ANTHROPOCENE VS SYMBIOCENE

 

According to this paper, Earth hit levels of carbon dioxide (410ppm) on 18 April - a "climate change milestone" since records were made.  Not a happy milestone, mind you, but of course we don't need to be reminded of our fate as destruction (should it be exploitation?) is all around us. Yes, I said "our fate", and not the Earth's fate, because while the Earth can reset itself, humans will probably be wiped out.

I recently read "Confessions of a Recovering Environmentalist" in The Guardian.  Ian Kingsnorth, the author, says “This is bigger than anything there has ever been for as long as humans have existed, and we have done it, and now we are going to have to live through it, if we can.”  It does sound grim.

"we have created an “all-consuming global industrial system” which is “effectively unstoppable; it will run on until it runs out”. "

The age of Anthropocene is upon us. To be honest, there might be some truth to Kingsnorth's words. Having started working as an environmentalist so many years ago (okay, since the late 90s), I haven't seen much progress in terms of reducing consumption, we now have hazy days due to forest fires from our neighbour, a new incineration plant is coming up (but we already have 4), and recycling is still not getting anywhere.

Can we even exit anthropocene and move towards symbiocene? 

Here is an art collaboration that I did with artist Christine R Bay.
As you can see Symbiosis does not include humans. Anthropocene, well, you can see what humans can do.

ANTHROPOCENE VS SYMBIOCENE art work

Materials used: old cotton t-shirt, thread scraps
Technique: free motion embroidery

Scrap Threads - ORTS

I used scrap threads and remnant fabrics in the project to highlight human overconsumption. Honestly, do we really need so much stuff? I’ve tried as much as possible to use whatever is available in my home for my art. Read about it in my other studio updates below:

 
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Misconceptions of Natural Dyes

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Art Residency - Natural Dyes