Presentation slides

Prompt 7

Prompt 8

Prompt 9

The session of presentations was for me very important in shaping up my final idea for the media project before making it happen. Along with acknowledging the feedback from our guests, it was great to hear my peers discussing their choices of hyperobjects as well as their approaches to the media project which helped me to revise on my choices for my own project.

I was assigned to give feedback on Millie’s presentation, which to begin with is a very interesting one. She chose microbeads as the hyperobject to base her project around. I have no idea about microbeads before this presentation but Millie’s idea made me googled it after the session (not just because I was supposed to give feedback but it is a truly interesting hyperobject). I learnt that they are small plastic particles which are in many cosmetic products and are hard, even impossible to dissolve. My project and hers are to some extent similar that we have to address on plastic and to address the cons of plastic could be a main object. Millie said that she chose microbeads because she cares about these products and is an environmental enthusiast, hence it is interesting to see that the smallest things can sometimes have the greatest impact on our planet, and sometimes not in a good way. Microbeads would be used as her case study in exposing a bigger picture: how climate change affects our entangled ecologies.

With her project, Millie plans to produce a video of less than 5 minutes as this would be the most accessible and engaging idea to express information. I agree with this as I think my project is perhaps the only one that is not video-related. A video, with or without sounds, still has the ability to project its impact visually. This is what Millie would focus on as she chooses no music as a constraint in projecting her ideas. She said she would put an emphasis on sounds like ocean, which would help her to emphasise the idea of where do microbeads go. However, I would suggest (and perhaps would be the only advice I could give as her ideas are clearly well-planned) to also focus highly on the visual impacts with somehow the use of images to help with it. I feel that for this project, abstract on particles would be highly effective and could be a catalyst to address her points more effectively. Considering the fact that microbeads could have disastrous impact on sea life, the emphasis on visual could be an useful approach for her to add on the project. Other than that, I really like her ideas and I look forward to see her final project.

For my media project, choosing a hyperobject to base the project around was perhaps the most fast-forward step for me. While reading back Morton’s article on hyperobjects, I immediately set my eyes on plastic waste. I did not really consider any other options because first and foremost, the amount of ideas that I can possibly portray from plastic is endless. Plastic is perhaps one of the most common and most often mentioned elements regarding climate change with the high level of coverage around it in different platforms of media. For instance, it would only take minutes to find footage or an article on how plastic is affecting our oceans and living atmosphere of sea creatures. There are many spheres out of the volume of climate change, but plastic, and most significantly plastic waste is one the more well-exposed.

Then, I have actually engaged with this matter before. During one of the internships I had in the past, I took one particular task of drawing a report on the plastic crisis in South East Asia. Long story short, the area was overwhelmed with exported waste being plastic waste coming from more well-income countries like the US and Canada. These countries do not have effective mechanisms to process this kind of waste properly. Since China has put a ban on importing plastic waste, the volume of waste arriving in South East Asia subsequently increased, hence becoming a crisis even on a diplomatic level.

With the quite fresh memory of these events, I went back to the report that I did and start drawing up different ideas from the relating bits and pieces into my media project. Refreshing information was not hard. It took me only an afternoon to have all the information from past studies and articles that I went through before plus collecting other information from later studies and commentaries since. The struggle only comes in what form of media that I might want to frame the project on and also the purpose of the project.

A video projecting the issue is obviously the choice, and perhaps the most apparent one. However, throughout my three years of uni so far, I have done many projects that were video-related and I feel like since this is my last studio project, I should get out of my comfort zone and produce something different. Hence, come the idea of a podcast. I doubt that I have done an audio project before par one particular one from my very first semester of uni. Still, audio work is not a platform that I am totally comfortable with. Even though I am a fan of podcasts and enjoy a lot of them coming from many different spectrums, I have never produced one. So, this is an exciting idea that I ultimate chose to follow.

