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Call for exhibits: Objects of the Misanthropocene
Archaeological remains of an iPad, Dean Sully.
Gilded Cage, Jo Volley
Green Man, Johann Austad
Plastiglomerate
UCL staff and students are invited to create objects for this ongoing online exhibition, with the chance to have them displayed in an Octagon Gallery exhibition from September 2022.
The exhibition will feature objects that have travelled back to us from different future worlds or alternative universes. It was first developed as an online exhibition in August 2020 then as a temporary display at UCL Slade School of Fine Art and the Institute of Archaeology in January 2022.
The Anthropocene/Misanthropocene
Recent environmental changes around the globe suggest we have entered a new human-dominated geological epoch, termed the Anthropocene.
In the Anthropocene, human activity has generated irreversible planetary transformations at multiple levels, including climate change, biodiversity loss, and changes in the chemical composition of the atmosphere, oceans and living organisms.
Emerging from the cross-disciplinary virtual school UCL Anthropocene, the concept of the ‘Misanthropocene’ represents a geological apocalypse, characterised by rapid and irreversible alterations to the climate and global depletion of resources caused by humans. It presents a cautionary tale about the catastrophic implications for all life on Earth of our present inaction.
The exhibits for Objects of the Misanthropocene will be fabricated to depict objects that inhabit specific dystopian worlds, from fictional and nonfictional accounts of the Anthropocene. The point of creating these objects from future or other worlds is for us to think about what we want and do not want to happen, and to do something about it.
How to get involved
If you are interested in finding out more and fabricating an exhibit, informal online workshops are running between June and August 2022, discussing future other worlds and developing ideas.
All suitable exhibits created (digital, hybrid or analogue) will be included in the online exhibition, and a selection of fabricated objects will be included in the Octagon Gallery exhibition.
Online workshop dates
• 21 July 2022, 7pm
• 4 August 2022, 7pm
All UCL staff and students are welcome to participate, and no previous artistic or exhibitions experience is necessary. You will need to supply your own materials.
The exhibition in the Octagon will open on 26 September 2022, so objects will need to be completed and submitted by 31 August 2022.
To register your interest, please complete the online form as soon as possible to allow time to complete your objects.
