COEXIST. Liberty_Equality_Biodiversity!
Long ago, we accepted that mind, language, and culture are human properties.That is also when we closed ourselves off to the non-human experience and began to colonise nature. The exhibition is here to remind us about our interspecies communities, based on a variety of relationships between humans, other animals, plants, fungi, and microorganisms. Our intertwined lives become even more important when we already know that the survival of the humankind depends on maintaining biodiversity and enhancing interspecies exchange. Therefore, can we make friends with the world again and create a truly egalitarian modernity, based on co-existence and respect for all living beings?
Biology and evolutionary psychology show that cooperation and interdependence are fundamental to survival. Yet, it is competition and struggle that are still firmly entrenched in the education system and in modern economic models. Continuing to cling on to the unsustainable capitalist economy based on growth and consumption is leading us to what scientist have already called the Earth’s “sixth mass extinction”. Today, only 4% of all vertebrates living on Earth are wild animals, the rest being humans, and industrially farmed animals, raised for meat. This extreme situation has led to the loss of almost 50% of the forests that existed even before the beginning of the civilisation. Still, the development of our collective awareness and the actions we have taken so far are too slow in relation to the scale of degradation. What else has to happen for us to save our time on earth? How can we reverse these processes and start decolonising nature?
For real change to be initiated, a revolution is needed not only at the rational level, but also at the emotional one. Showing both reason and empathy may be the solution that will prevent the mass extinction of all species. If we are to survive, we must look in the mirror and see the narcissistic face of our own species, created by anachronic ideas that rely on the anthropocentric world model. As psychoanalyst Erich Fromm wrote in the 1960s, we must feel the love for life, for all lives. [1] We will open up to the new awareness, which will allow us to co-exist peacefully on our planet, but only as long as we change radically our colonial attitude towards other animals.
After all, “We are compost, not post-human; we inhabit the humusities, not the humanities.” [2] By saying this, American biologist and philosopher Donna Haraway intends to show us that all living organisms are interconnected through deep co-dependency. This means we should pay attention not only to our closest relatives, because we are all close to one another, no matter the blood ties. Giorgio Agamben sums it up brilliantly when he argues that the border between the man and the animal runs mostly inside the man. [3]
We are in a situation in which there are two most possible scenarios: successive extinction or radical change and returning to animals the full right to use the Earth’s resources. [4] Most biologists agree that it is the presence of invasive species and inhibition of biodiversity that are the biggest challenges for the future life on our planet.How long can we keep on hiding the fact that we are the most dangerous invasive species? Are we going to keep eating the leaves and branches of the tree we are sitting on?
I believe that our earthly communities can be saved not only by superficial liberty and fraternity, but first of all by awareness, sensitivity and interspecies solidarity!
Krzysztof Candrowicz, introduction text to COEXIST. Liberty_Equality_Biodiversity exhibition, Fotofestiwal 2022
[1] E. Fromm, The Heart of Man, Harper & Row, NewYork 1964.
[2] D.J. Haraway, Staying with the Trouble: Making Kin in the Chthulucene, Duke University Press, Durham 2016.
[3] G. Agamben, The Open: Man and Animal, tłum. K. Attell, Stanford University Press, Stanford 2004.
[4] H. Mamzer, Zwierzę jako podmiot. O metastrategiach kolonizowania przyrody, „Porównania” 2014.
Photograph: A Sensitive Education ©2022 Francesca Todde
Breaking points
UNLEARNING, RETHINKING, RESTARTING
Photographs have a relevance for things that cannot be articulated verbally. Visual representation of a crisis can be an evidence for those who have never experienced it physically. Therefore, a broad spectrum of sociological, documentary projects or even accidental amateur snapshots might influence understanding of society’s breaking points. After years of curating photography exhibitions and festivals, addressed basically to photography environment, discussing contemporary trends in visual art, I experienced a need to extend these perspectives. Instead of focusing on formal and aesthetic aspects. I came back to the roots in sociology and cultural studies. A context and circumstances of a single photograph became to me far more interesting than two-dimensional image and its visual qualities. I started to perceive photography mostly content-wise. Everyday curatorial work brought me into anthropological, political and environmental dimension. This attitude opened a broader analytical perspective; at the same time, historical and futuristic, humanistic and cosmic, philosophical and practical. Curatorship has transformed into an engagement and space for personal statement. Consequently, photography has become to me a source of interdisciplinary research on our civilisation and that is why the program of the Triennial 2018 is built around the question:
Are we able to re-think and change the humanity and its recent self-destructive patterns?
