From Paradigm 

To Paradigm,  

Into The Biomic Time 

Nandita Kumar’s installation is playfully reminiscent of a newspaper-press, stuck in an eternal loop. The work comments on the constant regurgitation of misinformed and manipulative facts in relation to various environmental issues by individuals and organizations, as they influence public opinion to protect their own interests. A reminder to listen closely to the echoes of history and avoid mindlessly replaying the discordant notes of the past. As the challenges and environmental consequences of climate change manifest, Nandita Kumar reflects on the knowledge gap between the scientific community, political spheres, and the populace at large. While fake news has plagued climate and environmental science for decades, slowing or completely derailing “progress,” information overload, complexity, and lack of meaning has left people feeling anxious and powerless to enact real environmental change. 

Kumar’s work deconstructs political rhetoric related to varied environmental issues by collating statements made by influential individuals, politicians, and organizations. Employing the very methods of data manipulation and fake news, the statements were transformed by an algorithmic “Haiku” generator to produce a poem to accompany each of the untrue statements. Forming a glitching musical code, the resulting 91 Haikus play out through a 40-foot pianola score. The accompanying digital publication allows the viewer to connect each of the poems to its original statement, alongside expanded essays detailing the truth behind these falsehoods. 

The collaboratively developed sound installation comprises of five sonic journeys representing the elements—Earth, Water, Fire, Air and Space—and will culminate in a performance that includes voicing the haikus alongside the pianola player, a collage of found sound, and live Foley with waste and recycled objects. 

 “History never repeats itself, but it does often rhyme”— Mark Twain