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Title
MEETING THE LOUGH’ ON IT’S OWN TERMS’ Where the Neoliberal meets the Microbial (working title).
Proposal
What is it: single channel critical video essay.
“TOWARDS A POETICS OF ARTIFICIAL SUPER INTELLIGENCE”
I’m a visual artist and a year and a half ago Friends of the Earth, Northern Ireland asked me to work with them in addressing the crisis at Lough Neagh, the largest body of water in the UK and Ireland, that became eutrophic with algae blooms and a site of ecocide, summer of 2023. The complexity of how the Lough became eutrophic presents a text book case in the converging dynamics of power, influence, and conflict of interests, that have developed over decades, if not centuries, around Lough Neagh and the watershed.
They welcomed my approach of ‘MEETING THE LOUGH’ ON IT’S OWN TERMS’ that attempts to grasp something of the multi-temporalities and scales, where the infrastructures of neo-liberalism meet the microbial.
Shifting perspectives to where we can say, irrefutably, that it’s the amount of phosphorous in the Lough that brings about the algae blooms. At which point we can start to dismantle everything that brings about such a deep imbalance to such a vital ecosystem.
The essay will draw upon the various ways of ‘sensing’ the Lough we‘ve been experimenting with, through 4K microscopic capture, audio recording, and other sensing apparatus, with an animation that diagrams something of the neoliberal flows of power running through Lough Neagh.
These come together within the Sonic Ritual - a live polyphonic ritual (audio performance) developed with John D'Arcy (Sonic Arts) HIVE choir, Friends of the Earth, and local communities. Which brings together older (traditional indigenous technologies) and new technologies (sensors, AI) via ritual - as a new technological interface (reference: druidry, permaculture, and older traditions that once guided and informed human relations with nature), in order to recalibrate our human relationship within nature from a multi-species perspective.
# tags
LoughNeagh, Cyanobacteria, Algae blooms, The Microbial meets The Neoliberal, New Ritual Interfaces, Microbial HQ
FIRST DRAFTS OF VIDEO
'We live in capitalism: neoliberalism' - with reference to the feminist science fiction writer and theoretician Ursula K LeGuinn's famous quote: 'we live in capitalism'. The underwater footage shows the dispersal of the algae blooms in the water column at Portlegnone 25.08.24. situated on the outskirts of Lough Neagh, Northern Ireland. With thanks for assistance from Darragh Graham, and Navid Gornall.
'sensing the lough'
excerpt from video (work in progress) - drawing together all the different scales and temporalities from a multi-species perspective that includes us humans, in the delicate ecosystem that is Lough Neagh.
Microscopic view of Lough Neagh with Cyanobacteria
The Weather Meets the Water at Lough Neagh
footage: September 2024 Toome Canal,
going into Lough Neagh
Aerial view of Lough Neagh with microbial mat and
microscopic underwater views
Collective writing project - Friends of the Earth NI December 2023 ongoing
GENERAL PROJECT PAGE
MEETING THE LOUGH ON ITS OWN TERMS
Ami Clarke
artist lead with
In the long hot summer of 2023, Lough Neagh, the largest body of water in Ireland and the UK, became eutrophic, and overwhelmed with algae blooms to such a degree it made the headlines. I joined Friends of the Earth Northern Ireland in discussion later that year, which lead in turn to their adopting my artistic response of 'Meeting The Lough On Its Own Terms'. The complexity of how the Lough became eutrophic presents a text book case in the converging dynamics of power, influence, and conflict of interests, that have developed over decades, if not centuries, around Lough Neagh and the watershed. Working alongside Friends of the Earth with new and emerging dynamics that changed on a weekly basis., from the return of Stormont, to the increasing adoption of the Rights of Nature by community groups and many others, I initiated the following art project, galvanising partners, establishing new contacts, and implementing research and development with scientists working on the Lough for several decades. I was invited to join the Lough Neagh Steering Committee in 2024.