Everything we have acknowledged so far is a result of previous evolutions and turning points in the history of humankind, from the Stone Age to the Silicon Age. Entire data and knowledge that we have access to have been collected and archived for centuries in order to be shared later with forthcoming generations. Hence, we are determined by particular conventions, systems and patterns developed by our ancestors. It’s a common practice of transmitting cultural code and part of a learning process.We experience some concepts as natural or given, becoming a link in repetitive chain structure. Although we cannot choose our primary teachers who are responsible for our education, to some point, we can try to question more what we inherit. This transmissive process depicts how much we stick to a heritage, established models and habitual behaviours. Until something unknown occurs, something that requires rethinking and unlearning action - a breaking point.
From this moment on, former order and what we considered as ‘truth’ is losing credibility and original significance. Revolutionary ideas can direct us into breaking the repetitive learning circle. Reaching these transformative moments is possible thanks to questioning the obvious and abandoning safe, acknowledged territories. A change requires leaving comfort zone and the most essential intellectual skill - critical thinking.
HUMANITY, POLITICAL, ECONOMIC AND ENVIRONMENTAL REALITY CHECK
We have passed through numerous turning points in the history of humankind. Transition moments that moved us into new epochs; the Cognitive RevolutionAgricultural Revolution, the Scientific Revolution, the Industrial Revolution and finally the Digital Revolution. [1] And here we are now, 21st century, the planet Earth, practically entirely dominated by mankind, its technologies and its new order. The most widespread doctrines revolving our globe are humanistic creeds; these focused on political factors as liberalism, nationalism and imperialism and those with attention to economy, such as capitalism, materialism and consumerism. Therefore, let’s revise roughly pro et contra arguments of contemporary society models and consequences of those isms listed above.
There are certainly many positive outcomes and developments of last decades. Statistically speaking, the major one is improvement of living conditions of people all over the world. A clichéd opinion on current global situation might be opposite. We can hear very often that we are facing the most dangerous and unsafe times. In fact, we have reduced dramatically famines, plagues and wars from our daily existence and according to the facts and numbers we are probably living in the most secure period in the history of last millennium. Poverty, diseases, epidemics, military conflicts and crime are not anymore the major cause of human mortality as it has to be for centuries. [2]
If we compare the figures from last centuries with current records there are no doubts that food shortages, deadly illnesses and large conflicts are decreasing radically. Indeed, when we look through various charts and diagrams illustrating the progress in wealth, medicine, political stability and peace-making we can observe a significant change. Just to mention a few numbers to illustrate these tendencies. The world population is estimated for 7.5 billion. More than 2,1 billion people are being overweight and 850 million people are facing malnutrition. According to the World Health Organization yearly statistics approximately 56 million people died worldwide in 2015. Famine and starvation killed about 1 million people, malaria and other plagues took about 500 thousand victims, wars and military conflicts cost about 150 thousand lives (during critical moment of Syrian war). If we count all yearly fatalities caused by famine, plagues and wars it’s about 1,5 million (3%of global population). In comparison stroke, cancer, heart and lungs disorders so called ‘civilizational diseases’ killed more than 26 million people (almost half of world population). [3] It’s hard to generalize in such a complex subject, however these numbers speak for themselves.
How come then in the age of peace, surplus economy, consumer market and growing prosperity, at the same time, we are dealing with the highest rates of depression and suicidal deaths? According to the WHO, 350 million people worldwide suffer from depression, which is 5 % of the world population. Depression is also leading cause of other health disorders e.g. drugs and alcohol addictions. Furthermore, nearly 1 million people a year commit suicide. [4] What are the reasons of these circumstances?
I suppose we need to leave statistics to understand roots of the problem. If we would simply ask people what are the causes of their illnesses, addictions and stresses, they might mention various personal problems and dissatisfactions, which trigger general life unfulfillment or instability. Apparently, it is multidimensional issue and there is no simple answer to this question. At this point we are touching very unscientific and uncountable issues. Our well-being is dependent on so many elements - health, safety, wealth, relationships, feeling of belonging (to family or community) or even climate and latitude. I guess, it could be possible to improve the statistics above if governments around the world weren’t focused mainly on improving the economy and gross domestic product (GDP) but rather gross national happiness (GNH). [5] I think we can learn a lot from the little Asian country of Bhutan. Since 1971, the country has rejected GDP as the only way to measure progress. In its place, it has supported a new approach to development, which measures prosperity through formal principles of gross national happiness and the spiritual, physical, social and environmental health of its citizens. This holistic and complementary approach, respects humans, their needs and natural environment. Perhaps the real socio-political and economical change will take place if we all start implementing Bhutanese model. Lately, it has been translated into a Western language. In 2010 Austrian innovative intellectual, Christian Felber introduced a new economic and political structure called Economy for theCommon Good focused on values like human dignity, solidarity, economic and environmental sustainability. [6] There are also other similar or complementary models like solidarity economy, commonwealth economy, participatory economics, sharing economy etc. Without doubts these trends show the urge to upgrade the capitalistic model.
