Author Identifier (ORCID)
Brenton Rossow: https://orcid.org/0009-0002-8284-1390
Abstract
This research explores concertinaing past, present and future interventional creative and pedagogical practices to address the challenges of the Post-Anthropocene era. We argue that the Post-Anthropocene is marked by biotechnological entanglements, environmental violence and digital overstimulation. The discussions herein critique a hyperattentive achievement society characterised by a scattering of attention, a near-constant screen-mediated stream of digital material and tasks and the commodification of leisure time. Enlisting Byung-Chul Han’s concept of hyperattention and themes and motifs from David Cronenberg’s films, the authors propose “FUTURE PROOF re(image)ining” as a collaborative Cli-Fi narrative concept. The project reimagines objects from an initial art installation with a diffusion-based machine learning model. By drawing on a constellation of Taoist philosophical practices, Zen garden design, scholars’ rocks and Cronenbergian themes, the authors propose an exhibition featuring reimagined cave-like gongshi rock structures and objects. A triangulation of spaces for FUTURE PROOF participants to inhabit facilitates an unfolding contemplative-creative trajectory. The concept includes a sensory deprivation cave, a View-Master cave for focused stereoscopic image viewing and a haiku/soundscape cave to initiate experiences. FUTURE PROOF aims to promote deep contemplation, challenging some of the deleterious aspects of Western digital-algorithmic screen culture and cultivating relationality with an always more-than-human world.
Document Type
Journal Article
Date of Publication
7-1-2025
Volume
41
Issue
3
Publication Title
Australian Journal of Environmental Education
Publisher
Cambridge University Press
School
School of Arts and Humanities
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 License
First Page
719
Last Page
745
Comments
Rossow, B., & Tynan, D. (2025). Post-anthropocene provocations: Human-sized scholars’ rocks, Cronenbergian flesh caves and zen garden design cues for a future proof re(image)ining. Australian Journal of Environmental Education, 41(3), 719–745. https://doi.org/10.1017/aee.2025.10071