With much consideration on the purpose and direction that my project could follow, ultimately I came up with two approaches that I have not decided on which to pursue at the moment. Approach one is making the audio as much of a conversation between different environmental enthusiasts, which sounds factual but if I could possibly bring in a touch of satire, this approach could be very engaging in addressing the plastic crisis. Considering the remixing nature of the task, this approach emphasises on the use of speeches and music, along with possibly abstract sounds to be effective. But human voices to be included are a must, and I will try to stay away from computer-generated voices. The second approach is an emphasis on the poetic nature of climate media, most significantly the art of using languages to make the project personally-engaged. This takes in the form of a personal essay or diary under the perspective of directly affected personnel of the crisis. Both approaches will have the main purpose of tackling climate change denial and appreciating cultural and political differences. I look forward to pitch my idea in the presentation and hopefully after that, I can make up my mind on the final direction of my project.

The article A new critical climate by scholar Johns-Putra is an interesting read in the extent that it reviews different scholar works of climate change in order to raise two “conflicting” points: would the surreal but critical existence of hyperobjects raise the need of “a new critical climate”, or the seemingly “old habits of critique” would still be the norm along with this catastrophe (p. 8)? Johns-Putra raises the fact that “we know and don’t know about climate change” because despite the exposure of climate change on media, which most significantly being “as a cluster of scientific facts”, climate change is “a discursive phenomenon and never a purely material one” (p. 7). Hence, is climate change academia, or ecocritics’ role is more important than ever, considering the Anthropocene could be the “sixth mass extinction event” – something we’ve never seen before (p. 8)? This ultimately leads to the forming of critical climate change, assessing ecocritics in the age of Anthropocene.

Of all the ecocritics’ work that was assessed, there were a few that Johns-Putra signifies on. When assessing Morton’s work on hyperobjects and object-orientated ontology, the scholar states that “the mode in which one interrogates hyperobjects is the mode by which we should always have interrogated our environment” (p. 9). This is a suggestion that object-orientated ontology and the poetic approach is an effective approach for climate change media to serve its purpose in propering climate change acknowledgement. Critical climate change is said to be a “problematic process”, hence there is a need to recalibrate of theoretical knowledge (p. 9). In a way, this is a statement of undermining the “old habits of critique”, emphasising again the role of ecocritics towards “a new critical climate”.

In my opinion, this reading is an important one in addressing the state of climate change media with two “conflicting” points, hence for potential climate change mediators, a state of reflective response is needed in viewing climate change responsibly. As I reflect more on the knowledge I gain week after week from the studio, my initial belief in climate change media is being ineffective is now elaborated. The ineffectiveness lays in the focus of facts and figures, or “a cluster of scientific facts”. I do not believe this way to be the most effective communication of climate change, most particularly from the norm platforms of media as facts and figures might, but most of the time might not, alter people’s attitude towards climate change. I believe that changes could come from one’s own ecological grief, but facts and figures alone could not alter attitudes into grief. The notion of recalibrating theory of ecology is also an interesting point, as understanding of climate change in media is so far, as Johns-Putra emphasises, a conflict of knows and don’t-knows.

References

Johns-Putra, A 2013, ‘A New Critical Climate’, Symploke, vol. 21, no.1-2, p. 7-10.

Who is the practitioner (what is their name?) and when were they practicing?

The practitioner is Jack Morris, a travel blogger with the Instagram account @doyoutravel. He has been travelling since 2011 but only starting documenting his experience two years after with the creation of @doyoutravel after he bought a camera (Morgan 2016).

What is the title of the photo or video you have chosen to analyse (can you provide a link?)

The video I chose does not have a particular title but has a caption by Morris basically explaining the video which features him and his partner at the famous hot springs in Saturnia, Italy.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BzdApdkh-i7/

With the photo or video, you are examining when was it produced (date)?

The video is dated 3 July 2019.

How was the photo or video authored? For instance, with a photo, this would involve understanding the device used to record it and the technology used to prepare the image for publication. Included in this observation may be how the image was recorded (like for example in a mise-en-scene analysis).

It is clear to see that Morris uses a drone to showcase him and his partner at the springs. The drone is used to showcase the stunning scenery of the hot springs, which Morris describes “blows my mind that things like this exist”. It can be seen that layers of filter are added, which is important for Morris as colour grading is usually a fundamental component of his photos, bringing the best out of the scenery. The lighting is also edited as the scene is slightly dim. This is possibly to emphasise the balance between colour and lighting.

