We had the chance to speak with Merlina Rani — our E-Art trainer, artist, and curator specializing in digital media and scientific dissemination — to explore the dynamic intersection of sustainability and virtual environments. In this interview, Merlina discusses how her work, including the project Lithium Republic XYZ, addresses critical ecological and social issues while leveraging the power of virtual tools. From the hidden costs of digital media to the power of collaboration, she shares fresh perspectives on building a sustainable and equitable future.
Sustainability and Virtuality: How do you see the intersection of virtual environments and sustainability? In what ways do your artistic projects address these kinds of topics?
M: Virtual environments hold a potential for simulation that allows a space for creativity. I believe this is a key between a tool as virtuality and sustainability issues. Using virtual means, allows us to iterate on a problem, observe a place, or understand their structural dynamics. At its core, virtual environments provide a framework for modeling and representation. This practice is as familiar as creating a map of the planet (e.g. mappa mundi) or developing physical models in science. Representation is a fundamental step in understanding, and we’ve been doing this virtual exercise of it long before digital technologies emerged.
In this sense, I see virtual environments as spaces for personal and collective representations. We need our own images and frameworks to reflect and act upon. In my projects, I use simulation as a reflective tool that fosters political imagination, enables the creation of alternative narratives, and challenges established dynamics. Virtual environments provide a space to rehearse and explore new ways of seeing and doing. My focus is on creating these spaces within my practice and opening them to others, as I believe they are useful for envisioning and training for a future that is both sustainable and equitable.
As artist: What are your major art projects that explore concepts related to sustainability, ecology, and environmental justice? What are their characteristics and peculiarities?
M: Along with Cristian Espinoza, we are developing a platform to observe a region known as the Lithium Triangle. This geographical area in South America holds significant reserves of a mineral central to the global energy transition. The project has various goals and formats. On one hand, we analyze how the growing demand for lithium is transforming the region into a productive matrix shaped by the classical dynamics of neo extractivism. On the other, we aim to highlight the cultural and biological richness of this unique ecosystem.
Our work involves gathering information, fostering collaboration among key actors and researchers, and learning about digital tools. These tools serve both literacy purposes and as adapting resources to the project’s needs. The initiative, called Lithium Republic XYZ, operates at the intersection of geohumanities, indigenous criticism, and decentralization. Using a laboratory on a metaverse platform and exploring DAO tools.
While I don’t consider myself an artist, I can say my curatorial practice extends to artistic means, because I am interested in experimenting with nonlinear narratives. In my efforts to think critically, I believe it’s essential to apply ideas directly to the situations we encounter—whether in professional practice or daily life.This approach is reflected in other projects I’ve been involved in, such as Economic Fictions (published by Flee Immediately, 2023), which explores the persuasive power of economic theories, and Signifying Complexity (Espacio Pla and UCA), which addresses the challenges of making sense in an increasingly complex world.
As curator: Could you share some examples of how you integrate sustainability into your curatorial practices, both in terms of the themes you explore and the logistics of organizing exhibitions?
M: There are different levels and meanings when we talk about sustainability. At the individual level, it involves taking responsibility for personal consumption. At the collective level, it is possible to reconceptualize common sense around certain issues and articulate joint efforts. While I strive for responsible consumption as an individual, as a curator, I focus more on the collective level. I believe that we are all products of our time and society. As individuals, we can become aware, but as a collective, we have the power to create change.
It is important to critically evaluate artistic tools at both levels: in terms of the consumption models they represent, the material cycles, toxicity, and production relations they involve, and also in terms of the discourse these tools bring forth. Since I work primarily with digital art, I aim to bring these discourses into focus.
For instance, in the virtual exhibition Signifying Complexity, works by Renee Carmichael, Elisa Balmaceda, and Diego Alberti addressed themes such as the astronomical data of blockchain in relation to the body, the problems of energy and environmental degradation, and the transformations of experience caused by the pandemic.
From a logistical perspective, since the pandemic, I have worked primarily in virtual environments. In this context, I strive to create lightweight, accessible virtual exhibition environments with minimal data processing requirements. For physical exhibitions, I choose durable materials and recycle them whenever possible. This is a common practice in South America, where we often work with modest budgets.
Digital Media’s Role in Sustainability: Digital media often carries hidden ecological costs, such as energy consumption and e-waste. How do you address or reflect on these challenges in your projects?
M: I often engage with the material aspect of digitality in my work, but I understand that the issue is more complex than simply reflecting on energy and data consumption on a website, for example. Lithium Republic XYZ is the project that addresses this issue most directly. However, it focuses more on new emerging sacrifice zones under old colonial dynamics—where some humans have fewer rights to live than others — than on data consumption. Digital technologies hold the potential for emancipation, as they can be a powerful source of knowledge, yet it seems there is increasingly less space for people and forms of life that are not organized through digitality.
Working with digital media often confronts you with a choice between giving everything up or attempting to appropriate the tools. Both options seem impossible, but I choose the latter.
On the other hand, there is the first layer of the problem, which relates to device consumption and e-waste. While this is a central concern, I view it as part of the broader issue of overconsumption, whose other face is misery. The only solutions I see involve buying less, prioritizing better-quality or second-hand devices, and fostering greater knowledge about the tools we use. I worked on a fiction tale about the e-waste dump, Agbogbloshie (which I’d never published) trying to speculate about what will happen in this place in the future. I think treating this waste locally, and stop sending it to external e-waste dumps as Ghana would be a good start to create awareness around this problem.
Collaboration and Community: Many of your projects involve collaboration across disciplines and communities. How do you foster sustainable practices in these collaborative spaces?
M: Fostering sustainable practices in collaborative spaces can be difficult because, in a collective, not everyone shares the same habits or sense of responsibility. I believe the best way to reach some level of consensus is to create a space for genuine discussion about differing perspectives and to offer methodologies and tools that make adopting sustainable practices easier. While it can be very hard to agree, imposing one’s perspective is never a good approach. Instead, it’s better to provide information, especially when there is a lack of knowledge about the topic. Sometimes, the situation is beyond your control, and you have to either accept it or negotiate.
In the end, it’s often easier to point out what’s wrong in others’ habits, but the real power lies in changing our own behaviors or demanding action from our governments.
Future Perspectives: What role should art institutions and organizations play in promoting sustainability in the art world? What are some emerging practices or ideas that inspire you in this direction?
M: Art institutions and organizations play a critical role as mediators between art, society, and systemic frameworks. By selecting artworks and proposing agendas, they shape the artistic discourse on topics such as sustainability, warfare, gender, colonialism, AI, and more. As spaces that produce subjectivity and influence societal values, institutions have a responsibility to lead by example, integrating sustainable practices into their operations and fostering critical reflection on environmental issues. Moreover, they must embrace self-criticism and be flexible enough to adjust their dynamics, as sustainability is a systemic problem.
Of course, this can be difficult: institutions also need to be economically sustainable, and at times, this can limit the scope of their criticisms. Within these tensions, the ideal role of an art institution is to empower artistic discourse and inspire society to imagine alternatives. I believe that solutions should be collective, which is why I am currently interested in decentralized practices. I see this as a valuable opportunity for individuals to learn how to make decisions based on respect. It is also a way to make institutions more inclusive, empowering communities by allowing them to take ownership of the content and reflections. This approach contrasts with traditional, top-down curation and challenges conventional power dynamics within art institutions.
While this can be seen as an emerging practice, there have been many instances in the past where such practices occurred organically during times of need — such as museums functioning as refuges, committed to being inclusive spaces. I believe that this is a growing trend today.
