Adam Farcus: Solastalgia (Lubbock) and Shelter for the Making
February 13 - February 13,2021
Note: This event is online-only. To watch the upcoming stream on February 13, 2021, go here. To attend the Q&A, go here. From the artist:
"Adam Farcus’ screening features two videos, Solastalgia (Lubbock) (2021) and Shelter for the Making (2015)—both address the notion of a climate-altered home in different ways. Solastalgia (Lubbock) is a eco-emotional (or psychoterratic) portrait of the region, told by citizens of Lubbock, that focuses on water, dust, and cotton farming. The dream of colonizing another planet is explored in the found footage video, Shelter for the Making. The screening is held in conjunction with Farcus' installation, Home, at The Neon Heater (Findlay, OH) and their contributions to the Panhandle Protest exhibition at the East Lubbock Art House (Lubbock, TX). Following the screening there will be a live Q&A on Zoom.
Adam Farcus is a Milwaukee based activist, artist, curator, feminist, teacher, writer, burgeoning linguist, and director of the nomadic curatorial project, Lease Agreement. Farcus received their M.F.A. from the University of Illinois at Chicago, B.F.A. from Illinois State University, and A.A. from Joliet Junior College. Farcus’ work has been exhibited at numerous venues, including the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth; Vox Populi, Philadelphia; the American University Museum; and Advance Art Museum, Changsha, China. Their creative writing has been published in print journals; including Rattle Journal, Funny Looking Dog Quarterly, and Occult Studies; and the 2016 book, MACRO: An Anthology of Image Macros. They have lectured on their work and research at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago and the Performance Studies International 16 conference, among many others. Farcus’ website is adamfarcus.com.
FULL DESCRIPTION
It is inevitable that the average global temperature will rise beyond the 2015 Paris Agreement benchmark of 1.5°C, above pre-industrial levels. This is a disaster that defines our lives and determines our future. If current policies are maintained and attained, the planet will still warm 2.7 – 3.1°C by 2100.1
Even with an optimistic outlook, the ecological and human impacts of climate change can be emotionally enveloping and devastating. New language has been coined to give us a way to define and understand these emotions—three of which are central to the concepts in this exhibition: ecoanxiety, global dread, and solastalgia. Ecoanxiety is “anxiety related to a changing and uncertain environment,” global dread is a mixture of terror and sadness caused by the “anticipation of an apocalyptic future state of the world,” and solastalgia is the “pain or distress caused by the loss or lack of solace and the sense of desolation connected to the present state of one’s home.”2 These climate related stresses can lead to substance abuse, anger, anxiety disorders, depression, exhaustion, fear, and feelings of powerlessness.3 Adam Farcus’ installation at The Neon Heater and the videos in the screening borrow from these concepts. The exhibition and screening, defined by this new eco-emotional (or psychoterratic) language, creates spaces and experiences that complicate our understandings of climate disaster and its effects on us.
Adam Farcus’ screening features two videos, Solastalgia (Lubbock) (2021) and Shelter for the Making (2015)—both address the notion of a climate-altered home in different ways. Solastalgia (Lubbock) is a psychoterratic portrait of the region, told by citizens of Lubbock, that focuses on water, dust, and cotton farming. The dream of colonizing another planet is explored in the found footage video, Shelter for the Making.
One hundred postcard artworks, titled Imagine That Very Black Sea of Atlantis Over New Orleans, will be mailed to people who request one. Please contact Adam Farcus at adamfarcus@gmail.com, with your mailing address, to request a postcard.
This screening is presented in conjunction with Adam Farcus’ installation, Home, at The Neon Heater (Findlay, OH) that is visible from outside of the gallery between February 1st and 28th, and the Panhandle Protest exhibition at the East Lubbock Art House, which Farcus has contributed to.
1 “2100 Warming Projections.” Climate Action Tracker, 1 Dec. 2020, climateactiontracker.org/global/temperatures.
2 Clayton, Susan, et al. “Mental Health and Our Changing Climate: Impacts, Implications, and Guidance.” American Psychological Association and eco America, 2017.
3 Albrecht, Glenn. Earth Emotions: New Words for a New World. Cornell University Press, 2019.
BIO
Adam Farcus is a Milwaukee based activist, artist, curator, feminist, teacher, writer, and burgeoning linguist. Farcus received their M.F.A. from the University of Illinois at Chicago, B.F.A. from Illinois State University, and A.A. from Joliet Junior College. Farcus’ work has been exhibited at numerous venues, including the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth; Vox Populi, Philadelphia; the American University Museum; and Advance Art Museum, Changsha, China. Their creative writing has been published in print journals; including Rattle Journal, Funny Looking Dog Quarterly, and Occult Studies; and the 2016 book, MACRO: An Anthology of Image Macros. They have lectured on their work and research at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago and the Performance Studies International 16 conference, among many others. Founded in 2012, Farcus is the director of Lease Agreement, a nomadic curatorial project and they teach at the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design. Farcus’ website is adamfarcus.com."