Finally, why should we care about environment? One of the reasons could be that WHO estimated that 12.6 million deaths each year (nearly 25% of global mortality rate) are related to unhealthy environment. [7] Therefore, let’s change now the viewpoint from human position and our common wellness into a broader scale. Let’s see how 21st century looks like from perspective of animal kingdom and natural environment. It’s going to be much harder to find any props. The reason is clear. Almost entire cost of industrial and digital revolutions, demographic expansion of humankind has been paid by other species and planet Earth itself. Mankind has been exploiting all surrounded resources without much of respect and thinking about the consequences.
And now outspoken facts and numbers, which illustrate probably the biggest extermination and abuse on biodiversity on Earth since extinction of dinosaurs 65 million years ago. [8] [9]
- we are losing approximately 5,000 species per year.
- more than 90% of the large animals of the world are humans or domesticated and industrialised animals.
- less than 10% large animals are living in a wildlife.
- over 70 billion animals are bred for meat for 7,5 billion people.
- the planet has already lost 60-80 % of its forest due to deforestation
(in Argentina, nearly 90 % of forest has been cut, mainly for pastures for cattle).
- every year 8 million tons of plastic is dumped into the oceans.
Without changing this trend by 2050 there will be more plastic than fish in the sea.
- the Great Pacific Garbage Patch is a trash vortex consists of about 3,5 million tons of garbage.
It is the biggest trash vortex, however the Atlantic and Indian Oceans both have similar trash vortexes.
- we’re losing 1 % of plankton every year. Two of every three breaths we take are possible thanks to plankton.
LAST BREAKING POINT, RESET OR CRASH
While looking at those statistics we can get into the conclusion that although we live in the 21st century surrounded with advanced technologies and modern science, we still have a mindset of a stone age robber, who is craving for temporary material pleasures, without thinking about long-term consequences. Recently, we have received two serious wake up calls from thousands of experts. World Scientists’ Warning to Humanity Union ofConcerned Scientists was signed in 1992 by 1,575 of the world’s most prominent scientists (including 99 of the 196 living Nobel laureates) and was sent to governmental leaders all over the world. In 2016 more than 15,000 scientists from 184 countries issued 'warning to humanity' listing issues to be change in order to save Earth.
The scientists claim that what we already did is something we cannot fix, but we can stop these processes. ‘The trends are alarming, and they speak for themselves’, ‘Our mandate is that we take care of Earth’, ‘We are in the throes of a mass extinction event' these are just a few quotes of the long warning letter. Will we follow those remarks and all listed recommendations from the scientific world? Our society is changing faster than we can perceive, so maybe now we can see what we did a century ago and act wiser in 21st century. CharlesDarwin even claimed that the strongest of the species that survive, are not the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change. We are intelligent, however are we able to change?
In order to stop destructive processes, we need more than only re-thinking. We should reset the way we function. We ought to start perceiving economy, political models, environment in the holistic way. Hopefully there are many new positive examples and paradigms like circular economy, industrial ecology cradle to cradle design strategy, blue economy principles, “zero waste rules”,permaculture ecosystem and many other environmentally friendly and natural models. Still, before we go into the production models, politics and financial issues we need to experience the change within ourselves. I hope we can speedup this paradigm shift before it’s too late. Now we should stop discussing necessity to change and start applying it in our daily life. it’s time to act.
TRIENNIAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY AND SEARCHING FOR CHANGE
The act of seeking became a new obsession in the 21st century. We are preoccupied with permanent search towards finding new opportunities, new desires, new gratifications. The results are societies constantly looking to the future. Being “here and now” has become foreign to such a way of thinking. Photography has this ability to freeze a time-flow and bring a focus to a still image. Only short flash, one place, one second, that’s it. We can meditate with the moment. It might be potential moment when a process of change occurs. That’s why images can ideally document important phases of transition.
Photography can also very literally and emphatically illustrate occurrences that we can’t grasp with our own eyes. We be able to understand a scale of certain events only when we see photographs– the proofs. It might be an evidence of confects and wars, melting Antarctic ice, plastic dumped in to ocean or hectares of destroyed forest – places and events, which usually we cannot experience physically.
