Piero Santos
ART H 309 B
Individual Project
Social Implications and the cycles of materialism and consumption
As we understand from the concept of zombies, our main idea is the fact that these beings are creatures whose nature is the relentless pursuit of consuming without rest until the moment comes when they are defeated because of their own greed. But the inherent question here is how does this relate to us? What characteristic do we have in common with these creatures? To these 'climate zombies'? By analyzing more deeply the deepest and most rooted nature of the human being, we can see how we are really more similar to them than we could believe. The term "climate zombie" is reflected in those who seek material efficiency without considering negative environmental effects. It offers us an eye-opening perspective on the dangers of a growth-focused mindset without regard for environmental responsibility. The emergence of this phenomenon not only presents an imminent threat to the well-being of the Earth, but also highlights the urgency of reconsidering our personal and collective priorities. We risk becoming “climate zombies,” blind to the devastating consequences of our actions for future generations and the sustainable health of our environment, by focusing on maximizing material efficiency without considering long-term impact. Throughout history, there have been numerous artists or events which have addressed this issue of 'climate zombies', such as Jeremy Rifkin in his work "The Age of Resilience" or the disaster that occurred in the Rio Doce. Even by further investigating the works of numerous artists we can see that they are indirectly or directly dealing with themes which can be related to the theme of 'climate zombies'. We will now examine how artistic expressions and historical events serve as lenses through which we can more deeply understand the threat of 'climate zombies' and their impact on our society and global environment.
With this idea in mind, let's delve into Rifkin's work 'The Age of Resilience' to observe the relationship he indirectly makes with the topic of zombies. Knowing the idea that zombies are creatures who only seek to consume without caring about the consequences, analyzing Rifkin's work we can see how he tries to talk a little about this topic of consumerism and materialism. 1 Rifkin tells us how it is that we as human beings have become creatures who in their daily lives seek to have much more than mere daily subsistence. Rifkin makes a comparison of this incessant desire to consume with the incessant search of human beings to find meaning in their existence, but that we have lost our way at some point, thus generating an almost endless cycle of consumerism and materialism. If we take this idea and relate it to zombies, we can observe a curious similarity between us. Zombies, due to their almost animalistic nature, seek to consume and consume incessantly, almost as if they were searching for something, a goal, the reason for their existence, why despite being dead they remain 'alive' in some way and end up becoming in beings that roam the world without any direction. We are surprisingly not much different than them, in our daily lives we find ourselves trapped in situations where we seek to consume simply for the sake of it, whether it be longing for material possessions or finding pleasure in the act of spending in general. It gives us a feeling of satisfaction that for many people becomes an addiction from which many cannot escape. 2This uncontrolled consumerism can be compared to the constant pursuit of superficial goals, similar to the insatiable behavior of zombies. Unfortunately, people can lose sight of deeper intrinsic goals, such as environmental responsibility and connection to nature, by focusing on short-term material accumulation and social status. In this way, adopting a "climate zombie" perspective carries the danger of losing fundamental values for environmental protection and sustainability in favor of the immediate needs of consumerism.
This concept of consumerism and materialism has come to define people's daily lives, affecting their perception of themselves and others. For some, spending habits become an important part of their personality, since purchasing decisions, brand choices and even the use of certain services can influence people's self-esteem and how they are valued by others. Over time, the acquisition of luxury goods or ostentatious spending has become a common way to display wealth and social status in our daily lives. 3 However, this focus on accumulating material possessions can end up damaging our psychological well-being and personal freedom. Being in a constant search for wealth and status through material goods is sometimes linked to the importance given to external approval, social pressure, loss of authenticity and lack of time for important activities. By focusing on values that undermine our fundamental needs for authenticity and autonomy, this pattern of behavior can perpetuate a sense of dissatisfaction and contribute to the decline of our personal freedom.
