THE EARTH AS MODIFIED BY HUMAN ACTION: MAN AND NATURE
ART DEATH LIVES BETWEEN THE FIFTH ASSESSMENT THE SIXTH EXTINCTION 1 EDENIC APOCALYPSE SINGAPORE S END OF TIME BOTANICAL TOURISM 29 DIPLOMACY IN THE FACE OF GAIA 41 BECOMING AEROSOLAR FROM SOLAR SCULPTURES TO CLOUD CITIES 55 IN THE PLANETARIUM THE MODERN MUSEUM ON THE ANTHROPOCENIC STAGE 61 PHYSICAL GEOLOGY THE LIBRARY 77 THE EXISTENCE OF THE WORLD IS ALWAYS UNEXPECTED 83 CLOUD WRITING DESCRIBING SOFT ARCHITECTURES OF CHANGE IN THE ANTHROPOCENE 91 THE CERUMEN STRATA FROM FIGURES TO CONFIGURATIONS 107 GEOCHEMISTRY OTHER PLANETARY PERSPECTIVES 115 IMAGES DO NOT SHOW THE DESIRE TO SEE IN THE ANTHROPOCENE 129 THE FATES OF NEGATIVITY 141 CONTENTS DESIGN SPECS IN THE ANTHROPOCENE IMAGINING THE FORCE OF 30 000 YEARS OF GEOLOGIC CHANGE 153 THE MARFA STRATUM CONTRIBUTION TO A THEORY OF SITES 165 ON THE BUILDING CRASHING AND THINKING OF TECHNOLOGIES SELFHOOD 179 WE RE TIGERS 189 TECHNOLOGIES OF UNCERTAINTY IN THE SEARCH FOR MH370 197 LAST CLOUDS 211 ISLANDS OTHER INVISIBLE TERRITORIES 221 PLANTS THAT EVOLVE IN SOME WAY OR ANOTHER 231 INDIGENIZING THE ANTHROPOCENE 239 ANTHROPOCENE CAPITALOCENE CHTHULHUCENE 253 ART DEATH LIVES BETWEEN THE FIFTH ASSESSMENT THE SIXTH EXTINCTION IN THE 1930S HENRI CARTIER BRESSON REMARKED INDIGNANTLY THE WORLD IS GOING TO PIECES AND PEOPLE LIKE ANSEL ADAMS AND EDWARD WESTON ARE PHOTOGRAPHING ROCKS 1 WITH HIS CONDEMNATION OF THE INORGANIC AS AN UNWORTHY SUBJECT FOR PHOTO GRAPHY WE UNDERSTAND CARTIER BRESSON TO BE ARGUING FOR A MORE SOCIALLY ENGAGED ART PRACTICE ONE THAT WOULD RECOGNIZE THE POLITICAL ECONOMIC REALITIES OF THE DEPRESSION AND THE WAYS IN WHICH THIS DECISIVELY HUMAN CONTEXT IS PRECISELY WHAT ALLOWS ART TO SHARE MEANING AND TRANSFORM VALUES IT IS A STRANGELY CONTEMPORARY QUESTION IN THE FACE OF EXPLOITATION BRUTALITY AND IMPOVERISHMENT SHOULDN T ART ADDRESS HUMAN SUFFERING AND STRUGGLE SUCH A PERSPECTIVE ALBEIT ONE CONTESTED BY ADAMS EVEN THEN ASSUMES A DIFFERENCE IN KIND BETWEEN THE SHAMEFUL REALITY OF HUMAN EXPLOITS AND THEIR STONY SUBSTRATE IT IS REMARKABLE THAT IN LESS THAN A CENTURY WE SHOULD FIND THE TERMS OF THIS DEBATE UNCANNILY ENTANGLED WHAT DOES IT MEAN FOR ART TO ENCOUNTER THE ANTHROPOCENE IF ART IS NOW A PRACTICE CONDEMNED TO A HOMOLITHIC EARTH THAT IS TO A WORLD GOING TO PIECES AS THE LITERAL SEDIMENT OF HUMAN ACTIVITY HOW CAN AESTHETIC PRACTICES ADDRESS THE SOCIAL AND POLITICAL SPHERES THAT ARE BEING SET IN STONE BECOMING GEOLOGICAL UNDOES AESTHETIC SENSIBIL ITIES AND UNGROUNDS POLITICAL COMMITMENTS AS SUCH THIS COLLECTION BRINGS TOGETHER A MULTITUDE OF DISCIPLINARY CONVERSATIONS CONCERNED WITH ART AND AESTHETICS THAT ARE EMERGING AROUND THE ANTHROPOCENE THESIS DRAWING