How was the photo or video published? For instance, with a photo, this would involve understanding the medium the photo was published in, like for instance – was it print media or the World Wide Web? Was the photo printed? If so, how does this printing process affect the photographer’s practice?

The video is published on Morris’s Instagram account @doyoutravel with a caption describing his experience at the hot springs. He includes a location for his followers to know where the scenery in the video is based. It is interesting that the video does not contain hashtags which Morris often uses to attract more viewers to his content.

How was the photo or video distributed? For instance, with a photo, this would involve understanding how the photo is distributed to multiple viewers. Like for example, if the photo was printed in a periodical magazine – how is that magazine marketed and distributed to viewers?

By uploading to his Instagram account, Morris’s post attracts his follower base of millions. At the time of 3 May 2020, his account has 2.7 million followers. Morris often takes sponsorship (Rudd 2019) but it is unsure whether or not this video is a commercial product. Again, the post does not contain any hashtag and the caption suggests this is just Morris documenting his experience. Hence, it is presumed that the post is targeted at his followers and travelling-enthusiasts.

Reference

Morgan, R 2016, From cleaning carpets to travelling the world’s beauty spots: Travel blogging couple reveal how they quit their jobs to make their dreams a reality – and get paid a six figure salary to do it, Daily Mail, viewed 2 May 2020, <https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3973214/Travel-blogging-couple-Jack-Morris-Lauren-Bullen-reveal-quit-jobs-make-dreams-reality.html>.

Rudd, M 2019, Australian entrepreneur, 26, and her boyfriend build their dream mansion in Bali after raking in a six-figure salary – and all they had to do was post pictures on Instagram, Daily Mail, viewed 2 May 2020, <https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-7699523/Travel-bloggers-built-dream-home-money-Instagram-reveal-did-it.html>.

Who is the practitioner (what is their name?) and when were they practicing?

The practitioner is Seth Phillips, creator of Instagram account @dudewithsign. The account started uploading since October 2019, but previously Phillips had been content creator for a board game called What Do You Meme and a meme account also on Instagram called @f*ckjerry.

What is the title of the photo or video you have chosen to analyse (can you provide a link?) 

This photo has the caption “We’re at home with a lot to be thankful for” and a hashtag #IMGRATEFULFOR. The photo starts Phillips’s collage of photos of users that he encourages to stay at home, make a sign to share what they are grateful for and hashtag it, potentially as an encouragement for people to stay at home during the current circumstances of COVID-19. The post is located “at home”.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B_IgmTNFRUU/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

With the photo or video, you are examining when was it produced (date)?

19 April 2020.

How was the photo or video authored? For instance, with a photo, this would involve understanding the device used to record it and the technology used to prepare the image for publication. Included in this observation may be how the image was recorded (like for example in a mise-en-scene analysis).

In it presumed that all of the photos on Phillips’s account are taken by phones. In all of the photos, Phillips are seen holding a cardboard, protesting to “common, everyday, relatable issues” (Leighton 2020), essentially anything that he fancies from “stop ‘replying-all’ to company wide emails” to “put more chips in the bag”. While protesting with cardboards is quite a norm, especially through climate change protests, the concept of a guy protesting for just ordinary things on the streets is apparently not and soon his account went viral. These ordinary things are just the things that annoy him (Awesome Inventions 2020). The fact that his content goes viral “highlights how audiences feel towards real-world scenarios and the type of content they would like to consume” (Cambridge Wireless 2020). Phillips then acknowledged that he tries to come up with content that is funny, relatable but not often talked particularly about (Leighton 2020).

As with any other photos, this one features solely Phillips holding a cardboard: “I am grateful to be at home”. On many occasions, he is seen with other people holding cardboards. But on this post, the first photo features him while the others are of his base of followers that are encouraged by him to follow and he will post their photos up along. Considering the concept of the photo is simple, it is presumed that it is taken by phones, making it convenient for uploading.

How was the photo or video published? For instance, with a photo, this would involve understanding the medium the photo was published in, like for instance – was it print media or the World Wide Web? Was the photo printed? If so, how does this printing process affect the photographer’s practice?