We have seen how authors like Rifkin have interestingly addressed the topic we call "climate zombie." However, unfortunately we can also find examples in real-world situations, which are not only based on these works. Unfortunately, excess consumerism, the constant obsession with obtaining more goods and the related social consequences have led to catastrophes, as can be seen in the case of the Río Doce disaster. To better understand this point, it is important to first delve deeper into it in order to understand them in their entirety. One of the works that helped me to better understand this disaster was Isabelle Carbonell's work, “MULTISPECIES CINEMA IN WRETCHED WATERS: The Slow Violence of the Rio Doce Disaster”. 4 Here we are told how due to the popularity of gold in Minas Gerais, Brazil, excessive mineral exploitation ended up generating. This exploitation was mainly led by companies such as Samarco, owned by Vale and BHP Billiton. This uncontrolled extraction of unlimited gold ended up causing the Doce River disaster, where the Fundão dam collapsed, releasing dangerous substances. One fact to highlight is that before the collapse Samarco realized the risk there was, however, this company chose to ignore these risk signals out of the desire to obtain the greatest possible profit, demonstrating a consumerist mentality that prioritizes profit over environmental and community safety. This disaster was not only caused by natural factors such as heavy rains, but also unsustainable human actions ended up accelerating the collapse of this dam. Shortcomings in risk management and corporate responsibility were highlighted due to lack of attention to warnings and lack of investments in proper maintenance of the Fundão Dam infrastructure. Due to this event, Samarco, Vale and BHP Billiton received a lot of criticism for their careless management and for prioritizing profits without considering the safety of citizens or the well-being of the environment. In this context, the Doce River disaster is an emblematic example of the negative consequences of a purely profit-oriented approach, where the obsessive pursuit of economic growth can lead to irresponsible decisions and a lack of consideration for long-term impacts on nature and affected communities. Companies that have a consumer mentality act as 'profit zombies' who act insensitive to danger signals and the negative effects of their actions. Samarco's story should serve as an example of how it is important to combine economic progress with social and environmental responsibility. These companies risk causing irreversible damage to nature, as well as people's lives and livelihoods, by prioritizing profits over the safety and well-being of local communities. This disaster serves as a warning that emphasizes the urgency of adopting ethical and sustainable business practices where companies begin to carefully consider how the commercial activities they carry out can affect the environment and our society.
Considering the Rio Doce disaster, I decided to delve into works by various authors to find works that try to portray our theme of 'climate zombies'. In the same work by Isabelle Carbonell presented in the previous paragraph, I found a couple of works which caught my attention. In her work, the author presents us with a photo taken on the top floor of Paracatu de Baixo's only school, the second city hit by the tidal mud wave caused by the Rio Doce disaster. This photo not only shows us the consequences of this disaster but, relating it to the theme of 'climate zombies', we can see a glimpse of how our desire for consumerism and materialism can cause destruction in our path. We see a photo of a school, one of the most common places in our world almost completely destroyed (Figure 1). We can take this photo as a reflection of how the human being, due to his desire to want more and more, can trigger his own destruction. As we saw in the Doce River disaster, the scene of the destroyed classroom not only illustrates the immediate havoc caused by the unbridled search for resources, but also represents the effects of a mentality driven by limitless consumerism. Unbridled ambition, seeking seemingly insatiable satisfaction, can lead us to ignore our environment and lose our fundamental connections with nature and community. The image makes us think about the importance of adopting a more balanced and sustainable approach to development, where uncontrolled greed is not the engine that leads to the degradation of our environment and ourselves.
In this same writing by Isabelle, we are presented with an image called Walking into Mar Menor. In this image we can witness a solitary person who advances towards the ocean in the middle of an environment which seems vast and serene (Figure 2). We can consider this image as a visual metaphor that relates human loneliness and the environmental effects caused by materialism and unbridled consumerism. The figure of the lonely person walking towards the ocean can represent that individualistic search for our own satisfaction through consumerism, reflecting the idea of how some people can experience immense loneliness (reflected in the vast ocean) in the midst of their own desire for material acquisition. In turn, we can infer that this image tries to represent silence when seeing a person completely alone, apparently isolated from others. This silence portrays emptiness and disconnection both in social and environmental terms. This lack of sound can be associated with the lack of attention or importance towards the environmental impacts caused by the unnecessary exploitation of resources in order to meet our consumer needs.
Leaving Isabelle's work behind, in Salma Monani's work called “Virtual Metaphors for Being Re[a]lationally Present: Lisa Jackson's VR Biidaaban: First Light” we can observe a more general approach to the consequences of the consequences that our constant consumerism and materialism. 5 In this work we are presented with the virtual reality project Biidaaban: First Light created by Lisa Jackson which places viewers in an immersive vision of a Downtown Toronto which has been completely taken over by nature (Figure 3). However, if we look more closely at this image, we can realize how the large buildings that surround us today are completely destroyed, while we clearly witness how the territory seems completely desolate, as if the presence of human beings would have disappeared. I found this project extremely interesting because I saw it reflected as a representation of what could happen in our future if these consumerist and materialistic practices of human beings do not disappear, if we continue acting like these 'climate zombies'. I see it as a reflection of how in the future the human being himself will become the culprit of his own destruction.