TOGETHER ARTISTS CURATORS SCIENTISTS THEORISTS AND ACTIVISTS TO ADDRESS THE GEOLOGICAL REFORMATION OF THE HU MAN SPECIES NECESSARILY THIS VOLUME EXCEEDS ITSELF AND ITS EDITORS IN EVERY RESPECT REACHING URGENTLY BEYOND ITS PAGINATED FORM TOWARD ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERNS AESTHETIC PRE DILECTIONS EPISTEMOLOGICAL LIMITS AND ETHICAL APORIAE WE CERTAINLY DIDN T SET OUT TO CONTAIN THE DISCOURSE OF THE ANTHROPOCENE NOR IS IT OUR INTENTION TO EXHAUST THE POTENTIAL LINES OF FLIGHT IT PROVOKES THE BOOK IS AN INTELLECTUALLY DISSIPATIVE STRUC TURE OPERATING AS A CONCEPTUAL CENTRIFUGE FOR FURTHER SPECULATION AND FUTURE ACTION IT IS NOT FROM SOME DESIRE TO ADD ANOTHER CONJUNCTIVE TERM TO THE GROWING LITERATURE ON THE ANTHROPOCENE THAT WE TURN TO ART RATHER ART AS THE VEHICLE OF AESTHESIS IS CENTRAL TO THINKING WITH AND FEELING THROUGH THE ANTHROPOCENE AND WE BELIEVE THE INHERENT RELATION BETWEEN THE TWO OCCURS AT A NUMBER OF STRATA AND ACROSS VARIOUS SCALES FIRST WE ARGUE THAT THE ANTHROPOCENE IS PRIMARILY A SENSORIAL PHENOMENON THE EXPERIENCE OF LIVING IN AN INCREASINGLY DIMINISHED AND TOXIC WORLD SECOND THE WAY WE HAVE COME TO UNDERSTAND THE ANTHROPOCENE HAS FREQUENTLY BEEN FRAMED THROUGH MODES OF THE VISUAL THAT IS THROUGH DATA VISUALIZATION SATELLITE IMAGERY 1 CLIMATE MODELS AND OTHER LEGACIES OF THE WHOLE EARTH 2 THIRD ART PROVIDES A POL YARCHIC SITE OF EXPERIMENTATION FOR LIVING IN A DAMAGED WORLD 3 AS ANNA TSING HAS CALLED IT AND A NON MORAL FORM OF ADDRESS THAT OFFERS A RANGE OF DISCURSIVE VISUAL AND SENSUAL STRATEGIES THAT ARE NOT CONFINED BY THE REGIMES OF SCIENTIFIC OBJECTIV ITY POLITICAL MORALISM OR PSYCHOLOGICAL DEPRESSION 4 TO APPROACH THE PANOPLY OF COMPLEX ISSUES THAT ARE AGGREGATED WITHIN AND ADJACENT TO THE ANTHROPOCENE AS WELL AS THEIR INTERCONNECTIONS AND INTRA ACTIONS IT IS NECESSARY TO ENGAGE WITH AND ENCOUNTER ART 5 BUT BEFORE GOING FURTHER WE D LIKE TO GET SOME FORMALITIES OUT OF THE WAY REGARDING THE ANTHROPOCENE THESIS AS YOU VE PROBABLY HEARD BY NOW THE INTERNATIONAL COMMISSION ON STRATIGRAPHY AND THE INTERNATIONAL UNION OF GEOLOGICAL SCIENCES ARE CURRENTLY DEBATING THE RELE VANT SCIENTIFIC MERITS OF THE SO CALLED ANTHROPOCENE EPOCH WHICH WOULD ALLOW THE ORGANIZATION TO RECOGNIZE A DIACHRONIC RIFT SEPARATING THE EPOCH OF THE HOLOCENE SINCE THE LAST ICE AGE RECEDED ALMOST TWELVE MILLENNIA AGO FROM OUR CURRENT HU MAN EPOCH 6 THE TERM WAS FIRST POPULARIZED BY THE DUTCH CHEMIST PAUL J CRUTZEN IN A 2002 PAPER HE PUBLISHED IN NATURE AFTER WHICH REFERENCES TO THE ANTHROPOCENE BEGAN TO APPEAR WITHIN SCIENTIFIC PUBLICATIONS REGARDING HYDROSPHERIC BIOSPHERIC AND PEDOSPHERIC RESEARCH 7 AS BOTH AN ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF