‘Cthuluscene’ brings together a group of works made by Blandy & Barrett that address the climate crisis and our collective future, through a close examination of nature.

Their finely crafted films use essayist voiceover, folk tales and poetry to create a meditation on the history of scientific inquiry and the parallel evolution of ideas, and what we do now that the paradigms of the post-industrial world are breaking down.

Filming at University College London’s Grant Museum of Zoology, the film ‘Cthuluscene’ gazes at a history of enquiry, classification and dissection, made while some of the subjects of the enquiry were falling extinct from colonial activity and the acceleration of climate change.

“This is your inheritance. A wealth of knowledge built on misconceptions and bias, a thousand thoughts about better worlds. But it’s your time now. We’ve been holding this gift for you, clumsily, packaged with useless baggage from history. These constructions, these clean lines cutting through geography, separating bodies, ignoring the physical and digital reality of flow. Gene flow. Data flow. All sunk beneath the rising tides. You laugh now, but we used to have to prove ourselves to be human – with papers, numbers and words.”

Launch Event: Wednesday 22 January 6 – 8pm (please note the gallery will NOT be open beforehand on this day)

Opening Hours: Tuesday – Saturday, 11am – 5pm

About the Artists

David Blandy and Claire Barrett have been working together to examine humanity’s place in the universe, the desire to order the chaos around us, and the myth of objectivity. Their collaborative work has been shown nationally and internationally. Screenings and exhibitions include: Focal Point Gallery, Southend-On-Sea; Tintype Gallery, London; PS1, MOMA, New York, USA & Künstlerhaus Stuttgart, Germany

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