Mammoths, Arctic Rewilding and Permafrost Extinction
Mammoths, Arctic Rewilding and Permafrost Extinction is an interdisciplinary thesis that considers the polar ecosystem, a fragile, interconnected network that is warming faster than southern landmasses. My research-creation is based within the Arctic, where the accelerating effects of climate breakdown are already impacting the lives of countless nonhuman animals, many of whom have gone extinct. As a response, I have produced photographs and immersive installations, alongside autoethnographic narratives and critical reflection, to foster relationships of responsibility and care to bring forth the care work of scientists and correlations between art and science.
My dissertation questions and unpacks representations of climate-engineering that include de-extinction, Arctic rewilding, and the expansion of biobanks that are largely portrayed by popular media as proven forms of conservation. By presenting the complex, messy and conflicting realities of the Arctic, that involve layers of overlapping human and animal habitats my project intends not only to convey the grief tied to what is already lost but also the anticipatory grief regarding further ecological collapse.
