X: Natalie Jeremijenko and the Remnant/ Emergency ArtLab

Abstract

This exhibition is both “X” for experimental design, and “X”, for cross-fertilisation, cross-species collaboration and crossdisciplinary exploration. It presents an array of Jeremijenko’s inventions, prescriptions, actions and stunts that seek connectivity with nature at both an empathetic and a consequential level. Jeremijenko enters the ecological fray at a moment when scientists concur on the question of causality (yes, human action currently degrades the environment unsustainably), but we are still far from a consensus of action. Our own lifestyles and dependencies (multiplied through our exponentially growing populations) are the engines of our own destruction. Our resistance to change is propped up by our astonishing willingness to ignore consequences – even as they get closer and closer to home. Jeremijenko’s work seeks to burst the anthropocentric bubble of consumption and convenience that will eventually carry us to oblivion.