Object Theater
Hyojin An
We easily notice that Major exhibitions now center on Artificial Intelligence and its role in shaping humanity’s future, intriguing the public with its untapped potential. For instance, AI- curated Instagram feeds, generative AIs that aid content creation and learning, and virtual assistants like ChatGPT, Bard, and LLaMa. The development of AI remains a focus for scientists, engineers, and designers. Personally, I was excited and curious upon discovering AI, and continue to explore its potential to enhance daily life.
However, even though AI is a new and provocative realm suggesting undiscovered possibilities, what is the most critical issue that mankind has to face in reality? Is it developing these technologies to make human life easier? Or is it evolving the uniqueness of human creativity with AI or against AI? While watching the documentary ‘A Life on Our Planet’, I was totally blindsided by the fact that 70% of bird species are domestic animals, and most of them are chickens. Furthermore, humans constitute 1/3 of mammals on Earth, and the other 60% are domestic animals for human intake, while only 4% of wild animals, from rats to whales, occupy the Earth’s surface. In the previous 1000 years, 50% of wild forests have been deforested and turned into agricultural land such as oil palm plantations and avocado production. Think about how phenomena like these will impact our future. Human life relies on nature and the Earth, and we know the importance of these facts and are aware that we have to stop destroying the Earth and reduce carbon footprints.
Think about living with AI and highly advanced technology in a totally devastated Earth. Would you like that scenario? I even thought that our time and attention invested in the future that such AI will bring about are taking away from the time we should spend contemplating and imagining the dire future of the Earth that humans will actually face, as well as the threats to the human world. It’s like diverting public rebellion and interest from the government’s mishandled issues by exposing the dismal private lives of famous celebrities, thus burying the issues that realistically need serious attention under new concerns.
During the holidays, many find inspiration and relaxation in nature over metropolitan cities. Does nature’s comfort contribute to this? Why do we find it awe-inspiring? Tourists spend significant money and effort to see wild whales in northern Norway, enduring early mornings and multiple transports for a brief glimpse. Despite our desire to experience nature, we quickly revert to a consumeristic lifestyle, potentially depriving future generations of seeing such wonders. How ambivalent and ironic it is. I expect the Object Theater, the possible fiction of my imagination which speculates an act of the Bowerbirds species in the future, to make spectators agonize and think about the little bird, whatever acts they do, we do, and I do, wherever and whenever we consume, no matter whether that is tangible or intangible.
The ‘Gantry’ site is located in Finnieston, above the railway and near Minerva Way and the Scottish Power substation, which distributes electricity to Glasgow. While observing the site, I noticed a door on one side, indicating human access but not allowing passage to both sides. This led me to imagine sneaking inside, where untold stories might be lurking. I also speculated that mosses and liverworts might thrive in Glasgow’s cooler climate, dampness, and shading. Flies or bugs might penetrate the perforated steel panels, laying eggs, alongside ivy and soil dust accumulation.
Inspired by the connection between human emissions and the architectural waste embodied by the gantry, which drives industrial movement via power distribution, I recalled a documentary on bowerbirds, known for decorating their nests to attract mates with unique aesthetics. Some even use discarded human waste, which I associated with the Gantry site, given its location and form, set away from human attraction and suspended between ground and sky, creating a private, safe space for these little birds.
I believe material culture and consumerism link human behavior to ecological consequences, driving relentless production and consumption, depleting resources and worsening pollution. This pursuit of material wealth exacerbates environmental crises, prompting us to save the planet. But is it for nature or for us? We depend on the planet; nature will survive without us.
Exploring the courtship behavior of bowerbirds and its parallels with human material culture, I was captivated by how both value objects beyond their physical attributes. Bowerbirds choose vibrant colors like yellow, red, black, and blue, along with shiny items and natural materials. Mature male Satin bowerbirds, in particular, prefer blue to captivate females, communicating their level of creativity and fitness. This is why they pick up blue-colored plastic waste from humans, as it is an attractive and fascinating object for them. For their grand performance aimed at impressing and attracting a mate, they carefully select the most sparkling, new, and attractive objects for their stage. This meticulous display challenges modern disposable culture by showing how discarded items can gain new value. This led me to appreciate non-human species’ material culture and consumerism as a new perspective, revealing that objects in the natural world can hold cultural significance and emotional resonance beyond human contexts.
Humans are hosted in the world of nature, embedded in culture and education. It is not limited to physicality; it can have more meaning as a conceptual catalyst that invites humans to rethink and reimagine their relationship with the world.
In this context, this host will facilitate interdisciplinary discussions and exhibitions that question material culture, consumerism, and the impact on nature where they are hosted.
In my study on material culture and consumerism, I explored the relationship with the collective objects of male Bowerbirds’ relatives, which are integral to their mating behavior. This prompted me to imagine fictional narratives of their collections evolving over time. As human material culture advances, the collected objects of male Bowerbirds would inevitably change.
To understand future waste, I speculated on waste from various fields, finding that significant waste items included ‘metallic waste’ from electronic devices, which play a crucial part in our everyday lives, semiconductor chips, bolts, and nuts used in AI development, and ‘genetic waste’ from biotech practices driven by human curiosity about undiscovered possibilities.
Furthermore, given the shift towards sustainability and bioplastics, plastics are no longer considered future waste. This transition in contemporary material culture will impact Bowerbirds’ future collections, possibly leading them to collect items with new materials instead of disposable plastics.
Considering a hypothetical future where only male Bowerbirds adapt while females remain unchanged, I imagine a distinct shift in their relationship dynamics. The males’ evolutionary changes, driven by the necessity to manage heavier objects for mating displays, create a disparity with females, whose preferences and physical attributes remain the same. This disparity could lead to altered courtship behaviors, as males strive to attract mates with increasingly elaborate displays of strength and ingenuity. The evolutionary divergence might also impact their social structure and interactions, revealing the complex interplay between environmental pressures and species’ adaptation. This speculative scenario highlights nature’s capacity for adaptation and the unforeseen consequences that arise from such evolutionary shifts.
The object theater I envision provides a tangible way to connect the layers of the present, near, and distant future. By using the Gantry structure to visualize the intertwined relationship between contemporary material culture and ecological challenges, it serves as a speculative space for understanding human behavior and its impact on the environment, highlighting the need for sustainable actions and mindful consumption.
