COLORADO SERIES: ANTHROPOCENE

Nature as we know it is a concept that belongs to the past. It is no longer perceived as a force separate from or ambivalent to human activity. Nature is not an obstacle nor a harmonious other. Humanity forms nature, adhering social and cultural agendas with ecology, geology, and geography.

This project is comprised of a series of works in dialogue with the concept of the Anthropocene, the latest proposed geological epoch in which the effects of our growing human population, technological advancements and ever-changing economy can be found in our planet’s natural systems. Indeed, climate change is one of the biggest signals happening in the world making it obvious that our individual or global decisions and actions trigger lasting effects, intertwining the leveling methods of nature and our ability to manipulate or influence those systems. As our humanized nature follows the trajectory of our economic and cultural desires, how do we understand what is artificial and natural? At what point do we become so determined to control nature that we become some mutant form of it?

While any object-based art practice has a problematic relationship with commodities by nature, this series of works uses almost entirely found, donated or recycled materials and objects, discouraging further consumption as much as possible.

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BREAK OUT

2015
video loop projection, emergency blankets, wire, plaster, headphones, sound composition

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A multimedia video installation called Break Out continues with the anthropogenic theme. A large gold-colored sculpture, fabricated out of wire, plaster, and emergency blankets, sits precariously on a small riverbed. It appears to be on the verge of breaking free and riding down the stream, but it never does. This video loop is punctuated with digital video glitches, offering a glimpse of nature reformed by human actions. A stereo sound composition is played through headphones, serving as a sonic interpretation of the nervous emotions around our environment’s future.