Art Event

 Performative Art Talks

“The Limpet and the Anthropocene” 

Presented at :

Carraig Dulra permaculture event, Wicklow, June 2021.

East Wicklow Educate Together, 5th year art students. Zoom lecture. October 2020.

The ‘Animal Gaze Constructed’ conference, London Metropolitian University, March 2020.

The ‘Art in the Anthropocene’ conference, Trinity college Dublin, June 2019.

_____________________________________________________________

“The Limpet and the Anthropocene” 

Behold a creature from ‘deep time’, that originated from the sea and evolved to the land as life underwent a sudden mineralization and new material for constructing living creatures emerged. This creature has existed for millennia in one of the most physically stressful environments on earth, in winter it is battered by sea, wind and rain and in summer is subjected to heat and desiccation on a daily basis.

Once more new marine building minerals have emerged and again the limpet has evolved, this time creating a revolutionary modern shell. This shell speaks of the Anthropocene, an era where man-made materials are being interwoven into the fabric of nature. I look at this sentient being, in its new shell and see how it is adapting to a radically changing world environment. A world, where its waters are warming and levels are rising, acidification is increasing and where plastic pollution and related toxins are ubiquitous on its shores and in its seas.  This is an origin story, a story of evolution and a story of resilience.

‘SuperNatural Plastic Eaters’

Presented at the Science Gallery, Dublin. March 2018.

“Imagine plastic breaking down in the stomach of sea creatures, transforming into a plastic protein, that is used as fuel to enhance or recreate the skeletal frame. How far are we from a time when sea creatures can design and shape their future selves with a material that is non-degradable, has increased fracture toughness, is light weight, colourful and shiny?” 

SuperNatural Plastic Eaters was a talk organized by Yvanna Greene involving marine scientists Karin Dubsky and Dr Heidi Acampora. The talk, chaired by Anne Mullee, examines plastic pollution in the marine environment, the ingestion of plastic by marine creatures and reveals evolutionary new marine species washed up on the coast of Ireland.