The photo is published to Phillips’s @dudewithsign Instagram account with all elements of a post: a location “at home”, a caption, a hashtag #IMGRATEFULFOR, thousands of comment and tags for other users’ photos. As his photo looks simple, it is presumed that he did not use any filters when uploading.

How was the photo or video distributed? For instance, with a photo, this would involve understanding how the photo is distributed to multiple viewers. Like for example, if the photo was printed in a periodical magazine – how is that magazine marketed and distributed to viewers?

By publishing to his @dudewithsign account, the post is shared to his follower base of 7.1 million users as of May 2 2020. His photos can also be seen through different articles on the net or platforms like Google Images, but this one is currently not as visible, potentially due to the later dates compared to his other posts. Phillips has commercialised his account (Mun 2020), but this photo is not an advert considering he did not include any hashtag that was of commercial and the concept of it rather starts a trend for his users to share what they are grateful of.

Reference

Awesome Inventions 2020, “Dude With Sign” Is Basically One Guy Who Stands Protesting Everyday Things That Annoy Him, Awesome Inventions, viewed 27 April 2020, <https://www.awesomeinventions.com/dude-with-sign-is-basically-one-guy-who-stands-protesting-everyday-things-that-annoy-him/>.

Cambridge Wireless 2020, The ‘Dude with Sign’ is a sign of things to come!, Cambridge Wireless, viewed 27 April 2020, <https://www.cambridgewireless.co.uk/news/2020/mar/18/the-dude-with-sign-is-a-sign-of-things-to-come/>.

Leighton, H 2020, Meet The Creators Of The Dude With Sign Instagram Account, Forbes, viewed 27 April 2020, <https://www.forbes.com/sites/heatherleighton/2020/01/28/meet-the-creators-of-the-dude-with-sign-instagram-account/#5bf540e51d7d>.

Mun, L 2020, Instagram sensation @dudewithsign becomes commercial figure, The Daily Targum, viewed 27 April 2020, <https://www.dailytargum.com/article/2020/02/dude-with-sign-goes-commercial>.

Who is the practitioner (what is their name?) and when were they practicing?

The practitioner is Korean artist, Nam June Paik (1932-2006), who was considered by many as “the father of video art” for pioneering the use of televisual electronic media in art (Artsy 2020). It is known that his passion with video installation started in the early 1960s when he was associating with the international conceptual movement Fluxus which saw him collaborating with other artists of the movement (Art Gallery NSW 2020). He initially was trained as a classical pianist.

What is the title of the photo or video you have chosen to analyse (can you provide a link?)

The Nam June Paik’s work that I chose to analyse is called TV Cello, a collaboration with Charlotte Moorman – a Julliard-trained cellist coming from the same initial training field of classical music with Paik but viewed television as being a form of art (Bacharach 2016). Included is a video clip of Moorman’s performance at Art Gallery of NSW in 1976.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9lnbIGHzUM

With the photo or video, you are examining when was it produced (date)?

It was dated in 1976.

How was the photo or video authored? For instance, with a photo, this would involve understanding the device used to record it and the technology used to prepare the image for publication. Included in this observation may be how the image was recorded (like for example in a mise-en-scene analysis).

In 1976, both Paik and Moorman were invited to Australia by Australian art collector and philanthropist, John Kaldor to create an art project (Art Gallery NSW 2020). TV Cello is a part of the project, which sees Moorman playing the “TV cello” making up of three CRT monitors and analogue tape shown as single channel digital video. The monitors would make up the frame of the “cello”, while the strings are bass guitar strings.

TV Cello was Paik’s idea of performative sculpture. Supposedly, the screen would play broadcast TV (“prerecorded tape, or live, closed-circuit images, all of which could be manipulated by Moorman”), but could also be played as a musical instrument with components “just like a standard cello” (Rothfuss 2019). The “cello” would display three sets of images: “a direct feed of the intermediate performance, a video collage of other cellists, and an intercepted broadcast television feed” (Bacharach 2016). At the same time, Moorman would play the “cello”, producing “crashing electronic sounds when she played it” as the strings were amplified (Rothfuss 2019).

How was the photo or video published? For instance, with a photo, this would involve understanding the medium the photo was published in, like for instance – was it print media or the World Wide Web? Was the photo printed? If so, how does this printing process affect the photographer’s practice?

