VICISSITUDE [change]
Monique Martin 
Alexandra Hedberg

Vicissitude
noun
plural noun: vicissitudes
a change of circumstances or fortune, typically one that is unwelcome or unpleasant.

Artist Statement

Transformation occurs through deep time when life hangs like a question mark, fragile and always changing.  A moment in time can impact this planet, but it can also take years and decades to notice the change. Transformation is a process within human existence and within the ecosystems on the earth that allows us to live in the continuous present as we know we will not be the same person or planet tomorrow that we were today. The arithmetic of life can be looked at as continuous subtraction or as continuous transformation. When parts of our life and the earth run thin like the transparent chrysalis of a butterfly there is room for transformation, change, growth and movement.

We thought the environment was frozen in time. It is now a slow emergency. Nature measures time in epochs, eras, eons; it is not based on a human construct of days or years. Humans trespass without notice on nature’s time scale but have altered deep time. Our trespassing renders a lasting impact, stripping mother earth, leaving her vulnerable and weak. We were complacent thinking we had the answers and believing that tomorrow is always promised. Did we even really try? The eternal seconds of our nascent attempts to address climate change may be too late. The regrets will be carried by the future generations comparing what we could have done with what actually occurred.

Time is eternal and everything is gradually covered by the earth.