THE HEAVY AIR THAT SURROUNDS US

Anaïs Senli

1 Nov–12 Jan 20

Microscopic beings moving with the ocean currents are generally referred to as plankton. They are scarcely recognisable by the human eye, but the cycle of life cannot be imagined without them. They are the essential foundation of the food chain of marine ecosystems, and are responsible for biochemical processes vital to life, such as photosynthesis.

Cyanobacteria, too, are involved in photosynthesis. More than three billion years ago, they developed as one of the first forms of life in a climate with almost no oxygen. By using photosynthesis to harness light and transforming CO₂ into oxygen, they gradually changed the composition of the atmosphere. Through the symbiotic processes of these early forms of bacteria, increasingly complex forms of life began to develop.

Today, meaning since industrialisation and the technological development of fossil fuels, vast quantities of CO₂ are again being released. As a consequence, we are experiencing rapid mutation in the global climate, leading us to question life as we know it. At the same time, the majority of oil extracted today came originally from ocean microbes – that is, plankton – and dead biomass, which is broken down and compressed over millions of years, loaded with energy from the sun.

The Heavy Air That Surrounds Us points towards the agency of micro-organisms, rethinking the materiality of our world. Can we imagine a world beyond humanity? The journey to the origin of life takes us to the dimension of geological time, and in doing so, it brings us to contemplate the very fragile nature of our present.

EVENT

21 Nov 19, 7 – 9 pm
NO MATTER FUNCTIONS AS A BORDER
Conversation with Anaïs Senli, Regina de Miguel, and María Morata
facilitated by Lena Johanna Reisner (en)