THIS CREEPING INFORMAL NOMENCLATURE AND AN ATTEMPT TO REIFY IT WITH THE REQUISITE SCIENTIFIC STANDARDIZA TION IN 2007 THE BRITISH STRATIGRAPHER JAN ZALASIEWICZ THEN SERVING AS CHAIRMAN OF THE GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF LONDON S STRATIGRAPHY COMMISSION ASKED HIS COLLEAGUES TO REVIEW THE MERITS OF THESE YET TO BE SUBSTANTIATED AT LEAST FROM THE POINT OF VIEW OF STRATIGRAPHIC SCIENCE EPOCHAL CLAIMS SINCE THEN THE ANTHROPOCENE THESIS HAS MADE ITS WAY INTO A NUMBER OF OTHER SCIENTIFIC STUDIES AS WELL AS NEARLY EVERY CORNER OF THE SOCIAL SCIENCES HUMANITIES AND ARTS TO DETERMINE WHETHER OR NOT THE ANTHROPOCENE SATISFIES THE NECESSARY CRITERIA FOR A NEW GEOLOGICAL EPOCH STRATIGRAPHERS AND GEOLOGISTS ARE CONSIDERING VARIOUS ANTHROPOGENIC EFFECTS INCLUDING BUT CERTAINLY NOT LIMITED TO THE RISE OF AGRICUL TURE AND ATTENDANT DEFORESTATION THE EXTRACTION OF COAL OIL AND GAS AND THEIR ATMOSPHERIC CONSEQUENCES THE COMBUSTION OF CARBON BASED FUELS AND EMISSIONS CORAL REEF LOSS OCEAN ACIDIFICATION SOIL DEGRADATION A RATE OF LIFE FORM EXTINCTION OCCURRING AT THOUSANDS OF TIMES HIGHER THAN THROUGHOUT MOST OF THE LAST HALF BILLION YEARS AND PERHAPS MOST SURPRISINGLY A RATE OF HUMAN PROPAGATION A COMPLETELY UNABATED EXPLOSION IN POPULATION GROWTH WHICH ACCORDING TO THE RENOWNED BIOLOGIST E O WILSON IS MORE BACTERIAL THAN PRIMATE 8 EVEN FROM THIS ABBREVIATED LIST OF POSSIBLE CONSIDERATIONS EVIDENCE SUGGESTS A DRAMATIC HUMAN IMPACT HOWEVER FROM THE POINT OF VIEW OF GEOLOGY THE OBVIOUS PROBLEM IS THAT UNLIKE ALL OTHER GEOLOGICAL EPOCHS AND THE EVEN LONGER ERAS WITHIN WHICH THEY ACCUMULATE THE ANTHROPOCENE IS STILL IN THE MAKING BECAUSE WE CANNOT KNOW PRECISELY HOW THE STRATIFICATIONS THAT REGISTER OUR ANTHROPOGENIC EFFECTS WILL STACK UP THE STRATIGRAPHIC ASSEMBLAGE OF THE ANTHROPOCENE IS PRODUCED THROUGH A PROCESS OF SPECULATIVE GEOLOGY OPERATING ACCORDING TO AN INTENSIVE 2 THE EARTH AS MODIFIED BY HUMAN ACTION PHYSICAL INTERTEXT OF GEOHISTORIES PRESENT CONCERNS AND FUTURE IMAGINARIES NOT LEAST AMONG ITS INTELLECTUAL VIRTUES THIS SPECULATIVE DIMENSION HELPS CALL ATTENTION TO AND OCCASIONALLY OVERTURN CERTAIN BAD HABITS OF THINKING THAT ALLOW HUMANS TO CONCEIVE OF OBJECTS WHETHER MICRO OR HYPER AESTHETIC OR MUNDANE AS DISTINCT FROM THE PROCESSES OF THEIR EMERGENCE AND DECAY 9 OF COURSE SPECULATIVE CONSIDERATIONS REGARDING THE LEGIBILITY OF ANTHROPOGENIC CHANGE ALSO STIR UP THE DISPUTATIOUS MATTER OF WHEN THE PERIOD CAN BE SAID TO HAVE BEGUN 10 THREE DOMINANT POSITIONS NOW SHAPE THE GEOLOGICAL DEBATE IN THE ESTIMA TION OF PALEOCLIMATOLOGIST WILLIAM RUDDIMAN THE EIGHT THOUSAND YEAR OLD INVEN TION OF AGRICULTURE AND ITS ATTENDANT DEFORESTATION