Photography as visual language has lately become very important part of artistic discourse. From the perspective of photography professional, we can easily forget that we are being part of rather limited concept for relatively limited audience. Perhaps not even 1% of images produced every year are made in artistic context. Majority of images circulating in global iconosphere are ordinary snapshots documenting everyday moments taken with popular digital devices. Therefore, while creating the theme for the Triennial of Photography Hamburg I have chosen a widespread metaphor, something universal, something very random and understandable – a computer keyboard. There are really powerful terms hidden behind these commands; 'space', 'home', 'shift','control', 'enter', 'return', 'delete' and 'escape'. These keys are usedbillion times a day without reflecting their connotations. My intention was tofocus on their original meanings. That’s why these terms will become separatestories related to contemporary society:
[ENTER] on breaking points and the necessity to change
[HOME] on belonging, safety, migration and nomadism
[CONTROL] on politics, economy and power
[SPACE] on urbanism, alienation, anonymity and street life
[SHIFT] on personal change, paradigm shifts and alternation
[RETURN] on roots, heritage and learning from the past
[DELETE] on censorship and images removed from visual culture
[ESCAPE] on environmental changes and ecological emergencies
The universe is based on constant movement. Whatever is created is a result of process and transformation. Nothing is stable or everlasting, only a change is perpetual and eternal. All molecules cells, atoms will continue to rotate continually from one matter into another. Nonetheless, whatever we are going to do, life will go on, with or without us.
Krzysztof Candrowicz, introduction text to BREAKING POINT exhibition, Hamburg Triennial 2018
REFERENCES:
1. Yuval Noah Harari, “Sapiens: ABrief History of Humankind.” (2014)
2. Yuval Noah Harari, “Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow.” (2016)
3. World Health Organization, Fact sheet(2016) http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs310/en/
4. World Health Organization, Fact sheet(2017) http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs369/en/
5. Jonathan Zilberg, “Moving from GDP towards GNH: Beyond The World Bank’sQuality of Growth Model for Achieving Sustainable Development” (2007)
6. Christian Felber “Die Gemeinwohl-Ökonomie” (2010)
7. World Health Organization, Fact sheet(2016)
8. Richard Leakey and Roger Lewin, “The SixthExtinction: Patterns of Life and the Future of Humankind” (1995)
9. William J. Ripple, Christopher Wolf, Thomas M.Newsome, Mauro Galetti, Mohammed Alamgir, Eileen Crist, Mahmoud I. Mahmoud,William F. Laurance, and 15,364 scientist signatories: “WorldScientists’ Warning to Humanity: A Second Notice” (2017)
MAIN INSPIRATIONS:
1. Noam Chomsky “What Kind of Creatures Are We?” (2015)
2. Naomi Klein “This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. the Climate” (2014)
3. Yuval Noah Harari “Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow.” (2016)
4. Pankaj Mishra “Age of Anger: A History of the Present” (2017)
5. Timothy Morton “Dark Ecology: For a Logic of Future Coexistence” (2016)
6. Malcolm Gladwell “The Tipping Point” (2000)
7. Jan Zalasiewicz, "The New World of the Anthropocene." (2010).
8. Elizabeth Kolbert “The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History.” (2014)
Photograph: In fourth person ©2018 Martin Errichiello & Filippo Menichetti
Lassen
NUMBNESS AND RESILIENCE
EXTINCTION AND ADAPTATION
BEAUTY AND SURVIVAL
PAIN AND HOPE
ON AND ON
UNTIL
THE LAST
TILT
Being surrounded by forest for a couple of weeks grounded me, I could feel and think more clearly. It may be said that remote walks amongst trees strengthen ones attentive and empathetic stance. During strolls in the wild you sense that every single element of the ecosystem is a part of broader circular intelligence. You can observe that everything functions in circles. The forest has a cyclical and seasonal pattern that in itself is an inter-connected system. If you change one unit of a chain you will interfere with a whole environment, though it is only by seeing the bigger picture can one understand these connections within the natural network. It is evident that without plants we would neither breath nor eat. From this perspective, what ‘we’ did to our natural habitat in the last decades seems to be violent and irresponsible.
Hold your breath for a moment before sharing any insights. Let me emphasis a few surreal numbers. The planet has lost already 80% of forest areas and hundreds of thousands of irreplaceable species. More than 10% of the world forests was wiped out during the last 20 years. Over 70 billion animals are being ‘produced’ for 7.5 billion people. It means that more than 90% of all large animals are humans themselves and ‘industrialised’ animals. It means that only less than 10% of animals live freely in the wild. One million species of plants and animals faced extinction caused by anthropogenic impacts. We have faced climate change effects like massive wildfires in Siberia and Alaska, vast ice melts in Greenland and other Arctic glaciers. All these facts reveal the impacts of environmental modification.
