Earth, Extraction and Expedition
Zhao Liang's Behemoth (2015)
In this session, I delve into the topic of how the world's resources are being used for economic wealth. Exploring the idea that humans have become a geological force, using the earth's resources to profit and contribute to capitalism. Talk about how humans don't rely on the environment but rather see it as something to be exploited and benefitted from. This is exemplified in the extraction of substances such as sand, water, oil, and the continuous chopping down of trees and showcases the realities of climate change, biodiversity loss, and the ecological impact of industrialization. We explored how alternate films have responded to these issues through three key themes: earth, extraction, and extinction. I looked at several films, including Utuqaq's Field of Vision (2021), which documents the impact of oil extraction on indigenous communities in Alaska, exploration of the Capitalocene and the interconnectedness of ecological and economic violence. I also analyzed Zhao Liang's Behemoth (2015), which explores the devastating impact of coal mining on the environment and those who depend on it.
Field of Vision - Utuqaq (2021) by Iva Radivojević
Throughout this, I saw how violence is not confined to a specific agency or territory, is present in various forms. It's not only physical violence but also structural violence, as I saw in Stan Brakhage's Dog Star Man (1964). It's an artistic representation of the violence of combat and war, built into the film itself. Similarly, James Benning's single-shot film, Stemple Pass (2012) showed me how violence can be an integral part of a film and the extraction of earth's resources is a long-standing act of violence that is often ignored or downplayed. As Lubecker N. & Rugo D (2018) state, “Benning’s films foreground the historical, social and ecological forces that shape the landscape. I learnt the fact that the climate is changing, and the earth is reacting to this violence with more natural disasters, protests, and global warming acts”. Inferring from what Nixon says, I agree that a more comprehensive understanding of environmental issues is necessary to address this slow violence.
Through films such as Dog star man (1964), Stemple Pass (2012), and Behemoth (2015), I saw the environmental and social impacts of human actions and the need for a more nuanced and intersectional approach to environmental issues. Through these films storytelling and powerful imagery, I saw the earth as a living organism, and the devastating impact of extraction and mass species loss within it. It's clear that the environmental crisis we face is not only an environmental issue, but a social and political one as well. We need to take action to create a more sustainable future and protect the planet. As T.J. Demos notes in "Blackout: The Necropolitics of Extraction's Slow Violence," (2020) we must be aware of the crisis of extraction and take action to address it.
Stemple Pass (2012) by James Benning
Additionally, T.J. Demos's book Blackout (2020) emphasized the connections between environmental degradation and political violence. "As contemporary art reflects on the materiality and social effects of extraction, it has also developed strategies to challenge the systems that underlie it, from calling attention to the environmental impacts of mining and drilling to promoting alternative, non-extractive economic models." (T.J. Demos's Blackout: The Necropolitics of Extraction, 2020).
Overall, these works offer important insights into the complex relationship between humans and the environment and highlight the need for environmental preservation and consideration of the social, political, and economic consequences of our actions.
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Bibliography
Benning, James Benning (2012). Stemple Pass (2012) [online]. Available at: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2652874/. [Accessed March 12th 2023]
Brakhage, Stan (1964). Dog Star Man (1964) [online]. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NAoTHILzheo. [Accessed March 14th 2023]
Demos, T.J. (2020). Blackout: The Necropolitics of extraction. Art and Activism in the Age of Systemic Crisis. 1st Edition. Routledge (2020).[online]. Available at: https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9780429269189-4/blackout-demos. [Accessed March 11th 2023]
Lubecker, N. & Rugo, Daniele (2018). James Benning’s Environments: Politics Ecology Duration. Edinburgh University Press, 2018. [Accessed March 12th 2023]
Utuqaq (2021). Field of Vision (2021) [online]. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=heTTSN_MfUo. [Accessed March 10th 2023]
Zhao, Liang (2015). Behemoth (2015) [online]. Available at: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4901304/. [Accessed March 18th 2023]
