About "Post Carbon"

Curator: Yixuan Cai
Associate Curator: Olivia (Xueqi) Wang
Co-host Institutions: Design Society, 798CUBE, BY ART MATTERS
Supported by Pro Helvetia Shanghai, the Swiss Arts Council, and Design Trust
Initiating Organization: Black Void
Media Collaboration: Wallpaper* (China), Conversazione
Content Collaboration: Comple-X.NET

Session One, Co-hosted by Design Society, ShenzhenBlue Carbon and Coastal Ecosystem

Expedition: ShenZhen Futian Mangrove Nature Reserve, invited by Comple-X.NET
Forum: In-Between Tides -- The Flux of Matter and Energy
Forum: The Space Between Sea and Sky -- Community Collaboration, Public Art, and Low-carbon technology

Session Two, Co-hosted by 798CUBE, Beijing
The Resonance of Clouds and Earth: The Digitization of Carbon

Film Screening: Acoustic Ocean, by Ursula Biemann; Twenty-one Percent, by Ursula Biemann and Mo Diener
Workshop: Fragrance Extracted with Supercritical Carbon Dioxide — Climate Change and Scent Design, by narratus and Black Void
Forum: The Flowing Data of Cloud and Water -- Climate Data and Public Action
Forum: Carbon Traversing Geological Layers and Clouds
Forum: Geological Time, Sunlight Fossils

Session Three, Co-hosted by BY ART MATTERS, HangZhouThe Pulse of Plants: Green Carbon and Urban Metabolism

Film Screening: Forest Mind, by Ursula Biemann ; Water of Mouth - Green Elongation, by Maya Minder
Forum: Green Tides in the Concrete Jungle
Forum: Feeding and Weaving the Future -- Photosynthetic Humans, Cyber-Gardens, and Sustainable Textiles

Post-Carbon: Carbon as Energy, Life Substance, and Currency

''There is a strange sympathy between the atmospheric particles that float through the sky and the human beings who migrate across the ground and then across the sea. Each body sets the other into motion—a pattern of movement and counter movement.(Adrian Lahoud)" In the Northern Hemisphere, due to the relatively concentrated population and industrial activities, carbon dioxide accumulates in the atmosphere and spreads with air currents; meanwhile, climate refugees are migrating from south to north under survival pressure. Individuals seen under a microscope and a satellite appear so similar, yet there are significant differences in models and scales. We use physical, chemical, and ecological models to understand natural cycles, while on the other hand, humanity needs to comprehend human activities through political economy and cultural anthropology.

Carbon, as a cross-media substance, exists in various forms in nature, production, daily life, and even international disputes. We must understand it on different scales to recognize how this medium, traversing microscopic phenomena and grand astronomical seasons, incites turmoil, causes death, and brings vitality.The carbon stored in plants is the result of photosynthesis over millennia. After being deposited as fossil fuels, it reenters the atmosphere through industrial production. The excess carbon in clouds and oceans not only leads to extreme climatic events but also sparks debates over carbon reduction obligations in the international political arena. Consequently, carbon gradually acquires the attributes of digital medium and currency. Carbon credits, as a market mechanism for regulating corporate environmental responsibility, also serve as a means for developed and developing countries to delineate responsibilities and rights concerning climate issues. The flow of carbon signifies the flow of energy, the process of life's respiration and metabolism, and a means of adjusting power and obligations in times of crisis.

"Post-Carbon: Carbon as Energy, Life Substance, and Currency" is an interdisciplinary dialogue, expedition, and research project rooted in art and design. By incorporating perspectives from ecology, material science, and product manufacturing, and by inviting the participation of social enterprises, non-profits, academic professionals, and sustainable brands, the project presents various pathways in the post-carbon process. Initiated by Cai Yixuan, with support from Design Trust and Pro Helvetia Shanghai, the Swiss Arts Council, the project integrates research with local issues through a series of thematic programs.