Yaoxi
Wei
Remember Earth？
In an enlightening new exhibition opening this autumn marking one thousand years of peace between the species, four internationally acclaimed research scientists invite you to step back in time to experience a dystopian planet that we now know to be called Earth. Alongside an educational re-telling of the famous bee uprising, rare historical artefacts sourced uniquely for this display demonstrate beyond doubt the utter incompetence of humans. Stunning new evidence prompts us to ask, as a society; should we remember Earth or just forget about it?
Emilea Finch (UK), Paula Nahmod (AR), Yaoxi Wei (CN) and Caesár (NL)
2022/10
- Remember Earth? Exhibition introduction, 1000 AB (after Bees)
To what extent are we in control of nature? This is the central question being asked and explored by artists Emilea Finch (UK), Paula Nahmod (AR), Yaoxi Wei (CN) and Caesár (NL) in their immersive and multi-disciplinary exhibition Remember Earth? at Green Hill Gallery. Ultimately, the artists give no simple answer to this question but instead offer us a glimpse into the future one thousand years from now – a cynical future in which bees have become the dominant species on Earth. Remember Earth? culminates four weeks of collaboration, research, experimentation and creative development for the artists as part of the artist residency program IN//BETWEEN, which is now in its eighth edition.
A number of objects in the gallery act as artefacts from a lost civilisation - before human beings mysteriously met their demise at the hands (wings) of bees. An ominous and genetically mutated tree, hanging microwave bee-hives and a mockumentary- style video projection on loop create a disarming and yet poignant interplay between the organic and the synthetic. It is a recurring theme throughout the exhibition that brings sharply into perspective the devastating impacts of human activity upon our natural environment. This period of activity, in which humans have directly contributed change to the planet through the impacts of industry, pollution, agriculture, monoculture, war and transportation (to name but a few), is The Anthropocene. It is the geological age in which humans have reeked catastrophic and likely irreversible damage upon the environments in which we inhabit and the ecosystems upon which we depend for our very survival.
Among the species most affected by harmful human activity are bees. Without bees (also flies, wasps, hoverflies, butterflies, birds and bats) the essential cycle of pollination in diverse plants and crops, which is needed for fertilisation, will cease and we will no longer be able to cultivate vital foods such as grains, fruits and vegetables. Bees provide an essential and irreplaceable service – one that, if it were to halt, would cause a disastrous chain reaction both within and between ecosystems across the globe.
What is necessary, then, to return balance to our natural world? Does the answer lie in science, technology, or in nature itself?
Artists
