STATEMENT

The start of each geological epoch is marked by a golden spike – a precise location in the exposed layers of the Earth’s crust, where scientists find the most distinctive and representative evidence of the planet’s transition into a new epoch. Since 2016, the search began for a new golden spike, one that would mark a clear beginning of the most recent geological epoch, this time defined primarily by human activity: the Anthropocene. Among the candidates for this golden spike are the earliest human burials, nuclear test sites, and dead coral reefs. Recognition of the Anthropocene and a clear definition of its limits in time are more than just a scientific debate. It’s a process of humanity accepting its new status as a geological force, putting itself in the same row with solar activity, volcanoes, oceans, and other factors that shape the face of the planet.

With the group show "Golden Spike," Heart Ego joins the search for the Anthropocene’s onset. Works by Ana Barbara Caballero, Beatriz Morales, Pedro Magaña, Mariana Con, Hector Falcon, and Oswaldo Ruiz, reflect on the concepts and phenomena that can define humanity as a greater natural force leaving traces of itself around the globe. These works blur the boundaries between the social and the natural, the destruction of the old and the emergence of the new, conscious and inert. Humanity’s power to understand and shape the world is seen in this exhibition as a blessing, a curse, and a mystery that we are yet to understand.

The show opens with a piece made of agave fiber (traditionally called henequen) by Beatriz Morales, born in Mexico and residing in Berlin. A vital part of the Mexican economy at the onset of the 20th century, different species of agave plants were used in the textile and alcohol industry. Due to these industries, the agave plant has become one of the many species that didn’t go extinct with the expansion of agriculture but, on the contrary, profited from it, gaining vast expanses of land, especially in Yucatan. Henequen trade, so profitable for Mexico, became part of the emerging global trade, one of Anthropocene’s most recognizable traits.

The works in Sala Poniente continue to explore the controversial nature of the Anthropocene. "Gas Station in Chicxulub," a photographic work by Oswaldo Ruiz, contemplates the extensive use of natural resources that transformed the planet during the Anthropocene. Depicted with a wide-angle, symmetrical shot, the gas station appears in the night placed in the region of the meteorite impact that caused the mass extinction of dinosaurs and other species 66 million years ago. Connecting two distant epochs, the photograph hints not as much at the Anthropocene’s beginning but rather at its possible end.

The work next to it pays closer attention to the cultural aspect of the Anthropocene’s contents. If we can recognize the boundary of the epoch in the geological records, there must be a cultural golden spike for it too. Perhaps the eclectic nature of Hector Falcon’s works provides the perfect window into these aspects of the Anthropocene. The combination of graphic elements from the last century’s media exemplifies the patchwork-like consciousness of the Anthropocene’s citizens. With all of the human knowledge and culture available at the fingertip, people living in the Anthropocene can live the experience, at least visually, of any other epoch, sewing their identities to their liking.

​

However, some aspects of human experience are avoided by the culture of the Anthropocene. One such hidden phenomenon is death. Although the earliest human burials are among the candidates for the Anthropocene’s golden spike, as noted by Geoffrey Gorer in his seminal text “The Pornography of Death,” the more advanced the culture became, the more this façade of advancement was used to separate us from our inevitable mortality. The photograph by Ana Barbara Caballero depicting a mirror tombstone allows us to face this aspect of modernity and the Anthropocene. The artwork is part of a bigger project conceived by the artist during the COVID-19 pandemic when, on the one hand, society faced death for the first time at such a grand scale and one source in modernity, and, on the other hand, the halt of human activity resulted in clear skies, oceans, and rivers around the planet. The artwork continues in the patio of the gallery. The mirror tombstone and grave almost avoid being seen, merging with the environment. It is only upon closer approach that the viewer discovers their reflection. Seeing our reflection in the grave, we cannot avoid mortality anymore and are forced to contemplate it in the context of nature.

The viewers find the works of the Belgian artist Stijn Cole coming back to the geological aspects of the search for the Anthropocene’s onset. A screen depicting a forest rises above the ground, reflecting the natural light and changing the colors with the sky. Created by the artist with an attempt to approach romanticist contemplation of nature, contemplation with pure perception breaks over the Golden Spike.