Silpakorn University researchers propose ecological ambiguity as a framework for understanding how contemporary art can make environmental relations perceptible without direct ecological messaging. The framework distinguishes opacity, fragmentation, atmospheric mediation and relational uncertainty.
Key findings
- Ambiguity becomes ecologically meaningful when it renders interdependence, uncertainty or otherwise invisible environmental relations perceptible. The paper also specifies conditions under which ambiguity can retain political accountability rather than aestheticize and depoliticize crisis.
Why this matters globally
The framework offers a vocabulary for comparing ecological art, exhibition design and climate communication across cultures, particularly where meaning is mediated through mood, atmosphere and participation rather than explicit messages.
Thai researcher contribution
All four authors are affiliated with Silpakorn University's Faculty of Decorative Arts, placing the Thai institution at the center of the theoretical framework and visual examples.
Limitations to consider
There is no audience dataset, cross-cultural comparison or test that the four dimensions are reliable or predictive. Case selection and interpretation are author-dependent, so coding protocols and field studies are needed.