Analyzing other artists in more depth, I came across the work of Rose B, Simpson in conversation with Jessica L. Horton called “WITH APPLIED CREATIVITY, WE CAN HEAL”.6 In this work, Rose presents us with photos of a clay sculpture in which we try to show a clearly human body but with quite distinctive characteristics which resemble what we have treated in this project as 'climate zombies' (Figure 4). To begin with, this sculpture is clearly worn and we can see how it is even missing an arm. The visible decay of the sculpture, characterized by the absence of an arm and its worn appearance, serves as a visual metaphor for the damage caused by human activity on the environment. However, even with all that damage, she still carries with her objects that are at least remarkable at first glance, such as that giant circular earring. The resistance of the fragmented body with visible symbols of consumption could represent the persistence of behavioral patterns that lead to resource exploitation and environmental damage. Even in the midst of decay, this being, devoid of physical integrity, seems obsessed with objects that could symbolize the human obsession with material accumulation.
After having reviewed works by several artists, I decided to use Nomusa Makhubu's work called “Capturing Nature” as the culminating piece for my project. 7 In this text I would like to focus on the photograph shown under the name of Bilele. In this photo we can see Mbikayi wearing a suit made entirely of computer keyboards posing in front of two rows of shacks which border a polluted canal (Figure 5). This striking contrast between the sophistication of technological clothing and the reality of precarious housing and polluted environment raises profound reflections on the themes of consumerism, materialism and social implications associated with the concept of "climate zombies." The keyboard suit represents our connection to technology and, in turn, highlights how modern society often places more importance on consumption and technological innovation than on environmental awareness. Mbikayi's decision to wear clothing made from e-waste highlights the connection between overconsumption and waste production, highlighting the idea that "climate zombies", due to their obsession with consumption, contribute enormously to environmental deterioration. Furthermore, the presence of polluted shacks and canals highlights the social disparities and environmental effects that often affect marginalized communities. This contrast between advanced technology and unfavorable social and environmental situation raises disturbing questions about collective responsibility and the unequal effects of consumption practices and materialism.
To conclude, by examining the works of various artists and historical events such as the Río Doce disaster, we can find a strong connection between the figure of the "climate zombie" and our own consumerist and materialist inclinations. These works make us reconsider our actions and priorities through visual representations of environmental degradation, human loneliness, and our obsession with consumption. By adopting a "climate zombie" perspective, we risk being responsible for our own destruction by placing more importance on growth and unbridled consumption than on environmental and social responsibility. These works show the dangers of this approach and encourage us to wake up and adopt more sustainable and moral practices to protect our planet and our communities from the unpredictability of the future.
Images of artworks used
Figure 1: Isabelle Carbonell took this photograph on the top floor of the only school in Paracatu De Baixo, the second town to be struck by the tidal mudwave from the Rio Doce Disaster in 2016.
Figure 2: Isabelle Carbonell, Walking into Mar Menor, 2020
Figure 3: Lisa Jackson, picture of a futurist Toronto in Biidaaban: First Light, 2018
Figure 4: Life-size busts of warrior-like figures made of clay and wrapped in leather straps.
Works Cited
1. Rifkin, Jeremy. Introduction. In The Age of Resilience: Reimagining Existence on a Rewilding Earth. New York, NY: St. Martin’s Press, an imprint of St. Martin’s Publishing Group, 2022.
2. Fellner, Wolfgang J, and Benedikt Goehmann. “Human Needs, Consumerism and Welfare.” Cambridge Journal of Economics 44, no. 2 (2020): 303–18. doi:10.1093/cje/bez046.
3. Kasser, Tim. "The Chains of Materialism." In The High Price of Materialism,73. Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press, 2002.
4. Carbonell, Isabelle. “Multispecies Cinema in Wretched Waters: The Slow Violence of the Rio Doce Disaster.” In The Routledge Companion to Contemporary Art, Visual Culture, and Climate Change, edited by T.J. Demos, Emily Eliza Scott, and Subhankar Banerjee, New York: Routledge, 2021.
5. Monani, Salma, et al. "Indigenous Media: Dialogic Resistance to Climate Disruption." In The Routledge Companion to Contemporary Art, Visual Culture and Climate Change, edited by T.J. Demos, Routledge, 2021.
6. Simpson, Rose B., in conversation with Jessica L. Horton. "‘WITH APPLIED CREATIVITY, WE CAN HEAL’: Permaculture and Indigenous Futurism at Santa Clara Pueblo." In The Routledge Companion to Contemporary Art, Visual Culture, and Climate Change, edited by T.J. Demos, Emily Eliza Scott, and Subhankar Banerjee, Routledge, 2021.
7. Makhubu, Nomusa. "CAPTURING NATURE: Eco-Justice in African Art." In The Routledge Companion to Contemporary Art, Visual Culture, and Climate Change, edited by T.J. Demos, Emily Eliza Scott, and Subhankar Banerjee, Routledge, 2021.