Political Ecologies of Toxicity | Royal College of Arts ADS Eleven
27.06-04.07.2024
The exhibition ‘Political Ecologies of Toxicity’ is the outcome of the ADS Eleven : Forever Chemicals Political Ecologies of Toxicity Studio 2023/2024 led by LOCUMENT (Francisco Lobo & Romea Muryń) and Christopher Sejer Fischlein at the Royal College of Art, MA Architecture Programme.
In the farthest corners of the Earth, from the Arctic to Antarctica, traces of human-made chemicals persist. Despite being manufactured by us, these substances transcend humandefined boundaries and respond uniquely to the dynamic forces of nature. Economic imperialism fails to understand fluidity and the construction of boundaries, whether bureaucratic, political or geographic, do not account for the permeability and interchangeability of the world we live in. Consequently, there is a need to accept the irreversibility of contamination, and to adapt to the presence of toxicity.
ADS Eleven have been investigating the dynamics of destructive chemicals in soil, water, the built environment, humans and other than–human bodies, while questioning how these ecological and human violences can be revealed. This investigation has provided insights into political ecologies and land regulatory ownership regimes through the lens of fluid contamination, shaping the foundation for the design projects.
ADS Eleven studio practice blends research with filmmaking and critical design, while fostering dialogue with communities, institutions, experts and private agents to ensure the work is relevant and sensitive to its context. Through this methodology we translate data and information into tools that will allow us to predict and visualise environmental dangers while mediating their immediate and future consequences.
The studio asks a series of questions and responds through design propositions enacted in film, leading with; If a chemical dissolvement period is not monitored, how can this act of aggression be categorised and acted upon? A passing examination of the contamination period, which undervalues both the short and long term effects of contaminant chemicals, leads to a lack of responsibility on the part of the perpetrators and an abandonment of affected populations. How might this ecological and human violence be revealed, monitored, and what are the socio–political repercussions? And what possible architectural responses might be generated?
Angelica Scorgie→ Shifting Soil
Charissa Turner→ The Seven Rituals of a Glimmering Sea
Ellena Pointer→ The Fabric of the Resistance
Florence Barbour→Damp Bodies
Jonathan Lettmann→When I Was a Big Boy
Michal Orevi→ Tales of an Extractive Future
Nanchalee Waite→ Do You See What I See?
Penny Poyiatzi→ Where We Live
Rachel Fonseca Burtt→ Of The Deep And Boundless Blue Sea
Su Demir→ Table of Content
Tessnim Tolba→ Saharan Winds: Toxic Trails of Militarism
Thomas Kerr-Bell→ Otherwise & The Abstract Machines
tutors→ LOCUMENT (Francisco Lobo & Romea Muryń) and Christopher Sejer Fischlein
INSTITUTO thanks Fahr 021.3 (designers of the installation structure)
Fotos: Ivo Tavares Studio
Location: Canal 180
Support: DG Artes/Ministério da Cultura, Canal 180
