Steve Rowell

Un/Learning Archives in the Age of the Sixth Extinction

2020-2022

In collaboration with Priyanka Basu.
Congress and Public Program: March 24-26, 2022
Haus der Kulturen der Welt

It is complex and potentially fraught to think of landscapes as and with the concept of archives, but this is what we set out to do when conceiving of and planning our workshop Un-/Learning Archives in the Age of the Sixth Extinction for the Whole Life Academy Berlin, part of the Haus der Kulturen Welt’s multi-year project exploring archives. We were combining our interests as an art historian working on archival practices of contemporary artists and filmmakers and an artist who deals with landscape and has worked with archival concepts and formats in proposing a workshop dealing with archives as related to overlapping sites of nature/culture, climate change, deep time, and the built environment.

Made possible with support from the Haus der Kulturen der Welt.

Seen as a natural archive, the plants and animals living on top of the built environment of the Teufelsberg ruin are a collection of native and adventive species in a constant state of flux. This flux is determined by the rate of change of the ruin and its role as a tourist attraction. As more people flock to the site not only to experience views of the city and forest below, but also to explore the unique infrastructure of this Cold War-era US military listening station, the resulting disruptions / contributions to animal and plant life can be studied and analyzed. New species adapt to the human intrusions, while others are displaced. Photograph: Laura Fiorio, 2021.

A globe sits as centerpiece in a didactic display at the Berlin Botanical Garden and Botanical Museum, Dahlem. Redaction of the European continent by unknown person. Photograph: Laura Fiorio, 2021.

Entrance gate at the Berlin Botanical Garden and Botanical Museum, Dahlem. Photograph: Laura Fiorio, 2021.

A view from a hill: In the distance, beyond the Grunewald forest, the landmark shape of Berlin’s 1960’s era Alexanderplatz TV tower (Fernsehturm) is barely visible on the horizon. The disintegrating geodesic radome in the foreground once housed equipment designed to peer over the horizon, into East Germany and through the Iron Curtain, in order to intercept encrypted electromagnetic emissions from the USSR. “Fernsehen” translates as “to see something that is far away.” Photograph: Laura Fiorio, 2021.

What knowledge is needed to make these archives legible?

Does that knowledge exist in official archives, or does the “official” and “representational” character of archiving render illegible those nontraditional archives that don’t consider as a priori the separation of humans and non-humans?

Can interactions with nontraditional archives rebuild the archive as a non-imperial institution?

A workshop and fieldwork project as part of the The Whole Life Academy Berlin, scheduled for Fall 2021 online and March 2022 in Berlin at the Haus der Kulteren der Welt This workshop examines archives as related to natural sites, the built environment, climate change, and deep time.

Guests

Sites of Interest

Museum of Natural History Berlin
The Seed Bank of the Botanical Garden and Botanical Museum Berlin
silent green Kulturquartier, Film Feld Forschung
Arsenal – Institute for Film and Video Art
Teufelsberg

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Steve Rowell

Un/Learning Archives in the Age of the Sixth Extinction

2020-2022