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Seeing footprint

The World We Made,
Galleri Schaffers Gate 5
2023

Photography, EBSD analysis of gabbro, burnt birch, moss (Cladonia stellaris), and foam board.

The work is rooted in a posthuman perspective together with complexity and overconsumption reflections. It is an attempt to combine a contrasting perspective on connection to nature with an alerting use and extraction of resources - but a low global circularity level. “Seeing footprint” shows the consequences of slow action despite scientific knowledge and Paris Agreement goals. Being difficult to perceive, our actions have a direct and indirect contribution to the increasing carbon footprint and destruction of the delicate arctic climate. 

This visual narrative explores the relationship between the Arctic climate, natural resource utilization, and the implications of climate change. The work therefore zooms in and out between the landscape and nanoscale part related to monetary value. The demand for raw materials wins often over the value of the landscape itself without practical appliances. "Seeing footprint" is a condensed work with years of circularity study from chemistry, anthropology, sustainability and communication in order to connect complexity dots. It emphasizes the interconnections of global actions, climate change feedback, and the impact on local biodiversity, all contributing to the environmental footprint and enlarging the inequality gap.

Background

Hardangerjøkulen is the best studied glacier in Southern Norway with its changes traced back to 10000 years. The glacier is shrinking each year. It lies on the Hardangervidda plateau rich in gabbro. Gabbro is an igneous rock having a high mining value due to the abundance of natural ores necessary e.g. digitization. At the same time, ice sheets are highly vulnerable due to the phenomenon called Arctic amplification which is a response to climate change feedback. Because of that the northern hemisphere is warming three times as fast as the global average. From a global perspective, the arctic climate plays an important role in the albedo effect and in storing huge amounts of CO2 in the ice of glaciers and permafrost.

 

As for nowadays, CO2 eq. is the most commonly used measuring factor for greenhouse gas emissions. Carbon footprint has become almost a new currency in terms of reaching Paris Agreement goals and at the same time connecting sustainability and industry. Resources, raw materials, energy, food, and manufacturing are all being calculated and optimized for the carbon footprint or its equivalents. The new trend of carbon offset has been introduced as compensation for harmful emissions, instead of prioritizing reducing emissions in the first place.

 

There are however dimensions like biodiversity or psychological aspects of connection to surroundings, that cannot be translated into CO2 equivalent. At the same time, the circular economy is at a very low level globally and most of the valuable resources in the world are being considered as wastes, landfilled or dumped into the ocean. 90% of biodiversity loss is connected to extraction and processing of the natural environment. Economical and short-term perceptions, and technological immaturity are major reasons for slow transition towards circularity and constantly growing demand for minerals and raw materials.

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