150 years of steadily increasing fossil fuel energy supply allowed us to believe that we had overcome nature. We can modify natural materials again and again, and move anything we want anywhere we want. Even the sky is not the limit.
But then, rapid climate change on a scale never seen before reminded us that we are still a part of nature. All production has consequences. Natural resources are being depleted and we are left with the waste.
It is ironic that it has taken the most advanced technology to help us detect the adverse effects of the fossil fuel industry on the atmosphere. In a similar way, we look at cultivated landscapes composed of square fields on square-shaped screens.
Apart from being so humiliating, the way that we try to adapt to the new situation is also rather amusing. The very basics of energy production, movement, living and eating must be learned. How is that chocolate we like to enjoy with our coffee really made, and what materials are required to make it?
We also have to learn things in new ways. The post-fossil era is characterized by becoming aware of fossil fuel connections and developing and testing new technologies and practices that are independent of it. All of this has to be achieved by people who have only experienced the fossil era.
The exhibition’s artists – Michaela Casková, Alma Heikkilä, Mikko Itälahti, Saara-Maria Kariranta, Riikka Keränen, Jussi Kivi, Pauliina Leikas, Antti Majava, Mika Palonen, Sallamari Rantala, Nestori Syrjälä, Elina Tuhkanen, Tuomo Tuovinen and Laura Wesamaa_ are members of the Mustarinda Association. The first part of the two-part exhibition is hosted by the gallery Sinne in Helsinki on April 29 – May 25, 2016, and the second part is held at the Mustarinda House on June 17 – August 7, 2016.
The energy for the exhibition is produced by the Mustarinda House’s six-kilowatt solar panels, geothermal heat and compost heat.