TV Cello was created as being a public art project by John Kaldor. For Paik, it was part of his idea of performative sculpture, making the television “an engaging art experience for everyone” (Bacharach 2016). This innovation of Paik was to help him to achieve his goal of using art to “humanize technology” (Bacharach 2016). He made four different versions of TV Cello that were unique in different times and to be used in different regions. He believed that with the changing nature of TV technology, “broken sets should just be replaced by current, equivalent technology” (Rothfuss 2019). However, in the end, the project would now only be considered sculptures as it can no longer be performed.

How was the photo or video distributed? For instance, with a photo, this would involve understanding how the photo is distributed to multiple viewers. Like for example, if the photo was printed in a periodical magazine – how is that magazine marketed and distributed to viewers?

According to Art Gallery of NSW, the original TV Cello were shown in 7 different exhibitions but only performed live twice on two occasions in 1976 by Moorman and Paik in Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide and Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney. It took until 1986 for TV Cello to be on exhibition again in Art Gallery of South Australia for a period of five years. In the 1990s, it was on displayed at the Museum of Contemporary Art until the Art Gallery of New South Wales showcased it on different exhibitions. It was also shown once at Monash University Museum of Art in 2015. Currently not on displayed, the work is now a gift of John Kaldor Family Collection to the Australian Government’s Cultural Gifts Program since 2011.

Reference

Art Gallery of NSW 2020, TV Cello, Art Gallery of New South Wales, viewed 23 April 2020, <https://www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/collection/works/343.2011.a-c/?>.

Artsy 2020, Nam June Paik: TV Cello, Artsy, viewed 23 April 2020, <https://www.artsy.net/artwork/nam-june-paik-tv-cello>.

Bacharach, E 2016, Charlotte Moorman: Shattering barriers between art and technology, Medill Reports, viewed 23 April 2020, <https://news.medill.northwestern.edu/chicago/charlotte-moorman-shattering-barriers-between-art-and-technology/>.

Rothfuss, J 2019, TV Cello, Walker Art Center, viewed 23 April 2020, <https://walkerart.org/collections/artworks/tv-cello>.

Who is the practitioner (what is their name?) and when were they practicing?

The practitioner is French photographer, Henri Cartier-Bresson (1908-2004), who was considered by many to be a pioneer in modern photojournalism. His career as a photojournalist began in the 1930s until three decades before his death in 2004 (Cotter 2010).

What is the title of the photo or video you have chosen to analyse (can you provide a link?) 

The photo that I chose to analyse is Coronation of King George VI, London, 1937.

With the photo or video, you are examining when was it produced (date)?

It was produced on 12 May 1937.

How was the photo or video authored? For instance, with a photo, this would involve understanding the device used to record it and the technology used to prepare the image for publication. Included in this observation may be how the image was recorded (like for example in a mise-en-scene analysis).

It is essential to understand the background story of this photo. According to an article by Tim Adams on The Guardian, at the time, Cartier-Bresson was not yet a photography expert in the extent that he did not take many photos. In fact, he had been an assistant to director Jean Renoir and had his own ambition of producing a documentary about the Spanish Civil War. For this, he needed more income and in May 1937, he had the photographer job at the Communist newspaper Ce Soir based in Paris. His first assignment was to cover the coronation of King George VI in London.

However, Cartier-Bresson was not interested in the event, but instead on the crowd. The photo was taken by Cartier-Bresson using his Leica camera while he was at Trafalgar Square. Many people had slept at the square overnight awaiting the coronation, but one man still slept on the pile of newspapers, ignoring the whole circumstance. Using his Leica camera and facing the crowd, Cartier-Bresson was able to capture how ordinary citizens were at the event. Many of the spectators had a serious look, considering it is an important day of the nation. Indeed, many of them looked into one direction towards the coronation, but one boy looked straight at Cartier-Bresson as if he wondered why the man was taking photos of the people instead of the Royal family. The photo is full of characters: the man that was sleeping on, the boy who looked at the photographer and each person was having their own ordinary moment. This approach was what made Cartier-Bresson a pioneer, as this was not a norm approach of photographers at the time.