After listening to all the stories that converge at the Lough I drew the first diagram, see below, that was then used at the Friends of the Earth conference at The MAC Dec 2023, as different communities came together to develop a recovery plan, where the goal was to set a legal precedent in establishing the Rights of Nature.
MICROBIAL SCALE
Friends of the Earth welcomed my approach of ‘meeting the lough’ on it’s own terms that brings a new experiential focus at a microbial scale, within the sensorial realm of an immersive approach to exhibition.
The microbial scale of the cyanobacteria is important in drawing our attention to certain indisputable material facts that show that there is simply too much phosphorous in Lough Neagh, at which point we can start to dismantle everything that makes it this way.
Our focus at the microbial scale has the potential to lead to a paradigm shift in thinking, as we start to understand ourselves in a more decentred way, as just one species amongst the multitudes that live within the vulnerable eco-system of Lough Neagh.
IMMERSIVE ENVIRONMENT
The following is to give you a sense of the immersive environment, as we decentre ourselves, and shift our focus to the microbial realm 'meeting the Lough on it's own terms' in a video and sound installation. The sculptural apparatus that flows into the exhibition space evokes the feeling that we are part of a much larger system, and nods towards the flows of power passing through water treatment systems, sewage pipes, and drinking water plumbing. It speaks of attempts to manage human needs within such a vulnerable ecosystem that includes the cyanobacteria (blue green algae), the migrating eels, chironomid flies, pollan fish, and the micro-organisms teeming with life in Lough Neagh, depicted in the 4K video wall. The teachings of the evolutionary biologist Lynn Margulis show us that cyanobacteria are important ancestors who brought life to the planet as we know it, by producing oxygen into the atmosphere. We humans, ourselves, are holobionts, host to thousands of bacteria, most of which we simply couldn't live without. Margulis showed us the importance of understanding life at this truly entangled scale, where interdependencies across species suggest co-operation as a more symbiotic way of being.
The project itself operates as a system, with several components that all feed into one another starting with the collective writing project.
AN ECOLOGY OF WRITING
The text that weaves throughout the work is a collective endeavour, like sediment coming to rest, briefly, informed by disturbances that set all the nutrients swirling again. It is also an acknowledgement of the collective nature of thought, how we never arrive there on our own.
This approach emanates from a long standing interest in art and text, artists writing and publishing, in both my own work, and the programming at Banner Repeater, and the development of the Digital Archive of Artists Publishing https://daap.network/. Overall, there is an emphasis and interest in acknowledging and thinking through the complexities of the subject emerging in synthesis with their environment, from a critical intersectional position (to be found in eco-feminism, posthuman, and more-than-human research and studies). What that means is there is an emphasis on grasping something of the complexity of the multi-temporalities and scales, cross-species contaminations and alliances, necessary to confront the environmental challenges ahead - within an evolving awareness of power relations, which necessarily take into account colonial histories as well as neocolonial extractions of value.
The ongoing collective writing project and diagramming sessions, have been running for over a year, with contributions from the following people: John D’Arcy (Sonic Arts Queens University Belfast), James Orr (Friends of the Earth), Dr Thomas L Muinzer (Queen's University Belfast. Author of UK’s Climate Change Act: Climate and Energy Governance for the UK Low Carbon Transition: The Climate Change Act 2008 (Palgrave: UK, 2018), Les Gornall (Co-Founder International Environment Forum Oct 1997 - Present, Consultant | D.Phil, BSc.(Hons),CBiol,FRSB) David Jewson – Director of Limnology Lab, Lough Neagh. University of Ulster, School of Geography and Environmental Sciences, Save Our Shores, Love Our Lough, Surfers Against Sewage, Collette Stewart (Friends of the Earth), Deborah McLaughlin (Friends of the Earth), Declan Allison (Friends of the Earth), Jane Morrow (PS2), Davy Mahon (PS2), Simon Wood (Ravenhill Films), Shauna Corr (Journalist), Tommy Green (Journalist), Catherine Devlin (Digital Arts Belfast), Richard Davis (Digital Arts Belfast).
