Art + Anthropocene: Culture, Climate and Our Changing Planet

This two day conference at the University of York aims to bring together scholars in the sciences, social sciences and humanities to explore the effects of climate change on our global environment and how the respective disciplines are responding to the changes taking place. Art + Anthropocene seeks to identify the intersections between art, culture and the environment from a broadly interdisciplinary perspective, highlighting major world concerns such as the climate crisis, population displacement and declining wildlife populations, among others. Recognising the importance of the Anthropocene and climate change across these wide-ranging disciplines is decisive in making both of these fields more relevant and accessible to a wider, non-specialist audience.

In the organisation of this conference we are fortunate to be working alongside the Leverhulme Centre for Anthropocene Biodiversity (LCAB), the York Environmental Sustainability Institute (YESI) and the Humanities Research Centre. As such, we hope to inspire wider interdisciplinary thinking, discussion and collaboration.

Registration is now open, see our website for more information.

CONFERENCE PROGRAMME

DAY ONE - 26th March, 2020

8:30-9:00 Conference Registration

9:00-10:15 Introductions and Keynote Lecture

Julie Doyle (University of Brighton)
IMAGINING FUTURES: CREATIVE COLLABORATIONS FOR (YOUTH) CLIMATE ENGAGEMENT

10:15-11:45 Panel 1 - Extinction Curation

Michal Krawczyk (Griffith University)
IN THE NATURAL APIARY: ETHNOGRAPHY AND ECOCINEMA

Sarah Wade (Science Museum/UCL)
REPRESENTING SPECIES LOSS & EXHIBITING EXTINCTION IN THE ANTHROPOCENE

Rosamund Portus (University of York)
ART AND ECOLOGY: RESHAPING ENVIRONMENTAL CRISES THROUGH CREATIVITY

11:45-12:00 Coffee Break

12:00-13:30 Panel 2 - Anthropocene in the Modern Age

Matthew Cotton (University of York)
ART, ETHICS AND DELIBERATIVE ENGAGEMENT WITH CLIMATE CHANGE FUTURES

Gavin MacGregor (Northlight Heritage)
IT’S ALL THE FAULT OF ARCHAEOLOGY: THEY WERE SO BUSY DIGGING UP THE PAST, THEY FORGOT THE FUTURE

Steve Cinderby (SEI, University of York)
USING CREATIVE METHODS TO IMPROVE INCLUSION IN THE DELIVERY OF LOCALIZED 2030 SDG TARGETS? EXAMPLES OF SUSTAINABLE TRANSPORT AND AIR POLLUTION FROM NAIROBI AND KAMPALA

13:30-14:15 Lunch

14:15-15:45 Panel 3 - The Living Land

Elsa Varela (Catalan Institute of Agrifood Research and Technology)
NEW ALLIANCES BETWEEN FOREST OWNERS AND EXTENSIVE LIVESTOCK SHEPHERDS TO REDUCE THE RISK OF WILDFIRE IN THE MEDITERRANEAN: BRING LIVESTOCK (BACK) INTO THE FOREST

Julie Reiss (Christie's Education, New York)
FERTILE LAND, BARREN LAND: SOPHEAP PICH’S RATANIKIRI VALLEY GRIDS

Declan Wiffen (University of Kent)
WHEN IS A LICHEN NOT A LICHEN? A SYMPTOMATIC READING OF OLAFUR ELIASSON’S MOSS WALL

Claudia Rosenhan (University of Edinburgh)
ENERGY F/FLOWS THROUGH THE ENVIRONMENT

15:45-16:00 Coffee Break

16:00-17:30 Panel 4 - Within the Water

Katey Valentine (University of York)
THE HIDDEN MICROBIAL WORLD OF ENVIRONMENTAL PLASTIC

Suzi Richer & Laura Denning (University of York/Bath Spa University)
SOUNDS AND SAMPLING

Francesca Curtis (University of York)
FISH AS COMMODITY; FISH AS ANCESTRY: HELEN MAYER AND NEWTON HARRISON’S PORTABLE FISH FARM AND THE COSMOPOLITICS OF THE ANTHROPOCENE

DAY TWO - 27th March, 2020

9:30-11:30 Panel 5 - 'The Awe of them Came on Me': Ursula Le Guin and the Power of Trees

Liesl King (York St John), Annemarieke de Bruin (SEI, University of York), and Alison Dyke (SEI, University of York)

This session explores the different relationships between humans and trees and will partly take place outdoors near the conference venue. Please bring appropriate footwear and clothing. The location will be accessible for all and an audio system will be used.
Location: TBD

11:30-11:45 Coffee Break

11:45-13:15 Panel 6 - Animals, Art and the Anthropocene

Bergit Arends (University of Bristol)
ANIMAL REPRESENTATIONS IN THE ANTHROPOCENE

Owen Gurrey (University of Sheffield)
ANTHROPOCENE PERSPECTIVES IN JOHN BURNSIDE’S THE HUNT IN THE FOREST

Ana Peraica (Budapest/Krems)
MIGRATION OF SPECIES INTO IMAGES AND DATABASES

13:15-14:00 Lunch

14:00-15:30 Panel 7 - Temporal Landscapes

Michael Cooper (University of York)
UNEARTHING THE FORGOTTEN RECORD OF GLACIER AND ICE-SHEET CHANGE

Sajda Van Der Leeuw (University of Oxford)
YOUR WASTE OF TIME: ELIASSON’S (EN-)ACTIVIST SCULPTURES AND CLIMATE CHANGE IN THE AGE OF THE ANTHROPOCENE

Rachel Magdeburg (University of Wolverhampton)
THE MOVING AFTERLIFE OF MONTAGNE SAINTE-VICTOIRE

15:30-15:45 Coffee Break

15:45-17:15 Panel 8 - Coastlines and Climate Change

Alexander Jardine (University of York)
COASTAL STORMS: RECORDS FROM THE LANDSCAPE AND LITERATURE

Dorcas Taylor (Independent Curator)
WATER MATTERS: ART, WATER AND CLIMATE NARRATIVES IN YORKSHIRE

Richard Carter (University of Roehampton)
‘DATASCENE’: NONHUMAN PERCEPTION IN THE ART OF THE ANTHROPOCENE

Lucy McMahon (University of York)
NATURE-BASED SOLUTIONS: HOW OUR COASTLINES HELP TO MITIGATE CLIMATE CHANGE