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Economia Video Exhibition: #Nature’s Economies

(video exhibition)
5-6 PM live on YouTube and Facebook

What if new economies take inspiration from self-regulatory mechanisms that are typical of natural ecosystems?
Wither - ThijsBiersteker

A video exhibition exploring the #Nature’s Economies theme. Could our economy be a reflection of nature, a closed system that grows, thrives and decades? What if new economies take inspiration from self-regulatory mechanisms that are typical of natural ecosystems?

With Wither, a rainforest that is disappearing before our eyes, Thijs Biersteker helps us to imagine the immense extent of the current deforestation of the Amazon. Viral Nature – HereNowArcadia by Martina Taranto is a living material that grows and eventually decays. The geology of Silvia Noronha’s future, Shifting Geology speculates about the impact of human activity on the Earth.

Wither, Thijs Biersteker

Dutch artist Thijs Biersteker uses the current deforestation data to control one square meter of rainforest that can disappear right in front of your eyes. Helping us to imagine the sheer scale of loss happening at this moment, in places where no one is there to watch. As the world is forced to slow down in lockdowns due to Covid-19, there is a 71%  acceleration of deforestation happening in the Brazilian rainforests through the lack of enforcement as a result of the pandemic. Bringing us onto a hard to imagine 2.560 m2 of ancient rainforest that is lost each second.

‘Wither’ is built using an adaptive set of deforestation data. Controlled by the data every flickering of a leaf marks the loss of 250m2 of rainforest. Each second ten leaves disappear. The artwork is adapted to the current data coming in by the different deforestation watch groups.

Viral Nature – HereNowArcadia, Martina Taranto

A linear conception of time and life is what lies behind all processes of human creation. Nature’s artefacts never become ruins or waste. A tree trunk can outlive the tree, and a shell exists longer than its inhabitant. Natural artifacts, after a stage of decadence, become something else, useful again for everything around. Nature’s creations are always new and able to preserve a circular paradigm of life.

‘Viral Nature’ by Martina Taranto, proposes a composite material, 84% organic, able to host life. Fertile and easy to shape, the mix can be employed to cast complex structures made to grow into living botanical sculptures. ‘HereNowArcadia’ is the sculptural adaptation to the ‘Viral Nature’ mix. It demonstrates how close we are to a reality where humans live integrated with the ecosystem. 

Shifting Geology, Silvia Noronha

Materials that result from environmental contamination evoked by man are emerging. Polluting gases and chemical wastes are interacting with earth’s ecosystem and becoming part of nature. How will human activities affect earth’s landscapes? Through a science-based artistic process this work is a speculation about the next geology. By combining natural and humanly modified materials, ‘Shifting Geology’ simulates stone formation and it’s adaptation processes. With the project Silvia Noronha explores the realm of speculating design and raises questions about material agency, modern society, nature and their collective future.

Join the event

On November 5th at 17:00 CET, you can watch the online expo on our Economia Festival YouTube channel and Baltan Laboratories Facebook Page, where the video will remain accessible afterwards.

In addition to watching the expo, there is the opportunity to join the conversation in a live Q&A with Thijs Biersteker, Martina Taranto and Silvia Noronha. If you want to join this Q&A, please join the Zoom meeting. The room will be open from 16:45 on, at 17:00 we will start with an introduction.