A new exhibition at MUŻA explores the place of the human being within nature and the cosmos, reflecting on our existences and our impact on the world. The artist Antje Liemann speaks to Lara Zammit about the themes and ideas underpinning her works.

The exhibition Light is Time Thinking about Itself on display at MUŻA is said to imagine landscapes “without the presence of humankind” following our recent subjection to lockdowns and quarantines. It puts into question the prevalence of the human on the planet, offering viewers the idea that we are not as overarchingly significant as we think we are.

Speaking about the themes underpinning the exhibition and how they relate to humankind, artist Antje Liemann said a prevalent theme in her works is the seeming insignificance of human beings when considering that we only came on the scene a relatively short while ago.

“At a time when the long-term survival of our species is threatened within a very short time – in this moment of crisis – many of us are looking for a deeper perspective,” she reflected.

One way of gaining perspective is by thinking about human beings not as the centre and circumference of all creation, but rather as another set of creatures among others, who only emerged a relatively short while ago. Liemann encourages us to consider the concept of deep time, which takes into account time far beyond our anthropocentric view.

“Deep time refers to the concept of expansive time that extends far beyond human history, encompassing some 4.6 billion years of Earth’s geological history and the estimated 13.8 billion years of the universe’s history.

“If we took the whole 4.6 billion years of planet Earth history and compressed it in 24 hours, meaning that the planet was born at 0.00, for 16 hours (about three billion years), all life is confined in water. At 22:45 – the dinosaurs make it onto the scene.

“Abundant fossil bones, teeth, trackways, and other hard evidence have revealed that Earth was the domain of the dinosaurs for at least 230 million years. At 23:30 – 30 minutes to the present – mammals come into existence. At 23:58 – two minutes to now – our human ancestors walked the planet.

“A scale where the whole of existence of life on Earth is compressed in 24 hours makes you understand how truly insignificant we are.

“If we look at our human existence from a planetary perspective, human life appears marginal compared to non-human forms. A deep time pers­pective draws attention not only to the vast spatial dimensions, but also to the immense temporal dimensions.”

The objets-trouvés are reminiscent of an abandoned world

Light is Time Thinking about Itself, 2021

The artworks composing Liemann’s exhibition seem to paint a picture of a world in which humankind has evaporated, leaving behind artefacts reminiscent of the human, such as mirrors or figurines and other human constructions, all of which represent his conspicuous absence.

Speaking about the significance of these items, often juxtaposed with natural materials such as fruit or rocks in her works, Liemann said that “the objets-trouvés are reminiscent of an abandoned world”.

“They are the detritus of a bourgeois life left behind, from when mass-produced china figu­rines – mirrors, clocks, lamps, globes, courting couples, woodland creatures – which once adorned a 20th century sitting room,” she said.

There are also traces of Malta in Liemann’s works, most notably in the rocks interspersed amid her artworks.

Installation detail

“I juxtapose the objects with the Maltese stones. In particular, the piece of Maltese limestone has a symbolic meaning. History is visible through fossils, shells and structures of coral reefs. Earth is a crustal planet (one of the few in our universe), but it is basically a rock.

“Limestone is visible throughout Malta, reminding us of the history of our planet’s formation. The stones symbolise the whole structure of the planetary system and the cosmos.”

Mnajdra + Orchids, 2021

Margerita Pulè, the curator of Liemann’s exhibition, spoke about the effects of the COVID-19 lockdowns on how we place ourselves within the history of creation.

“The dream-like state of the stasis of lockdown ad absurdum has caused all of us to lose a grip on our own versions of reality. Do these figures represent us, or do they live in our collective, yet isolated, imagination?

“Perhaps they speak of the millennia over which humankind went from living in proximity to the natural world, to our current, industrial-digital state.”

We find traces of the human even in the most remote places on Earth. Even non-inhabited lands struggle with the effects of humanity, usually in its negative forms with plastic pollution, for example. Rather than portraying humanity as a polluting agent in her artworks, Liemann is letting nature take centre stage and allowing that to speak for itself.

Viewers observing the exhibits at MUŻA

Marie Briguglio, a sociologist at the University of Malta who collaborated with Liemann in this exhibition, wrote about how nature plays an important part within the human experience.

“It is obvious, of course, that our myriad activities, indeed ourselves would simply not be viable without the favourable conditions that nature presents. We, and all we do, are immensely vulnerable to this sweet spot, this set of natural circumstances that make it just right to survive: just the right temperature, the right amount of water, the right air quality, the right degree of biodiversity…

“Yet there is a real risk of such conditions changing sufficiently for this comfort zone to be lost. A risk heightened by irreversible climate change, drought and biodiversity collapse. For some, these threats have already materialised and morphed into relocation or forced migration.

“And Malta could feel this too, positioned as it is to be vulnerable to sea-level change, shortage of rain and migration flows,” maintained Briguglio.

Light is Time Thinking about Itself is showing at MUŻA until September 5.