At the end of the Deep Ecology honours module, organised by Waag’s artist in residence Esmee Geerken in collaboration with the Institute for Interdisciplinary Study and Institute for Advanced Study (University of Amsterdam), it's time to present the ‘Future Imaginations & Actions for the Amsterdam Science Park’ of the Deep Ecology students.
Together, we reflected upon how to build – be, grow, exist, imagine and act – in the face of climate change, biodiversity loss, inequity and other so-called ‘wicked problems’: problems that are so complex they sometimes make us want to give up, stay in bed, and cry. And even though tears are undervalued, and we need to mourn the loss of primordial forests, in this exhibition we come together: to imagine alternative futures, and to act, from within the wicked systems we find ourselves in.
How to listen to others – humans, more-than-humans, soils, oceans, minerals, shells and stones, and navigate uncertainty while taking responsibility, with modesty, while knowing that no one can really know?
How to imagine and act meaningfully, however small and our insignificant individual actions may be, in the realm of deep time, in the face of the unknown?
Be welcome to join us at lab42 at Amsterdam Science Park to explore these questions! Expect Spoken Word performances, Sound installations, World Building games, Creative Writing, Poetry, Photography, Music, Weaving, Ecology installations and more.
Practicalities
Drinks and bites will be provided. You may arrive and leave at any time, however, please note that there will be a program with presentations between ~17:30 – 19:00. From 19:00 – 20:00 you can enjoy some food made by the students, and explore the exhibition.
Deep Ecology
Deep Ecology, a movement started by eco-philosopher Arne Næss in 1973, entails the idea that the ecosystem is a web of complex relationships that needs to be regarded as a whole. A ‘Web of Life’ with moral and legal rights to remain flourishing, instead of using it for the extraction of wealth and resources – especially enriching some, while others, humans and more-than-humans, must live with the consequences of inequity and social and ecological injustice; pollution, climate change, biodiversity loss – that eventually will impact all of us, Earthlings.
Deep Ecology series
For the Deep Ecology series, Esmee invited guests from various disciplines to share their views on ecological approaches. Complexity Scientist Prof. Peter Sloot, Artist and performer Alexander Cromer, Environmental Scientist Dr. Paul Behrens, Artist and writer Vibeke Mascini, Philosopher and XR-rebel Chris Julien and Gender studies / anti-disciplinary scholar Dr. Eva Hayward contributed with their perspectives on (Deep) Ecology.
