Commoning Through Institutional Aesthetics: Crafting Frames, Boundaries and Reflections in Practice

In this essay, we explore Cooper’s theorizing of institutional aesthetics and technology to analyse a field study of a commoning process at a recreational area at Linnarhult near Gothenburg, Sweden. The paper focuses on a series of craft interventions that used the willow plant to make the area a common space. Using Cooper’s theories, we analyse the community craft activities conducted at Linnarhult as an aesthetic process of making a common space by crafting frames, boundaries and reflections on site. We thus conclude by highlighting the process of commoning through institutional aesthetics, and we reflect on our attempt to use Cooper’s theoretical ideas in analysing a concrete case. His emphasis and exemplary writing on the aesthetics of institutions has inspired us greatly, but our exploration has come with challenges and probably a deal of betrayal.