either/or, both/and, neither

The 19th-century idealist philosopher G.W.F Hegel famously noted, "the owl of Minerva spreads its 

wings only with the falling of the dusk” — the understanding here is that, philosophy only comprehends a historical condition by the time it has passed.

The title of this installation refers to humanity’s adaptation to changing environments in accordance to the passing of time, however with the onset of the Anthropocene, the following epoch may quite possibly be absent of homo sapiens or life in general, for that matter.

Much like the caterpillar trapped in the terrarium in the background, being the addition that causes the collapse of its ecosystem.

‘Beautiful soul syndrome, which Kierkegaard assaults remorselessly is the default ideological mode of modernity. The beautiful soul sees reality over yonder, separated from her by a thin pane of aestheticizing glass. Beautiful me over here, corrupt world over there. The beautiful soul is a Hegelian category, a stance toward the world that typifies the romantic artist. She has no inkling that she herself is formally responsible for the corruption in the world that she sees, the gaze that sees evil over yonder, is evil. So to get over beautiful soul syndrome is to realize that you are a hypocrite’. - T. Morton, Chapter 9.

Raising awareness with regard to environmental collapse has reached the brim of the art bucket, what we need are loaded, action-worthy concepts, structures and objects to deal with these issues directly and immediately. The question is … how?

References:

Future Primitive Revisited - John Zerzan, 17 Jun 2012 by

Hyperobjects: Philosophy and Ecology after the end of the world - Timothy Morton, September 23rd 2013 by Uni. Of Minnesota Press.