Rick Schamle - ArtEZ Alumni Index

This audio/visual installation features four LED screens, a rock, tractor tire tracks, two speakers, a subwoofer, moss, and water. It explores our relationship with non-human entities. The sound transitions from strange to familiar, interacting with video that presents multiple perspectives, sometimes separate but often unified. The work considers non-humans as strangers—familiar yet treated as alien. It relates to Object-Oriented Ontology (OOO), a philosophy advocating for the inclusivity of objects and their qualities, such as materiality and connections to their surroundings. OOO promotes anti-anthropocentrism, viewing all beings—human and non-human—as equals.

We often misinterpret the non-human world through our limited consciousness and perspectives. However, our perception is just a fragment of reality. Why do we act as if the world is a blank canvas for us to paint? This mindset reveals biases in our understanding. Everything is interconnected; human flesh is as significant as any object. Ultimately, all things are composed of electrons, protons, and neutrons.

Current power structures see objects as unequal, often defining relationships as Human – Object – Subject. We must shift our thinking to stop othering entities. Acknowledge that there are more perspectives than we assume, treating strangers with care. Strangeness is earthy, cautious, wise, intelligent, and relational, and we must embrace this complexity.

ARTIST BIO

Rick Schamle (1999, Amsterdam, The Netherlands) is a graphic designer / audio-visual artist who graduated from ArtEZ, Arnhem. He sees everything as an experiment and that is what keeps the process interesting and raw. He likes to dive into materials which translate to installations, publications, audio-visual work and music. He likes to make the audience question something and start conversations on topics of knowledge creation, anthropocentrism and power relations in society. His curiosity for new forms, media, methods and theories are endless. Sometimes that means staying an amateur on a certain form or method but that makes the project accessible like a first layer.