- Kayla Anderson
- Sara Black
- Jeremy Bolen
- Beate Geissler
- Amber Ginsburg
- Brian Holmes
- Jenny Kendler
- Brian Kirkbride
- Sarah Lewison
- Marlena Novak
- Claire Pentecost
- Oliver Sann
- Michael Swierz
- Andrew Yang
- Jay Alan Yim
Field Station 4: Confluence Ecologies
As a central axis through both real and mythic America, the Mississippi designates a particularly heterogeneous space in which the natural, cultural, and historical intersect in a unique way. Located in “confluence territory” where the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers meet (in Southern Illinois and Western Kentucky), Confluence Ecologies aims to bring a regionally focused lens to the globally entangled Anthropocene condition. The undertaking of this Field Station is one of intensive engagement with the juxtaposition of opioid addiction and our dependencies on coal and nuclear power, issues of native species loss and invasive replacements, animal labor, and ethical questions about future terraforming and historical geoengineering initiatives.
© Andrew Yang
Within this framework, members of the collective Deep Time Chicago will create non-conventional maps, experimental videos, multimedia installations, and participatory, public events as a way to collaboratively understand the ecological-economic-technological infrastructures that connect our lives and livelihoods in this contested political (and geological) moment.
This interdisciplinary research carried out at this Field Station will provide it with a substantive trove of artifacts and experiences. These will serve as the foundation for an exhibition, the aim of which is to connect audiences who might find themselves distant—physically, politically, or otherwise. Activities during the Anthropocene River Journey will range from public walks with the paleogeologist Scott Elrick to the exploration and discussion of the life and ecology of the Asian Carp that populate the Mississippi River, and will further open up the work of the Field Station to the public.
- contributionSara Black, Amber Ginsburg
Deep Time Walking
A reflection on the collision of human and geological time at the site of Ferne Clyff State Park, Illinois.
Field Work, Deep time, Carbon, Energy
- contributionBrian Holmes
Confluence Ecologies Exhibition
What does aesthetic regionalism disclose about local effects of the Anthropocene?
Reflection, Aesthetics, Representation, Ecology
- contributionClaire Pentecost
A Singularity of Time and Place
A contemplation on time and space by Claire Pentecost.
Reflection, Field Work, Aesthetics, Time
- contributionSarah Lewison, Andrew Yang
Imagining an Economy Based on Care
Andrew Yang and Sarah Lewison urge us to consider the possibilities of moving beyond an economics of extraction.
Engagement, Reflection, Care, Economy, Extraction
- contributionBrian Holmes
Landscapes of Confluence
Taking a bus tour through the landscapes of the Confluence territory.
Reflection, Field Work, Ecology
- contributionSarah Lewison
Of Forests, of Rivers, and of Meals
How can we think through concerns around food, sustainability and recuperative ecology on a localized level?
Engagement, Sensing, Biodiversity, Food
- contributionMichael Swierz, Maureen Walrath
This Is Not About Survival (It’s About Bringing Your Coracle)
A deep breath in deep time: a call for reinhabiting the Mississippi canebrake.
Reflection, Storytelling, Landscape, Agriculture, Water, Memory
- contributionAnna Durrett, Steve Gough
Little River Research & Design
The models produced by Little River Research & Design convey an acutely material consciousness of the relentless processes of change that shape the Mississippi River.
Modeling, Mapping, Engagement, Model, Education, Sedimentation, Water
- contributionTemporary continent., Andrew Yang
The Possibility of All Species in an “All Species Parade”
The annual “All Species Puppet Parade” in Carbondale prompts Andrew Yang to contemplate just how all-encompassing the phrase really is.
Field Work, Storytelling, Case Study, Ecology, Species, Human-animal relations, Biodiversity
- contributionTemporary continent., Andrew Yang
Defensive Ecologies: Extracting Asian Carp from the Illinois River
A welcome service laborer turned invasive pest in the Mississippi River, Asian Carp are subject to a variety of efforts to exert control upon their spread and attempts to extract them from the Illinois River.
Field Work, Case Study, Ecology, Biodiversity, Human-animal relations
- contributionTemporary continent., Andrew Yang
“What on Earth”: Confluences in the planetary metabolism
Field Station 4 contributor Andrew Yang elucidates on the reasons for taking its title, “Confluence Ecologies,” as a lens through which to apprehend the Anthropocene
Field Work, Storytelling, Mapping, Commodities, Extraction, History, Capitalism, Scale
- projectJeremy Bolen, Brian Holmes, Brian Kirkbride
Born Secret
A mythologized Uranium enrichment facility in Honeywell sets the scene for radioisotopes that are key markers for determining the Anthropocene.
Storytelling, Radioactivity, Speculative, Imaginary, Energy, Sedimentation
- projectBeate Geissler, Oliver Sann
Hopium Economy
From opioids to the Anthropocene: a video project on addiction as the substantial mode of our existence
Storytelling, Case Study, Field Work, Habits, Capitalism, Energy, Care, Industrialization
- projectKayla Anderson, Sara Black, Amber Ginsburg, Sarah Lewison, Claire Pentecost
Inheritance
A multimedia artwork that uncovers the sublime beauty of fossilized forests.
Field Study, Sensing, Carbon, Deep time, Mining, Water
- projectJeremy Bolen, Jenny Kendler
Lounging through the Flood
A sculptural comment on our apathetic frivolity in the face of climate catastrophe.
Intervention, Experiment, Flood, History, Disaster, Epistemology, Migration, Imaginary
- project
Reshaping the Shape
Public enemy or mascot of a global commons? Tracing the postnatural expansion of the Asian Carp.
Storytelling, Intervention, Human-animal relations, Economy, History, Commodities
- projectMichael Swierz, Maureen Walrath
This Is Not About Survival
This project documents an embodied inhabitation of the Southern Illinois canebrake habitat that is quickly disappearing from the landscape.
Intervention, Local knowledge, Ecology, Biodiversity
- projectMarlena Novak, Joslyn Willauer, Jay Alan Yim
Timeslips
On the difference between a river and a boundary. Impressions from the levee and speculations on a view from afar.
Field Study, Geo-engineering, Infrastructure, Flood, Agriculture, Space travel
