The Apocalypse Project: Urban Harvest at 1335Mabini
17 September - 14 October 2016
The Apocalypse Project: Urban Harvest is the latest body of work from Catherine Sarah Young’s The Apocalypse Project, an interdisciplinary platform that explores climate change and our environmental futures, which she began in 2013 during an art science residency at the Singapore-ETH Zurich Future Cities Laboratory. The project has since traveled to Manila, Seoul, San Francisco, Palo Alto, and Medellin.
Although it has end-of-the-world connotations, the word “apocalypse” comes from a Greek word that means “disclosure” or “to lift the veil”. The Apocalypse Project isn’t solely about potential catastrophic events, it is also about revealing the human face of environmental problems through these projects.
The black and white photo Earth Days recreates an iconic photograph of the first Earth Day held on April 22, 1970 in New York City, suggesting that an environmental consciousness is still needed as mankind struggles to adapt in the Anthropocene. Climate Change Couture, an ongoing series where the artist collaborates with researchers and local communities to design city-specific garments that its inhabitants might wear in possible scenarios under climate change, is also exhibited.
The Ephemeral Marvels Perfume Store, another ongoing series, explores the scents we could lose as the planet heats up due to climate change. T.E.M.P.S. Colombia (temps is French for time) includes a collection of eight scents that inspired the artist during her stay in Colombia. These are distilled by the artist directly from their sources or mixed from her collection of essential oils. Smell is closely related to memory, and so in smelling the scents, which visitors can during the exhibition, the artist hopes that they remember the memories they have from these smells and create a personal story with the environment. This is the third collection of perfumes.
Finally, The Sewer Soaperie documents the artist’s research into oil and grease, specifically used cooking oil and its journey into the sewer systems of cities and how it congeals in the pipes, contributing to and worsening urban flooding as storms become stronger. She first examined the situation of sewers and nearby rivers in Medellin, and then continued the project in Manila, collecting raw sewage and used cooking oil from nearby restaurants, and turning them into soaps that visitors are invited to use.
In the three years of working on The Apocalypse Project, the artist has collaborated and communed with researchers, industries, chefs, think-tanks, museums, and local communities to produce these interactive projects. Public participation is also critical in her work, and she is specifically interested in children’s reactions to these projects, as they will inherit the brunt of climate change. Urban Harvest refers to the collection of raw material, memories, stories, and conversations that will arise from a planetary shift that affects us all. The intention of the project as a whole is to generate inclusive dialogue about climate change, to inspire personal stories with the environment, and to allow people to participate in these conversations of what desirable futures are about the planet that we are collectively shaping.
The Apocalypse Project: Urban Harvest is the result of a residency the artist undertook in June in Medellin, Colombia, through the auspices of arts organizations Casa Tres Patios and Platohedro, Arts Collaboratory and the Ministry of Culture of Colombia.
