Spider Seiðr Sympoiesis

Abstract

Anthropocentrism has blinded designers to the impact of their work on non-humans, while simultaneously limiting a rich source of inspiration. It is incumbent upon us to pursue kinder modes of co-existence with the more-than-human lives who we share a world with. This project’s eclectic experimentation combines methodologies from the disciplines of science, witchcraft, and design, pursuing a means for interacting with common cellar spiders (Pholcus phalangioides). Across a sequence of eight rituals, the contributing spiders and I produced a series of co-authored architectonic sigils. These objects, together with the tools and procedures necessary to create them, express a desire for kin-making between species, while reflecting architecture as a liminal zone and practice which connects humans and spiders. The processes and ethos informing these rituals are collected in a grimoire, a document which teaches the reader how to connect with and learn from spiders, both as embodied beings and symbolic figures.