Call For Papers Sin Objeto #03

No. 3 (2026): Dematerialized Practices, New Interdependencies and Material Agencies under Contemporary Instability

Submission deadline: July 31, 2026

Coordination: Rosa García and Adrián Porcel

This monograph focuses on the study of dematerialized artistic practices that, in the contemporary context, shift the centrality from the object to modes of creation grounded in transformation, interaction, and material agency. In a scenario defined both by ecological crisis and the exaltation of techno-optimism, it is imperative to develop proposals that challenge dominant models of capitalocentric progress, in order to subvert the consequences arising from its control and exploitation, giving rise to situated forms of knowledge capable of mitigating the effects of systemic collapse.

These modes of practice allow matter to be understood as a field of forces and affectations that intervene in the production of meaning, while simultaneously distancing themselves from the accumulative and extractivist logics upheld by capitalism. Dematerialization, therefore, can be the condition through which we reconfigure our relationship with the world and conceive the practices we will sustain as a species, thus avoiding the replication of established regimes. As a result, malleability and contingency become part of the constitutive conditions of the artistic work.

This issue calls for contributions examining how these practices are shaped by relational processes, their embedding in specific environments, and their capacity to generate alternative forms of knowledge. It seeks to open a space for reflection on the role of art in times of instability, highlighting the need to revisit the assumptions that guide the interpretation and understanding of experience.

Some proposed lines of research include:

1. Non-extractive artistic methodologies in damaged contexts: Studies of proposals developed in territories affected by environmental collapse that prioritize strategies of observation, mediation, or activation.

2. Unstable materialities and entropic processes: Explorations of natural forces or data flows, questioning the notion of matter as a stable support and attending to its variations, behaviors, and changing conditions.

3. Human and non-human relations: Research that considers living organisms, atmospheric phenomena, technological systems, or geological entities, thereby displacing anthropocentric centrality.

4. Unproductive temporalities as critical positioning: Analyses of practices that adopt slowed rhythms and open cycles in order to challenge capitalist logics of performance and accumulation.

Keywords: Dematerialization, Interdependence, Material agency, Collapse, Capitalocene.

Contributions must be original and should be submitted through the journal’s website, in the Submissions section, following the journal’s guidelines. For any inquiries, please contact: revista.sinobjeto@uclm.es