Poznámky z Eremocénu

Life has become lonely for the human species in the Eremocene. The age of loneliness is characterised by natural destruction, a global loss of biodiversity and the dominance of the technosphere over the biosphere. This is where this playfully dystopian sci-fi essay starts out: digital technologies have conquered the world; the realm of data, from blockchain, to Bitcoin to DAO democracy, is huge and uncontrollable. Two accounts can be heard in voiceover – one generated by AI (artificial intelligence) and one belonging to a post-human virtual being searching for its earlier self, that of the filmmaker herself. Diary-like images of yesteryear appear on the planetary grid, beach scenes, people wearing masks in public places, Christmas lights and climate activists. The Super-8 and 16-mm footage competes with raster graphics, coloured pixels and spectacular clouds of points in 3D, which are overlaid with keyword matrices in turn. There is interference. And questions regarding non-human actors and mortality are posed. Back in time, Nick Cave sings a blues song. Who cares what the future brings? The Eremocene is the present. (Birgit Kohler)