On the Brink: Approximation, Difference, and Ongoing Storms

The apocalyptic is the thematic that holds together the fourth chapter. Beginning with an analysis of Teresita Fernández's Puerto Rico (Burned) 6 (2018), which offers burnt paper as a representation of palm fronds, this chapter probes the conditions that enable approximation, from the use of “like” to the invocation of both surrealism and Aimé Césaire in Allora & Calzadilla's gallery installation Cadastre (2019). Approximation mobilizes sense memory to suture different things together while also preserving the noise of this difference and the political possibilities posed by frictional engagement.