DESCRIPTION:

Future Self

2018

Glass Crystal, Dichroic Lens

Installation size – L500mm W500mm H80mm

Glass – L280mm W220mm H80mm

Photographer - Russell Watson

We live in a liminal[1] space where we have the ability to see the past and anticipate the future. Climate science is held in disregard by non-believers as though it were a form of divination and fortune-telling that holds little relevance to their everyday lives. This fear-based denial demonstrates the challenge artists and scientists face to re-establish the existential bond between humans and nature. Breaking through the Western cultural attitude of detachment that accepts the inequality and exploitation of other species for economic gains.

Future Self embodies a conversation between my present self and future self, imagining one of the many possibilities that may eventuate as nature begins to respond to the anthropocene[2].  Somewhere between dystopia and wonder, Future Self is a collapsing monument to our self-awareness.  As icy crystals engulf the binoculars they dissolve into the highly reflective lens on which they sit. A mirror doubling of the image is a dual metaphor that subconsciously evokes a fork in the road, alternate pathways, different options. It also references an iceberg; the dark wonder only being seen when the totality of what lies beneath the surface is made visible.

Like a ship treading icy and dark waters, the human psyche can only begin to navigate a pathway through climate change by accepting the challenge required to become our best selves both individually and collectively as a species.

[1] Liminal - occupying a position at, or on both sides of, a boundary or threshold

[2] Anthropocene - relating to or denoting the current geological age, viewed as the period during which human activity has been the dominant influence on climate and the environment.