2012 - a bomb of a year

The new year began with a firestorm inspired by the dominant perception of what is special and beautiful, desirable and good. If this is a symbol of the year to come, 2012 will be engineered into a very difficult year.

Sydney, like other cities across the world, showered its residents with toxic clouds, a chemical storm which the citizens turned out in hundreds of thousands to be subjected to voluntarily. The simulation of war included powerful detonations and visual explosions sending shock waves through the night. Wildlife was traumatised and day birds forced to fly aimlessly into the vulnerability of the night. Waterways were left contaminated with toxins and exploded remnants.

If this pyro-artistic introduction to the new year is taken as a sign of things to come, we can expect intense wars, chemical pollution and a continuation of the rapid loss of biodiversity and extinctions on our damaged planet.

We can also expect assets to be burnt in large amounts on senseless spectacles, just at a time when there is never enough for essential projects for stability.

We are overdue for a changed aesthetic accompanied by a new valuation of the circumstances which support life on Earth and a move away from the values which see beauty in destroying our unique living basis.

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