There were a couple of alarming statements over the last years that have been ignored. The first warning to humanity was signed in 1992 by over 1,500 prominent researchers, later sent to governmental leaders all over the world. In 2016 more than 15,000 scientists from 180 countries issued another ‘warning to humanity,’listing steps to be taken in order to avoid mass extinction. Full stop… enough figures. Does it sound enough gloomy like new Huxley’s book or Orwell’s dystopian vision?
The backbone of our planetary organism is seriously hurt however most are still bypassing the effects of these devastating processes. Denial, indifference, lack of empathy and responsibility are common practices.This leads us to question, what about the emotional and energetic consequences of ecological disaster? How much fear, despair, anger, sadness and anxiety does it create? I have observed numerous different responses. Sometimes you can transform your misery into creative anger, which then propels you to act as courageously and committed as Greta Thunberg. Another time, you feel speechless or totally hopeless and you simply watch the ‘unhappy end’ of our civilization like a grotesque movie of the Cohen brothers, or alternatively there is the potential to feel disempowered and left with feelings of fear, anger and sadness. Ultimately you can live your most sustainable way and treat the global situation as something you can’t fully influence. Through absolute acceptance you do not generate any resistance and it is probably the most undisruptive solution.
If our life style is that unsustainable, it cannot be sustained. Everything is finite and seems like we still have our last chance on the planet. Merely surviving may no longer be a sufficient response nor an effective strategy. Scientists have already announced a global ecological crisis, the age of the Anthropocene, Holocene extinction, Sixth Extinction, megafaunal mass extinctions. It sounds like the last scene. The more we are aware of the end of our civilisation, the more we are afraid.
The people I see engaged in effective response have all faced into, and stared down their fear. This does not mean they are no longer anxious. It means that they have confronted their fears. It means they use their power to respond even when fearful, which is the definition of courage. They are still standing firmly in the headlights, for there is no real place to hide, but they are not frozen. They are readying themselves for the upcoming storm, however and whenever it comes, responding, moment by moment, intuitively, rationally, non-rationally, and with heightened awareness. Therefore, you use a fear, rather than refuse it or repress it.
This courage requires an unlearning, an attempt at recreating the world we have inherited. The end of disillusionment will be possible when humans will stop chasing abstract ideas, myths, gods, goods and other political fictions. Further degradation of the natural environment is going to foster a feeling of separation, numbness, distrust, fear, frustration and ultimately depression. Therefore, compassion, empathy and reconnection with nature might be the most appropriate philosophy.
Trees are evident symbols of our planetary turmoil. Both in ‘Lassen’ and ‘Cry of an echo’, Malgorzata Stankiewicz has created a powerful metaphorical statement exploring trees and their natural environment. Identifying the notion of roots and grounding can have a large impact amongst the hectic and liquid postmodernity. Trees are vulnerable, calm and exposed, they do not fight, hunt or compete. Probably they are the wisest species on Earth, and it has its biological explanation. Genetically speaking, the largest genome ever sequenced belongs to a tree. A single pine tree has 22 billion base pairs, compared to 3 billion in the human genome. It’s natural grown intelligence, apparently less visible for people’s eyes. Perhaps an intellect and sensitivity of a tree is developed on a quantum level, which may explain why most treat trees only as a building material. It is common to cut off forests and to replace it with man-made nature like parks, gardens, plantations, industrial forests, or any other artificial sort of landscape. The question is, why do we reshape or simulate the natural environment? Most of cities and rural areas are planned according to the intellectual order, they are designed by our brains. Amongst this, there are still some untouched spaces left on the planet, self-created and self-regulated, designed by natural order.
So, to end with the last fact that matters. Only the restoration of forested land at a global scale could help capture atmospheric carbon and mitigate climate change. According to the ‘Science’ magazine, only trees can save the ‘us’ on this planet.
“Every species wants to survive, and each takes from the others what it needs. All are basically ruthless, and the only reason everything doesn't collapse is because there are safeguards against those who demand more than their due.”
Peter Wohlleben from ‘The Hidden Life of Trees’
The prominent quote of Virginia Woolf says “Think we must”, nevertheless I believe the first step is to look deeply outward and inward, empathically and attentively. Only this can stop cracks formed on planet’s surface, blank spaces and reckless experiments on our earthly organism. Lassen in German means ‘to let’ or ‘to leave’. Therefore, are we Eichmanns of the 21st century? Shall we leave our natural habitat and remain numb or let ourselves live and sustain?
Krzysztof Candrowicz, introduction text to LASSEN book/exhibition by Malgorzata Stankiewicz 2017
Photographs: Lassen ©2017 Małgorzata Stankiewicz
