REVIEW OF "THE ANTHROPOCENE PROJECT"

Abstract

Here, we engage The Anthropocene Project: a 2019 art event that features photographic exhibits in art galleries and museums, both across Canada and internationally. The project also includes a feature length film, augmented reality, and a proposed curriculum. The Anthropocene Project thematically addresses one of the most pressing, yet controversial, matters of our age: the deleterious effects of human activity on the earth. As a proposed geopolitical epoch, the Anthropocene marks this specific time in history whereby human activity has more significant environmental impact than all other factors combined. The photography that depicts scenes of ecological cost and environmental devastation are deceptively, seductively appealing. We resist the lulling effect of the Anthropocene Project’s visually stunning images that engender a sense of awe at these demonstrations of human engineering achievements on such a large scale. We are left wondering at our species’ prospects of survival when we can become entranced by images portraying events so counterintuitive to our survival as omnivores, as mammals, as oxygen dependent creatures.