Critical Contextualisation: Holocene Extinction Memorial
Participating in the Holocene extinction memorial project for RZSS Edinburgh Zoo has encouraged me to actively engage and think more about the extinction of species, and humanity’s involvement in creating and sustaining those conditions that endanger species. In today’s current social and economical climate, there is no greater threat than humans. It can be argued that our planet is in the midst of a sixth mass extinction, otherwise referred to as the Holocene extinction or Anthropocene extinction. For the first time in geological history, human beings have become the primary driving force for change on a planetary scale.
Environmental Catastrophe
As a result of overconsumption, overpopulation and overexploitation, humanity’s actions are having a catastrophic effect on the environment. Our ever increasing influence has directly altered the earths atmospheric, geologic, hydrologic and biospheric systems resulting in extreme climate change and great environmental degradation. Human-driven changes like these are the reasons why ecosystems are slowly rising in temperature. As we continue to reshape our environment to facilitate our needs, we impinge on habitats and ecosystems that don’t belong to us, sending floral and faunal populations to extinction.
A 2018 major report by WWF indicates that from 1970–2014, human activity has resulted in the global destruction of over 60% of mammals, reptiles, amphibians, birds and fish. Insect numbers are also plummeting with the total insect population dangerously declining at a rate of 2.5% per year — eight times faster than that of mammals, birds and reptiles. Over 40% of insect species are in decline with a third being endangered.
Our 7.6 billion population represents only 0.01% of all living things yet since the dawn of civilisation some 200,000 years ago we have had the greatest impact on the planet compared to any other species. In the past few decades, habitat loss, pollution, overexploitation, toxicification and most recently climate degradation have led to the disastrous decline in the numbers and population size of vertebrate species. The extent of our extinction crisis is so severe that it is now estimated that almost 200 vertebrate species have disappeared in the last 100 years, these reports indicate a rapid extinction rate of 2 species per year.
Earth is experiencing a huge episode of population declines and extirpations, which will have negative cascading consequences on ecosystem functioning and services vital to sustaining civilisation. We describe this as a “biological annihilation.”
Current groundbreaking assessments have revealed to us that we are rapidly running out of time — the Earth’s sixth mass extinction is fast approaching. With the current rate of species loss we can no longer ignore the catastrophic consequences of our actions, in order for all species to thrive once more, humanity needs to take action — governments, businesses, communities and individuals must play there part.
Scientists have argued however that even if humanity’s destructive habits were to end now, it would still require 10 million years for global biodiversity to naturally take its course — the same amount of time that was needed to recover from the mass extinction that wiped out the dinosaurs. We caused this catastrophe so we must be the ones who fix it.
Extinction and Design
Design activism has been a growing topic of interest recently, garnering a lot of attention in the news with climate change groups like Extinction Rebellion making headlines for their 10 day protest, which caused disruption in London and resulted in more than 1100 people being arrested. Design activism as defined by Thomas Markussen in his journal, The Disruptive Aesthetics of Design Activism: Enacting Design Between Art and Politics(2013), is described as:
Design Activism is a multidisciplinary practice that includes, but is not restricted to disciplines such as graphic design, product design, interactive design, urban design and fashion and textile design. The movement embraces the activist ethos of designers, encouraging designers to use their design skills for greater social impact — providing a platform through which people can have their voice heard.
Design Activism plays a significant role in the overarching narrative that is conservation, it is a practice that is extremely relevant to the Holocene extinction memorial project. The purpose of the memorial was to educate visitors about past, present and future species extinction. It aimed to highlight the present human activities currently endangering species; moving visitors from empathy to action and actively engaging them in considering what actions they themselves can take to prevent the extinction of species.
If we compare the memorial and its intended purpose to the three main points as described by Markussen in his definition of Design Activism, it is clear that the memorial meets these specifications: the primary aim of the memorial is to raise awareness about extinction and its history, the memorial also aims to get the visitor to question humanity’s impact and role in the extinction crisis and finally the memorial promotes social change by getting the visitor to consider their own actions and how these might be effecting the environment.
A call to action
As humanity’s actions continue to have a catastrophic effect on the environment and its ecosystems, activism and design has quickly become embedded in our current social, economical and political climate. The Earth is now in a time of mass global extinction and the opportunity for effective action is very short — the harsh reality is that we are running out of time and we only have ourselves to blame. In a recent report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) it is estimated that humanity has just 12 years remaining to address climate change before temperatures soar to the point of no return. The future of the planet is in our hands and urgent action must now be taken before any irreversible damage is made.
Extinction Rebellion is an international sociopolitical movement committed to environmental protection, nature conservation and climate change mitigation. The movement utilises mass coordinated nonviolent civil disobedience and protests to force governments to take action on the climate change crisis. The movements ultimate goal is to utilise coordinated economic and government disruption to sound the alarm on environmental threats that are destroying the planet.
As a sociopolitical movement the Extinction Rebellion relies heavily on the power of design activism to spread their message and voice their concerns. The overall success of a movement can often be attributed to its design, whether that be the identity of the movement itself or the print materials that visually translate the movements objective. The bold, colourful statement posters shown above were recently created by a group of design volunteers. The style and aesthetic is reminiscent of the protest art that brought Paris to a standstill in 1968.
The iconic Parisian posters were designed to reflect the grassroots movement. Extinction Rebellion’s modern day equivalents share the same block-printing style aesthetic, featuring easy to interpret imagery such as human skulls, animal bones and insects. The designs were then placed against a bright background. Whilst the posters are a homage to the 1968 Paris riots, the colours combined with the specific visual style give the designs a distinct retro personality.
Our planet is in dire need of saving: overconsumption, overpopulation and overexploitation from human activity has resulted in a fast approaching Anthropocene extinction. Earth is on the brink of the most catastrophic mass species extinction since the dinosaurs, some 65 million years ago. We can no longer ignore the consequences of our actions, in order to save our planet humanity must unite. Of all the species on the planet, humans have had the greatest impact, we must act now for time is running out. We caused this catastrophe so it is now up us to fix it, if we don’t humanity will face imminent global extinction.
References
Earth’s sixth mass extinction event under way, scientists warn
So many animals are going extinct that it could take Earth 10 million years to recover
Sixth mass extinction could destroy life as we know it– biodiversity expert
Plummeting insect numbers ‘threaten collapse of nature’
Humanity has wiped out 60% of animal populations since 1970, report finds
A WARNING SIGN FROM OUR PLANET: NATURE NEEDS LIFE SUPPORT
Humans just 0.01% of all life but have destroyed 83% of wild mammals — study
The Sixth Great Extinction Is Underway — and We’re to Blame
Exploring articulations of design activism
The Disruptive Aesthetics of Design Activism: Enacting Design Between Art and Politics
Los Angeles Extinction Rebellion Launches with Nationwide Day of Resistance #BeyondResist
Summary for Policymakers of IPCC Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5°C approved by governments
THE ART OF LONDON’S CLIMATE CHANGE PROTESTS IS AN HOMAGE TO THE 1968 PARIS RIOTS
