Short Essay

After Data: Why Posthumanism Demands Situated, Material, and Embodied Futures

How do we perceive fantasy? If not, a speculation is that the key to “godlike” humanity lies in the ability to reduce life to data, to code the body into information systems. Lucy, is that you?

Figure 1. Foundational texts in this essay’s posthuman thought, Donna J. Haraway’s Staying with the Trouble (2016), N. Katherine Hayles’s How We Became Posthuman (1999), and Karen Barad’s Meeting the Universe Halfway (2007). 

Short Essay

After Identity: Posthuman Lives in the Anthropocene

Identity in the Anthropocene cannot be fixed. It is not a sealed container but an entanglement of relations — between bodies, technologies, ecologies, and artefacts. To think “after identity” is to recognise this fluidity, while refusing to let it dissolve into abstraction.

I am aware that the disciplines I draw on are very different. And again, what would we become if we rejected crossings? To cling to purity would only reproduce the binaries we are trying to unsettle.

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Figure 1. Fungi: Web of Life (3D), dir. Merlin Sheldrake & narrated by Björk, British Film Institute, 2024.

Short Essay

Bewitched and Between:

Entering Anthropology from the Margins of the Method

This is a reflection from someone who came to anthropology sideways — with a scribble in hand-held notes, a visual and spatial sensibility (or pressure), and a constant reminder for (a rehearsed) habit of listening more than naming.

Selected Publications:

  • Contributing Writer, Upcoming Publication: ‘Transnational Log Entry’ edited by Jessica Wan, published by iniva & TrAIN (2025).

  • Curator: Faux Nostalgia: Anastasia Astika Solo Presentation, Srisasanti Syndicate (2025). - e-catalogue

  • Curator: RAH/RUDIRA: Ayurika & Henryette Louise at EDSU house, Yogyakarta (2025). - e-catalogue

  • Thesis Research: 'Anthropology of Objects: Museum Restitution and Repatriation in Indonesia' Postgraduate Thesis MA Social Anthropology SOAS (2024).

  • Curator: Batik & Beyond Exhibition with  Anglo-Indonesian Society & Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia in London (Catalog) (2024).

  • Co-curator: The Act of Making Home | African and Asian Diasporas: Culture, Politics, Identities A23/24 (2024).

  • Researcher: Indian Ocean Craft Triennial 2024 | Conference & Proceeding

  • Writer: Kintsugi De Dakishimeru (金継ぎで抱きしめる) Intan Anggita showcase for Sumida Expo (2024).

  • Curator: Berbicara Melalui Kain: Solo Exhibition by Lusiana Limono at Goethe  Institut Indonesia (2023).

  • Writer: Hotaru (火垂る): A World Beyond Wardrobe Series (2023).

  • Curator: A Subo Family Exhibition: Dunia Dalam Lemari (2023).

  • Curator: Age of Consent (2022)

  • Co-Writer: Dekolonisasi Perempuan Asia dalam Teologi (Marianne Katoppo) (2022)

  • Writer: Parodi Partikelir: an Individual Freedom in Interpreting Story | Essay on Maharani Mancanagara presentation in AESCIART (2022).

  • Co-writer: Museum MACAN Education Resouce Kits: Isabel & Alfredo Aquilizan, Chiharu Shiota, Agus Suwage & Present Continuous Exhibitions at Museum MACAN (2022–23)

  • Editor: Cipta Gula (2020)

  • Curator: Sabda Semesta, Loubelle Space, Bandung (2020)

  • Curator: Lembar Kerja Sepele, GOR, Bandung (2020)

  • Curator: 15x15x15, Soemardja Gallery, Bandung (2019)

  • Researcher: Undergraduate Thesis for BA in Visual Arts - ITB | The Development of Umi Dachlan’s Works and their Circulation in the Secondary Market (2018).

  • Co-curator: Art & Academy: TIlas Balik Arsip Karya Studi Seni Rupa ITB Dekade Awal (2017)

  • Researcher: Posisi Perempuan Perupa di Pasar Seni Rupa Indonesia | Academic Paper (2017)

Mail me at cghtoelle@gmail.com for reading inquiries.

More updated articles on medium.com/@cghtoelle

More academic writings (archives - not updated):

itb.academia.edu/ChristineToelle

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© 2025 Christine Gerriette Toelle