How was the photo or video published? For instance, with a photo, this would involve understanding the medium the photo was published in, like for instance – was it print media or the World Wide Web? Was the photo printed? If so, how does this printing process affect the photographer’s practice?

According to Artsy, the photo was developed in a gelatin silver print which is a monochrome imaging process based on the light sensitivity of silver halides. The photo was said to be later printed.

How was the photo or video distributed? For instance, with a photo, this would involve understanding how the photo is distributed to multiple viewers. Like for example, if the photo was printed in a periodical magazine – how is that magazine marketed and distributed to viewers?

The photo was included in Cartier-Bresson’s famous book: The Decisive Moment. It is also featured in a later book about him called Henri Cartier-Bresson: Photographer. It is unknown whether or not this particular photo featured in any exhibition, but it is known that the Victoria and Albert Museum in London has over 440 photographs by Cartier-Bresson, many of which feature in the Museum including photos of the Coronation of King George VI.

Reference

Adams, T 2020, The big picture: a comic take on a coronation by Henri Cartier-Bresson, 1937, The Guardian, viewed 14 April 2020, <https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2020/mar/08/the-big-picture-henri-cartier-bresson-coronation-king-george-vi-1937-sleeping-man>.

Artsy 2020, Coronation of King George VI, London, 1937, Artsy, viewed 14 April 2020, <https://www.artsy.net/artwork/henri-cartier-bresson-coronation-of-king-george-vi-london>.

Cotter, H 2010, A Photographer Whose Beat Was the World, The New York Times, viewed 14 April 2020, <https://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/09/arts/design/09cartier.html>.

V&A 2020, Coronation of King George VI, London, Victoria & Albert Museum, viewed 14 April 2020, <http://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O223692/coronation-of-king-george-vi-photograph-cartier-bresson-henri/>.

Prompt 4

Prompt 5

Prompt 6

1: Clark, T 2015, ‘Chapter One: The Anthropocene – Questions of Definition’, in Ecocriticism on the Edge: The Anthropocene as a Threshold Concept, Bloomsbury Publishing, p.1-28.

This reading by scholar Timothy Clark is essentially a foundation and framework for how Anthropocene could be processed and defined. The term “Anthropocene” is said to become widely adopted outside of its initial sense of strictly geological to have widespread contexts culturally, ethically, aesthetically, philosophically and politically surrounding environmental issues. The term, pointing out by Clark, attracts incoherent points of view. The viewpoint of Cohen suggests the popular of the term which was set for an era, the “Anthropocene era” in 2011 when the issue of global warming received overwhelming reception at a level never seen before. Morton suggests to the term to be “daunting, indeed horrifying” that opens an era for new realisation while scholars such as Menely, Ronda and Zizek links Anthropocene to expanding of capitalism globally. Clark stresses that the term is now used both academically and novelly which could be useful in recognising a new planetary context.

Clark mentions the three levels of complexities regarding human effects on Earth, which is a study initially set up by Allenby and Sarenwitz in showing that there consists an action-consequence relationship between human actions and planet Earth, which brings “very often heated controversy over definitions, causes, rights, and responsibilities, and, for some, even whether it exists at all”. Here, Clark identifies the scramble that Anthropocene brings to how human makes sense of the world, such as putting in “the lines between culture and nature, fact and value, and between the human and the geological or meteorological”.

Clark also suggests that politically, the reason that responsible figures and bodies often struggle for an adequate strategies against global warming is because the issue is impossible to confront directly and any effort to tackle it would be unsustain. For ecocritics, “the issue is one that refuses to stay put” and brings up more and more issues. The scale of Anthropocene, hence, lays “a true sense of scope of the challenges an environmental criticism must take up”. Clark says that humanity has to consider its impact as a whole towards the planet, and the totality school of thought is the solution to the issue as well as starting “new reflexivity as a species”. The shift towards this mentality could be aid via politics, culture and art “without erasing important culture and political differences”. Clark states that ecocritics have the role to reshaping imagination, questions whether or not the environmental problems come from a crisis of imagination and asks: “How far does a change in knowledge and imagination entail a change in environmentally destructive modes of life?”