These have informed everything else, with several outcomes:
Immersive Environment
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Meeting the Lough on its Own Terms - immersive environment with spatially realised visual/audio work and sculptural 'apparatus' of pipes and plumbing, that inter-connects the exhibition space to larger systems
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Sonic Ritual - a live polyphonic ritual (audio performance) developed with John D'Arcy (Sonic Arts) HIVE choir, Friends of the Earth, and local communities (performed within the work during exhibition)
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bringing together old (traditional indigenous technologies) and new technologies (sensors, AI) via ritual - as a new technological interface (reference: druidry, permaculture, and older traditions that once guided and informed human relations with nature), in order to recalibrate our human relationship within nature from a multi-species perspective
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shifting perspectives - acquiring the rights of nature for Lough Neagh
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Short video works (within the work shown on monitors) - drawn from footage from Lough Neagh and personal accounts drawn from the collective writing project
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Petri dish photographs, diagrams and drawings of cyanobacteria developed with scientist David Jewson, Director Limnology Lab (Lough Neagh), Ulster University, and Les Gornall (Co-Founder International Environment Forum Oct 1997 - Present, Consultant | D.Phil, BSc.(Hons),CBiol,FRSB).
Film with immersive soundtrack to be shown in gallery and auditoriums - a 'science fictioning' version of the work, that speculates within the sensorial realm, whilst speaking to key aspects of the story of Lough Neagh drawing together the microbial with the neoliberal. Working with microscopic footage in 4K and various sound recordings from Lough Neagh - informed by the collective writing project, diagramming, and sonic ritual.
IMMERSIVE ENVIRONMENT
sketch of the installation with video wall (first draft) for the purposes of illustration - the installation can be built to suit different room sizes, with the video expanded upon to fit. There would also be ambient lighting in green, to evoke a feeling of underwater immersion (see below for further pics)
The immersive environment holds 4K video footage of microbial life to be found at Lough Neagh, collected by the artist during field trips to the Lough over a year and a half, supported by Friends of the Earth NI, and scientists Dave Jewson, and Les Gornall. The footage informs a microscopic view of a multi-species approach to ‘meeting the lough on its own terms’ to consider the vulnerable eco-systems that humans are but a small part of, that includes the cyanobacteria and the famous Lough Neagh eels and elvers (baby eels), that no longer come back in sufficient numbers from their migration to the Sargasso Sea. The video wall brings together the deep geological time of our ancient ancestors the cyanobacteria (blue green algae) that brought forth life via the microbial mat that first brought oxygen to the planet, together with the multiple scales and temporalities that abound in the ecosystem of Lough Neagh and watershed.
The expressive video and sound environment interweaves with sculptural elements referencing the infrastructural apparatus; the pipes and plumbing of water treatment systems, sewage systems, as well as the financial systems that act as contemporary modes of extraction within the vulnerable ecosystem of Lough Neagh (and so many other sites experiencing an over abundance of algae blooms).
When we consider the Lough at the scale of microbial life we cut through the complexity and can say irrevocably, that the high levels of phosphorous in the Lough bring about the algae blooms. Here, we can start to dismantle everything that makes it this way.
