After my last action, I watched the documentary David Attenborough: a life on our planet, because I had to. (**Personal obligation**) At the beginning of quarantine, I had watched the series Our Planet (Netflix) which was also narrated by David Attenborough (what a lovely man) and it moved me a lot. It was the time when we were witnessing some good ecological impacts due to global lockdown. Clearer skies, animals reappearing in places they wouldn’t usually go, and a sudden pause to the insane human activities. During watching that series, I was enraged by humans and felt guilty for being one myself. Who are we to make animals or plants go extinct? I asked myself. I kept imagining the world without humankind and how it would have thrived without our interference.
As I was watching A life on our planet, one of the scenes intrigued me. Mr. Attenborough explained how recording the sounds (songs) of humpbacks and sharing them with the world sparked a new sensation among people (1978). These songs were long and complex and whales in the same area would learn them from each other. When these songs were heard by some people, their views transformed. Whales were not a source of flesh and oil anymore, they became personalities. Killing animals and exploiting natural resources by humans were not new, but when it became visible, it turned disturbing and initiated action by environmentalists and activists. The unheard became heard.
Another scene was dedicated to the coral bleaching phenomena, which is another direct result of temperature rise in oceans due to global warming. It was mentioned how seeing bleached corals at first glance could look even beautiful to us, however when realizing the reason behind it, we’d see it as a graveyard. Again, something unseen becomes seen. I have a bunch of coral remainings that I had found on the beach of the Persian Gulf (Kish Island) 2 years ago. I have a few of them on my desk and I decided to explore one of them spontaneously.
A fire coral before and after bleaching. Photo by the XL Catlin Seaview Survey. 
Credit: Brett Monroe Garner/Greenpeace
Thinking about bleaching and turning white (and rigid), reminded me of plaster. (one of my favorite materials!) I decided to play around with it and ended up making a mold out of my coral. I also made another piece using some natural elements, I somehow wanted to make them closer in terms of material or visual features.
I wanted to have human representations as well, so I used some plastic molds I had around to make faces. (Perks of living in a house with so many random art tools!)
A nonhuman-centered perspective: I’m holding a dead creature. I seem to be in power. But am I really? Can I reverse our assumed roles?
We are dependent on nature. Perhaps, nature can thrive even better without us, but we can’t exist without them.
Who’s really in charge?…
….while we all cease to exist without a functional ecosystem?
Bleached coral reefs are like a graveyard, and if we don’t take immediate action, the consequences of climate change will soon reach us as well, more severely than now. This is an interconnected relationship and biodiversity is an essential factor of it. We’re not separate entities, we are connected beings, and our livelihood depends on each other.
Fear is the emotion that humans respond to very quickly. It’s in our nature to become more receptive when in danger. Climate change is a fearful incident, yet, many are in denial or neutral towards it. How can I transmit the gravity of this topic? Fear can be a starting point to initiate action. But fear by itself creates anxiety and chaos. Can I grab the attention by inducing fear but then redirect it into positive action?