EMERGENCE, 2020
Installation, 5 meters x 4 meters
Polystyrene, acrylics, LED lamps.
Emergence speaks about the subject of human impact on the environment, harmful materials, and the resulting danger to humanity and ecology. The installation’s position on the wall imitates polystyrene wall insulation, widely used in building construction. A critical statement is made by mirroring the extensive use of toxic materials in the industry.
Polystyrene is one of the most widely used plastics, with an annual production volume of several million tons. It is used to manufacture protective packaging and disposable tableware, as well as thermal insulation for the walls, roofs, and foundations of most buildings. The material poses a danger to humans because it is highly flammable, takes at least 500 years to decompose, and contains styrene—a known carcinogen.
The title of the work refers to the ‘emerging’ position of it on the wall and to the alarming state of the environment. The boards that constitute the installation are, in everyday life, hidden from our sight underneath finishing layers of priming, plastering and paint, but in this case, the hidden layer is brought out to sight, together with the implications it carries.
"To preserve the environment, we first need to abandon the fundamental idea of 'Nature.' Instead, we must confront ecological devastation not as a perversion of nature, but as a problem within the overall system—as an error that needs to be corrected."
(Timothy Morton, 2014)
(Timothy Morton, 2014)
