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Fossil Aesthetics explores how fossil fuels, thermodynamic science, and industrial capitalism have shaped modern cultural imaginaries. Bridging political ecology, eco-Marxism, and aesthetic theory, the book argues that energy is not only a material force but also a powerful symbolic construct that has naturalized productivism and domination. From the steam engine to neoliberal “creative energy,” it traces how fossil imaginaries structure perception, labor, and worldviews in the ‘Capitalocene’. At a time of climate crisis, this essay calls for a denaturalizing of fossil culture and imagining alternative, post-fossil energy cultures.
- Reframes energy as culture
- Bridges ecology and aesthetics
- Imagines post-fossil futures
Jaime Vindel, art historian and cultural theorist. His work lies at the intersection of aesthetics, political ecology, and energy humanities. He is a tenured scientist at the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (Spanish National Research Council, CSIC), based at the Institute of History. He previously taught at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid and has worked at the Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona (MACBA) and the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía. His research explores the cultural and aesthetic dimensions of fossil capitalism, thermodynamics, and the eco-social crisis, contributing to debates on the Capitalocene and post-fossil futures.