LED TO AN INCREASE IN ATMOSPHERIC CARBON DIOXIDE THIS SUGGESTS THAT HUMANS HAVE BEEN A PRIMARY GEOLOGICAL FORCE ON THE PLANET SINCE NEARLY THE BEGINNING OF THE HOLOCENE MAKING THE ANTHROPOCENE NEARLY CO EXTENSIVE WITH THE LAST ELEVEN AND A HALF THOUSAND YEARS SINCE THE MOST RECENT ICE AGE CRUTZEN HAS SUGGESTED HIS OWN DATE FOR THE BEGINNING OF THE EPOCH PUTTING THE INVENTION OF THE STEAM ENGINE IN THE LATE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY AT THE BEGINNING OF AN UNINTERRUPTED RISE IN CARBON DIOXIDE EMISSIONS THAT CAN BE READ IN ICE CORE SAMPLES THIS DATE MIGHT BE MORE PRECISELY LOCATED IN 1789 THE YEAR THAT WITNESSED THE INVENTION OF THE STEAM ENGINE BY JAMES WATT THE TECHNOLOGY THAT ENABLED HUMAN FORCES TO EXCEED THE MODEST LIMITS OF MUSCLE WHETHER HU MAN OR ANIMAL WIND AND WATER POWER AS WELL AS THE PUBLICATION OF IMMANUEL KANT S ESSAY WHAT IS ENLIGHTENMENT THIS DATE IS THUS ESPECIALLY PECULIAR SINCE FOR CRUTZEN THE MOMENT AT WHICH HUMAN AND NATURAL HISTORY BECOME INSEPARABLE COINCIDES WITH THE MOST DECISIVE EVENT OF THEIR PHILOSOPHICAL SEPARATION KANT S ALLEGED COPERNICAN REVOLUTION 11 FINALLY A DECISIVE MARK FOR THE BEGINNING OF THIS NEW EPOCH COULD BE LOCATED IN THE IRRADIATED SOIL THAT IS IMMEDIATELY APPARENT IN THE SEDIMENTARY RECORDS FOLLOWING THE BOMBING OF HIROSHIMA AND NAGASAKI 12 AND AT THE TEST SITES ON APPROPRIATED INDIGENOUS TERRITORIES NOT ONLY DID THE END OF WWII MARK THE PROLIFERATION OF THESE RADIONUCLIDES BUT IT ALSO DESIGNATED THE DRAMATIC POSTWAR SPIKE IN POPULATION GROWTH CONSUMPTION AND TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT REFERRED TO AS THE GREAT ACCELERATION 13 THIS POTENTIAL STARTING POINT WOULD ALSO HIGHLIGHT THE RECENT EXPLOSIVE GROWTH OF THE GLOBAL HUMAN POPULATION WHICH NOW EXCEEDS SEVEN BILLION 14 IN HIS REMARKABLE ESSAY REFLECTING ON NUCLEAR CATASTROPHE FROM HIROSHIMA TO FUKUSHIMA THE PHILOSOPHER JEAN LUC NANCY MAKES AN APPEAL TO REMAIN EXPOSED THAT IS TO ENDURE OUR ENCOUNTER WITH CATASTROPHIC LOSS BY ALLOWING OURSELVES TO SENSE IT IF WE MOVE TOO QUICKLY EVEN CATASTROPHES LIKE EVERYTHING ELSE UNDER CAPI TALISM BECOME LITTLE MORE THAN GENERAL EQUIVALENTS OF EXCHANGE WE ARE BEING EX POSED TO A CATASTROPHE OF MEANING NANCY ASSERTS ADDING LET S NOT HURRY TO HIDE THIS EXPOSURE UNDER PINK BLUE RED OR BLACK SILKS LET US REMAIN EXPOSED AND LET US THINK ABOUT WHAT IS HAPPENING CE QUI NOUS ARRIVE TO US LET US THINK THAT IT IS WE WHO ARE ARRIVING OR ARE LEAVING 15 THE ANTHROPOCENE INVITES THESE CONSIDERATIONS OF ARRIVAL AND DEPARTURE ONES THAT ARE VARIOUSLY TAKEN UP THROUGHOUT THE BOOK THE BROAD AREAS OF CONCERN THAT FORM THE SUBTITLE OF THIS BOOK ARE TOO COMMON AMONG 3 THE EARTH AS MODIFIED BY HUMAN ACTION