The work includes a live collective sonic ritual performed during the exhibition period, developed with John D'Arcy of Sonic Arts Belfast and HIVE choir, PS2 gallery Belfast, and Digital Arts Studios Belfast, in response to the collective writing project developed with Friends of the Earth Northern Ireland. Visual and aural residues from the live event and previous events, linger in the video footage on display throughout the exhibition.
installation is modular in the sense that it can be expanded or reduced to fit the room size as appropriate with larger screen/wall space dedicated to the video wall/s and sculptural apparatus
details of video wall, and close up views of footage
potential lighting of the work
Ballyronan Marina September 2024 - field trip - Ami Clarke, David Jewson, Les Gornall, James Orr (Friends of the Earth)
hydrophone audio recordings underwater at Lough Neagh
with Peter Harper, Shoreline Environment Officer,
Lough Neagh Partnership
'sensing the lough'
field recordings - audio, video, monitoring of the cyanobacteria
Cyanobacterial remains of an
annulated tubular microfossil
Oscillatoriopsis longa
Cyanobacteria: microcystis sample from Lough Neagh collected by Ami Clarke
Transverse section of a dividing
cell of the Cynaobacterium Microcystis showing hexagonal stacking of the cylindrical gas vesicles
Petri dish wall photographs
of a fossil, sample, and diagram of cyanobacteria
PRINTS/DIAGRAMS
MAPPING THE FLOWS OF POWER
Lough Neagh Neoliberal diagram of slurry, in the great tradition of Hogarth,
showing flows of power and pollution
The MONIAC – Monetary National Income Analogue Computer
I've always been very fond of this early attempt at showing the dynamics of the economic system. Despite being superseded by many newer theories and models, it remains an interesting model in terms of showing the dynamics of something complex, and no doubt informs my desire to make visible, in some sense, the flows of power through my own work.
In 1949, A.W.H. (Bill) Phillips, a New Zealand electrical engineer studying sociology as an undergraduate at the London School of Economics, built a hydraulic simulator (called the MONIAC – Monetary National Income Analogue Computer) of the British economy based on contemporary economic theory. It was the first analog computer to solve the nonlinear coupled differential equations of mid-twentieth century economic theory (Bollard 2016) and led to the use of control theory to study stabilization issues in macroeconomics. Later known as the “Phillips machine”, the “Philips-Newlyn machine” or the “MONIAC”, the device demonstrated difficult macroeconomic concepts so clearly that it became a mainstay of instruction at the London School of Economics for more than 15 years (Barr 2000) and at Leeds University for more than 20 (Newlyn, 2000). In a reproduction of the project, William H. Rydera & Robert Y Cavana exposed some of the implementation issues missing in the standard references, and whilst undeniably flawed, the machine remains an important specimen in the evolutionary development of system dynamics models.
SONIC RITUAL
other ways of 'sensing the lough'
The Sonic Ritual will engage with the environmental concerns that the work seeks to address as a live articulation - building a technology, that draws upon the collective writing, that becomes a ritual to conjure the future...
first draft ideas that came out of our Sonic Ritual workshop with John D'Arcy HIVE choir, Friends of the Earth, PS2 studios Belfast, and invited guests, in November 2024 (still very much to be developed)
with thanks to the support of John D'Arcy, and PS2, Belfast
About the workshop:
We will be developing a text, and sound work with John D’Arcy from QUB SARC and HIVE Choir, and working towards how these are actualised within new rituals that act to re-calibrate our relationship with nature. The workshop will involve both a collective writing and possible vocalisation through song and chanting.
Ami will be sharing some of the video work she’s developed so far, that includes the beginnings of a soundscape that attempts to hold something of the genesis of the lough, with tectonic plates shifting, together with ASMR sounds, that might suggest much smaller organisms and microbial life.
Within the workshop we will be thinking about what new rituals could act as an interface: a new technology, recalibrating our relationship with nature in order to find balance within a more multi-species and decentred human perspective. An exercise in building a technology, almost, that includes a collective writing that becomes a ritual to conjure the future.
We will be thinking about the way that the ritual might become a chant, as part of the new technology we are building, and how human voice/s (possibly a polyphonic approach) might sit within this delicate ensemble, to reflect the new calibration we are hoping to bring about.
Collective writing project - Friends of the Earth NI December 2023 ongoing
MEETING THE LOUGH
ON ITS OWN TERMS
overview
