Collective empiricism and the material witness

Abstract

This article develops two arguments. One follows from the idea that materials can be made into witnesses to environmental violence by drawing together the evidence generated from multiple sensors. In this way, the practice of Forensic Architecture entails a commitment to a distinctive form of collective empiricism that leads to the generation of ‘informed materials’. The second theme of the article follows from Forensic Architecture’s claim that the microphysical investigation of specific incidents can be a starting point in reconstructing larger political and environmental processes. In light of this claim, the author interrogates the relation between the evidence generated by material witnesses and the political situations to which this evidence contributes. His contention is that qualitative forms of social and historical research are required that both complement and go beyond the limits of Forensic Architecture’s commitment to collective empiricism.