EARTH BORN
cr: Maybe too big a question but this technological ‘planetary war’ (as James Hansen calls it) on nature seems counter-intuitive.
tf: The truth is we’ve been geoengineering for decades but have not owned up to it. Our burning of so much fossil fuel has been a vast, uncontrolled experiment with Earth’s atmosphere, and it is now having consequences.
3
cr: Is some radical re-manifestation of the natural world on the cards or in the end is it really down to the mind-blowingly complex idea of humanity adjusting its behaviour through global legislation?
1 Caroline Rothwell Murray Darling Vista 2012 Digital print of car exhaust emission drawings on PVC canvas, 25.5 x 36 cm Courtesy of the artist
55
tf: So what should we do? Say that geoengineering to date should be allowed to play out, or do something to avert it?
2 Caroline Rothwell Tasmanian Torrent Midge (Edwardsina tasmaniensis) 2013 Car exhaust emission, synthetic polymer binder and 23 carat gold on canvas, 25.5 x 36 cm Courtesy of the artist
3 Caroline Rothwell Regent Honeyeater (Xanthomyza Phrygia) 2013 Car exhaust emission, synthetic polymer binder and 23 carat gold on canvas, 25.5 x 36 cm Courtesy of the artist