Tempus fugit
Gary Husband on Points of Return
In a recent conversation a friend offered a throwaway comment that at the time passed me by. The discussion hadn’t started off with a focus on issues related to environment but, as we idly tried to work out in which bin to correctly deposit our waste, the volume of rubbish in that one place, in one café, in one town, in one small corner of a small island, seemingly sparked a fleeting annoyance that for a moment flashed across the troubled face of my companion. His gaze settled on me, and with a defeated expression asked, “honestly, what difference will this make?” then, “you know what, the planet is going to be absolutely fine, it’ll sort itself out eventually, it just needs to be shot of us.”
It wasn’t until later that day that it struck me, the tragedy of his words and perhaps the growing perception of the sheer enormity of both the consequences of human expansion and the overwhelming task facing us to try and mitigate centuries of destruction. How did we come to this, to this point in time where we are facing such far-reaching consequences of our actions, that extinction event level changes in our environment are being predicted and indeed, have already begun? Whilst a throwaway comment – that I’m sure isn’t entirely accurate – it does serve as a point on which to critically reflect. Homo sapiens have inhabited the Earth in something like our current evolutionary state for approximately 300,000 years (a figure that varies slightly dependent on the source) which on first encounter appears to be a long time, but, when compared with the deeper timescales of the planet (estimated age of the planet being circa 4.5 billion years), we, as a species, occupy no more than a fleeting moment.
Yet, our impact in that time has been devastating and even more shockingly so when you consider that the vast majority of the damage we are responsible for has occurred since the dawn of agriculture (circa 12,000 years ago) and further still, post industrial revolution (circa 300 years ago). Incredibly our influence has been so catastrophic that the scientific community is starting to consider that we are now potentially the most dominant influencing factor on the major systems of the planet, and that we are now living in the Anthropocene, a geological epoch recognising the changes to the planet brought about by our actions (‘anthropo’ meaning man and ‘scene’ translating as new). If our influence is such that in a relatively short space of time we have almost irreparably changed systems that work in deep time and relate directly to billions of years of evolution, what hope do we have of bringing about the required changes to start to reverse the damage?
Considering the metaphorical concept of clock time and picking apart how we have become disconnected from the deeper cycles of natural time may reveal some parts of the wider problem we face, but also offer hope for reconnection and consequently, change. Time is a metaphor we have constructed – an ordered and divisional concept around which we build and manage our lives. We conveniently utilise solar rhythms and as such our perception of time passing is ordered and linear (interestingly, hours have not always been the same length; the Romans varied the length of an hour corresponding to the amount of daylight dependent on the time of the year). We struggle to fully comprehend much more than our lifespan, and even then, we don’t experience it evenly. Our three score years and ten are about the limit of our understanding of the passing of time. Whilst we can appreciate the lifetimes of our antecedents and understand the concept of history, beyond this, we struggle. This is because time isn’t real; it is precisely what has removed us from the longer deeper rhythms and cycles of the Earth.
In terms of lifetimes, as a useful measure and one which we could better relate to, seasons make more sense than years. But, we no longer rely on seasons. As an example, our food is no longer bound to certain times of year, and we consume in vast quantities foods produced all over the world. Somewhere, the strawberry is always in season and tomatoes ripen on the vine. But herein lies our problem, as a species we now consume far more than we can sustainably produce (within current prevalent methods) and profit has replaced need. If we have any hope for a sustainable future, we somehow need to reconnect with the natural rhythms and deeper time of the planet and return to a more simple and harmonious equilibrium. In short, we cannot continue to live out of phase with the planet we inhabit, that fight to regain balance will ultimately be lost by mankind. It isn’t us the Earth needs to be shot of – it’s greed. It’s lack of restraint. ‘What it lies in our power to do; it lies in our power not to do’ (Aristotle).
This exhibition of deeply touching and beautiful works speaks to this phenomenon. The deeper cycles we have forgotten and the longer geological time we need to align ourselves with are represented in many varied and beautiful ways. The artists, capturing both the human spirit and representation of the deeper world around us, offer an insight into the regaining of lost connections and the building of a new understanding of time. We can do it, we have demonstrated an insatiable appetite for innovation, invention and creation, the challenge we face is making the changes we need before we find it is too late. In a million years the planet will still be following its rhythmic track around the sun, the big question is, will humankind or recognisable decedents still inhabit our beautiful world?
Dr. Gary Husband is a lecturer in Professional Education & Leadership (University of Stirling) & visiting professor (University of Sunderland)
Banner image by Emilio Fuentes Traverso | Text © G. Husband | Used with permission
