‘If I had an hour to save the world, I would spend 55 minutes thinking about the problem and 5 minutes thinking about the solution.’ Graham Sturt, creative head of VBAT brand design agency, took Einstein literally and asked workshop participants to save the planet in one hour.
The dictionary definition of the ‘Anthropocene’ reads: ‘Relating to or denoting the current geological age, viewed as the period during which human activity has been dominant influence on climate and the environment.’
Sturt explained the negativity associated with the Anthropocene with a quote from Roy Scranton, author of Learning to Die in the Anthropocene: Reflections of the End of a Civilization: ‘We’re fucked. The only questions are how soon and how badly.’ But instead of despairing, asked Sturt, what about a little hope and imagination?
Reframe the subject
Joel Towers, from Parsons School of Design in New York, then explained the role for creative individuals. ‘The word Anthropocene is alienating. It’s a scientific abstraction. Creative individuals should reframe the language and human engagement in relation to this very large transformative project.’
The task for participants was to ‘Harness the power of new ideas to positively (re)frame the Anthropocene’. Doing this meant leaping into the unknown and avoid going down any well-trodden paths, Sturt told us. We need to identify risks worth taking.
Presentation
Workshop groups could choose to present their one-minute reframing ideas in one of the following ways: without saying anything, in a poem that rhymes (kind of), with actions, in the style of Donald Trump, using someone from the audience, using objects you can find in the room as props, or all the team in different corners of the room. We accomplished this task exceptionally well. We saved the world. Phew!
Presentation with drawings and an act
German attendant Marie-Pascale Gafinen made her own drawn report (see below)
