Seabed Mining & Counter-Strategies of the artistic eye (en)

Markus Reymann This talk embarks from the hypothesis that deep sea
mining is an anthropogenic intervention that will profoundly change
the planet’s design, whilst perpetuating the exploitative culture
of a hyper canibalistic extraction industry. It will deeply affect
our futures, which are closely entangled with the oceans. Seabed
mining targets polymetallic nodules that are used in the production
of batteries, alloys and plastic, and may well be the next gold
rush. Its effects will most likely be long-term and invasive,
impacting ecosystems from the microbial level to the structural
constitution of the seabed in a way that we are not remotely able
to anticipate. Commercial exploitation of the seafloor is currently
being evaluated from various positions, from multinational
companies active in Papua New Guinea, to a pilot test program in
the Azores funded by the European Commission. Due to the lack of
knowledge and data from the deep seabed, mining companies deploy
artificial neural networks for predictive mapping of the resources
at 3-5000 meters depth. However, potential risks arising from
pollution to sediment plumes to toxicity are only marginally
assessed. Markus Reymann is the director of TBA21-Academy, an
itinerant site of cultural production and interdisciplinary
research. Conceived as a moving platform on the oceans, it brings
together thinkers from various fields concerned with today’s most
urgent ecological, social, and economic issues. The organisation
occupies the space between the spheres of contemporary arts,
science, conservation and policy. In June of 2016 TBA21–Academy was
granted the Observer Status at the International Seabed Authority,
becoming the first art organization ever to be given this status.
This allows TBA21–Academy to contribute to the international
climate change agenda on a policy making level.