linz.at