ARCTIC FUTURES
An exploration of 3 fictional value systems in a black swan future.
Watch the full project here: www.arcticfutures.design
An exploration of 3 fictional value systems in a black swan future.
Watch the full project here: www.arcticfutures.design
1. The Crop Custodians
Our duty is to prevent humanity from repeating its mistakes from the past. We cannot trust in good will, we need to make sure that environmental progress is not at risk.
Our duty is to prevent humanity from repeating its mistakes from the past. We cannot trust in good will, we need to make sure that environmental progress is not at risk.
2. The Children of Entanglement
We believe in mother Gaia and the lichen is her messenger. We dream, we listen, we feel and we connect. We are many, we are one.
3. The Carbon Wizards
Quarterly reports have shown that our performance on carbon capturing reached its peak. Sulfur dioxide seems to yield bigger potential right now.
Context
Arctic Futures, investigates human self-perception in relation to other entities of the natural world and how this affects our worldviews and behaviours. It explores 3 fictional value systems that exist in a black swan scenario inspired by recent developments in technology, geo-strategic ambitions, and the planetary crisis. As part of an artist residency in the high arctic I imagined 3 societies, each representing an archetype for human’s position in nature.
The focus lies on imagination and storytelling, therefore, I staged scenes of their daily life in the poignant scenery of Svalbard, which works as a symbol for the fragility of our global ecosystem. A series of co-speculation workshops, sketching, low-fidelity prototyping and generative AI supported the creative process. Further, I worked with a causal layered analysis and an inductive approach to collaborative futures thinking, that starts from the value dimension rather than trend-based scenarios. The results are a story, a series of photographies and a toolkit for inductive future crafting. I hope you enjoy the story as much as I did crafting it.
My central theme, the interconnectedness of living beings, is very dear to my heart and a core driver for my personal work. This piece is not judging, not dystopian, it just shows an array of possibilities. And I feel we need to figure out how to connect these archetypes, today, so we can have a future within planetary boundaries.
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In late October + November 2022, I had the opportunity to join an Artist residency on a sailing vessel in the international waters of Svalbard, which was humbling and inspiring at the same time. As we didn’t have much space for material, I prepared simple, paper based modular artefacts, that could be rearranged and refined on board. As the nautical twilight was approaching, the days were getting shorter, so I needed to be quick, with setting up the scenes and staging the images. Before embarking to the north, I have been shaping the scenario and writing the outlines for the archetypes, but the arctic added some new aspects and led the project into a different more serious direction. The toolkit evolved throughout several co-speculation sessions in advance and I tested the tools during a co-speculation session with 12 artists and crew members on the sailing vessel.
