Did the future look better in the past? Today, has the future already turned into the past? Or is it perhaps that nowadays the past seems almost blissful compared to the present in which we actually live? What concepts of the future exist in times of social, economic and political crisis, in times of spreading poverty, corruption and mistrust towards democratic processes? Do visions of a better future exist at all? Or have we already caught up with our blooming future visions and dumped them in the dustbin of history?
Over the course of the two-year ANTHROPOCENE PROJECT 2013–2014 at Haus der Kulturen der Welt, THE ANTHROPOCENE OBSERVATORY pursues and documents the thesis of the “age of man” and its political, practical, institutional, and cultural formulation in, among other areas, international climate policy.
In addition to his Marshall McLuhan 2014 lecture, Douglas Coupland will exhibit his post-digital Slogans for the Early 21st Century (2013-14) in an exhibition presented by Daniel Faria Gallery, transmediale and the Embassy of Canada at the Or Gallery Berlin.
Sylvie Earle, explorer and oceanographer, says Earth is a misnomer and the planet should be called the Ocean. Oceans are the life support system of the planet as well as its salty wombs. The ancient ocean, the primordial soup, gave birth to the very first organic molecules and was brimming with prehistoric living organisms. That was four billion years ago. Today the composition of oceans is undergoing a dramatic change where synthetic molecules are taking over.
Taiwan can be viewed as a microcosm of a world history that has led to today’s globalized reality. Schizophrenia Taiwan 2.0 focuses on the digital revolution in the work of young Taiwanese new media artists, born between the eras of color TV and smart phones in a country that manufactures 80% of the world’s electronic goods. They are fully aware of the risks and the potential of globalization and cybernetics, and their artworks embody in depth research on the relationships between humans and machines. www.schizotaiwan.net
