In Fall 2018, the IFF’s the Coral Forest – Plastic  sculptures were included in the exhibition Modest Forms of Biocultural Hope at the Western Gallery, Western Washington University, curated by Hafthor Yngvason.

Coral Forest sculptures Chthulu (black, left), and Nin’Imma (white, right) at the Western Gallery. Photo courtesy Western Washington University.

Beginning with the questions: Can species thrive together? Can we learn from nature to remediate environmental problems? Is hope possible in the Antropocene? this exhibition focuses on creative efforts to address ecological concerns. As curator Hafthor Yngvason writes: “The projects brought together in the show present novel but grounded ways of thinking about ecological problems. Rather than dejection at the enormity of the challenges, they offer concrete and creative efforts. Rather than sweeping geoengineering schemes, they offer modest forms of biocultural hope. What the ecological thinker Donna Haraway has written about one of the projects  – the Wertheims’ Crochet Coral Forest – is true of them all: ‘[These are] not projects of melancholy and mourning. Theirs are figures of response-ability.'”

Coral Forest sculptures Chthulu (black, left), Nin’Imma (white, center) and Ea (pink, right) at the Western Gallery.  Photo courtesy Western Washington University. 2018

Participating artists: Nicole Dextras, John Feodorov, Deanna Pindell, Margaret and Christine Wertheim. Design Section, participating artists: Paul Kearsley, BiomeRenewables, Dabiri Lab, and WhalePower.

Western Gallery – exhibition webpage