2: Hammond, P 2017, ‘Introduction: ‘Post-political’ climate change‘ in Climate Change and Post-Political Communication: Media, Emotion, and Environmental Advocacy, Routledge, pp. 1-17.

In this reading, scholar Philip Hammond first acknowledges post-politics to be “attempts to understand what has happened to political life in Western societies since the end of the Cold War”. Citing Zizek, it is suggested that the traditional ideology of left and right politics is no longer efficient compared to need for negotiation of interests and taking people’s concrete needs and demands into account. Hammond brings in many arguments from different scholars that either post-politics are inevitable or that “nothing fundamental has really changed”. Hammond acknowledges the yet incoherent nature of post-politics, saying that it is “understood differently by different theorists.” The scholar then emphasises that “politics most certainly does not carry on as before, and that it will be a challenge to reinvent it”. This point could be seen as a solid foundation for putting post-politics climate change into the context, as the goal of negotiating and recognising needs and demands being more essential.

Hammond points out that the basis of Western elites’s interest into the agenda of climate issues is due to economic competition. However, there is a bigger argument that environmentalism is a “camouflaged religion”. Hammond draws in studies that refer environmentalists to “opium of the people”, such as bringing ecology and catastrophe in “to unite social classes”. The scholar then suggests that climate change presents “an existential challenge to capitalist order”, hence environmentalists find themselves among capitalist. However, there is still a sense that climate change is depoliticised and attracts analysis on how its framing is related to the issue.

Hammond then discusses the role of media, culture and emotion. Regarding the media, Hammond, citing arguments made by Carvalho, acknowledges the important role of news media in “processes of political (dis)engagement in relation to climate change”. It is said that the media is fundamental in “presenting climate change as the concern of elite decision-makers”, while ordinary citizens play the spectating role. Hammond goes on to discuss about the emotional aspect of post-politics climate change, most notably “the continuous invocation of fear and danger”. The use of fear turns in to a “culture of fear”, involving “millennial fears” and “apocalyptic rhetoric”. Fear is “problematic for various reasons” such as inaccuracy, but is argued to be “a useful mobiliser for environmental action”. Citing more studies, Hammond suggests that emotion is integral in how climate change is portrayed on media when being compared to information and rational argument.

3: Nurmis, J 2016, ‘Visual climate change art 2005–2015: discourse and practice’, Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Climate Change, vol. 7, no. 4, p.501-516.

This reading by scholar Joanna Nurmis discusses how the issue of climate change is portrayed via media practice as an art. The scholar starts by addressing that generally, the presentation of climate change on media is uninspiring despite the fact that the media world is image-saturated and images play a vital role in journalism in order to attract readers. It is the fact that the media seeks “images that bleed” makes climate change “defies visual representation”. It is acknowledged that in recent times, this “uninspiring” nature has started to shift, “expanded from an almost exclusively activist genre to being a type of artwork that mobilises knowledge and emotions relating to climate change without being explicitly instrumental”.

Nurmis then looks inside the emergence of climate change as being a topic of art. Initially, climate change art was not at an appealing level that could attract people to know about the issue, and then “to be engaged”. Climate change art is stuck in a “double blind” between art connoisseur and journalists or activists, which limits public engagement. Nurmis makes a point that climate is culture, and that “an honest response to climate change requires a culture transformation”. More importantly, the author emphasises that climate change art has a role, just as journalists, scientists and activists all play a role in engagement. Art can “educate the senses”, being a hub for imagination and a potential outcome. Another important point being claimed is art has the power to communicate things about climate change at a more efficient level compared to other forms of media. An example is that art can provoke emotions, while science is prohibited from doing so.

Nurmis also brings in three categories that climate change art can provide for public engagement: representations, installations and interventions, bringing in many artwork examples to discuss. Representations essentially consist of two-dimensional pictorial art or photography as well as other medium. These works “tell the story of climate change from near-depictions of actual impacts to imaginative visions of climate change futures”. They have the role draw attention to the topic, most notably the “future that climate change is generating”. Installations refer to works that can be interacted with three-dimensional objects. The key is that these works could be physically engaged. Interventions refer to works where artists place “within the landscape” with the hope to make the climate challenges portrayed “tangible”. All three categories have the same purpose of public engaging, but the difference lays in their effectiveness.