The photographic montage (created 2016) is showing the Trinity explosion. On July 16, 1945, 5:29 am 45 seconds, the United States Army conducted the first test of a nuclear weapon. The beginning of the nuclear age marks a historic turning point when humans first accessed an enormous new energy source and also developed the ability to destroy themselves.
At the moment I am particularly interested in work related to the Anthropocene, a proposed term for an epoch that begins when human activities have had significant global impact on the Earth’s ecosystems. It is with industrialization that humans began, and continue, to transform the Earth’s metabolism to a degree that now parallels geological forces. The Anthropocene is a situation that calls for re-examination, asking us to take a closer, more sensitive look at the way humans have chosen to live. How can art develop a language of critical thought that deals with aspects of a transforming space?
Benedikt Partenheimer