Education Through Relations [Educa-se nas relações]

"Educating Through Relations is a series of prints made from rephotographed transparencies and mounts. The human actions, other living beings and geological elements depicted in the original educational slides have been cut-up and reassembled into montages and collages that deconstruct the categories of naturalist taxonomy. Mabe Bethônico’s analytical approach of these educational elements brings about a new set of representations forming an ecosystem that symbolically and structurally mirrors the porosity of the world." [Theo-Mario Coppola].

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The slides are mounted on 6x6 glass frames and constructed from pieces of (smaller) slides belonging to educational folders from the National Center for Pedagogical Documentation, from the French Office of Modern Educational Techniques, from  the National Pedagogical Institute, from NASA, besides various elements purchased at the Flea Market in Plainpalais, among others. The images come from educational programs designed to transmit narrowly categorized knowledge, corresponding to a worldview that dates back to modern times. My montages are an attempt to associate different fields of knowledge. Research conducted within the framework of the Anthropocene or Capitalocene breaks down knowledge barriers, aiming for an inclusive approach to the world, demonstrating the chain of interdependence and interaction of all living beings (see, for example, Barbara Stiegler or Bruno Latour, etc.). A new understanding of the world also demands a new pedagogy. As a critique of outdated pedagogy, I aim to raise awareness through imagination, leading to the breaking down of knowledge barriers for a more inclusive understanding of the world.

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