Recently I viewed BIOS, an interactive and intriguing art exhibition centered on the concept of the Anthropocene phenomenon. Presented in an art space in Brașov, the Multicultural Center of the Transilvania University, the exhibition gathers art installations created by ten young romanian artists, curated by RIZI and scrutinizes invisible or ignored human processes that lead to debates about Anthropocene and the new geological era. Through artistic installations, the artists distill major concepts of the anthropocene phenomenon and inquire it’s particular aesthetics.

BIOS exhibition. Photos by Cosmina Marcela OLTEAN

“Substantial evidence on human impact hints on the fact that humans are now a force as powerful as nature itself. Ice ages and major extinction events are in the nature of nature. Considering the Earth’s entire existence as a timescale, humans are in it at 0,0057% of the whole existence of life on the blue planet. In this short time, humanity has accumulated power over nature thanks to technological and scientific advances. Through direct and indirect butterfly-effect actions, humanity has exploited this power to it’s benefit, leading to significant interspecies inequalities. The power of awareness, technology and immediate action can be steered in exciting but also dangerous directions”, points out the curator. “Can we use our technological power to harmonize with the analogue nature?”, “what could be the journey of the individual to the collective projection of the future?”, “what about a symbiotic interspecies relationship?” – these are the main questions raised by the artistic project presented the participating artists.