Laura C. Mallonee

Just 810 miles shy of the North Pole lies the remote Arctic Svalbard Archipelago, which houses the equivalent of an external hard drive for all the world's plants. Few of us have heard of the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, an operation as fascinating as it is futuristic. Constructed deep below snow and permafrost by the Government of Norway, the facility holds (in theory) a duplicate of most every seed in the world, and it accepts new seeds free of charge. Over 1400 seed banks exist worldwide, but the Svalbard Vault is the most comprehensive. Not only could it help prevent the extinction of certain plant species due to war or climate change, but its underlying crux is this: Should our world — as we know it — end, the Vault could provide seeds to rebuild it.

A 2007 New Yorker article by John Seabrook explains, "We tend to imagine apocalypse coming in the form of a bomb, an asteroid, or a tsunami, but should a catastrophe stike one of the world's major crops ... seed bankers may be all that stand between us and widespread starvation."

Vault Door

An important thing to note is that the Vault is entirely exclusive, functioning as a safety deposit box for participating countries. No one is allowed to access the vaults save for scientists from those countries. It’s remote and innaccessible in a way few places are anymore — it may as well be the dark side of the moon.

Enter Dornith Doherty, an art professor at the University of North Texas in Denton, who earlier this month was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship for her remarkable project, Archiving Eden, which documents the Svalbard Vault through photography and x-rays.

Seed Head One (2010)

On her website, Doherty writes:

Utilizing the archives on-site x-ray equipment that is routinely used for viability assessments of accessioned seeds, I document and subsequently collage the seeds and tissue samples stored in these crucial collections. The amazing visual power of magnified x-ray images, which springs from the technology’s ability to record what is invisible to the human eye, illuminates my considerations not only of the complex philosophical, anthropological, and ecological issues surrounding the role of science and human agency in relation to gene banking, but also of the poetic questions about life and time on a macro and micro scale. I am struck by the power of these tiny plantlets and seeds (many are the size of a grain of sand) to generate life and to endure the timespan central to the process of seed banking, which seeks to make these sparks last for two hundred years or more.

Pea 

The resulting x-ray images are beautifully stark, and they also illuminate the deepest, darkest worry of our past century: the fear of apocalypse. During the Cuban Missile Crisis of the '60s, Americans held their breaths while President Kennedy hovered over a decision that could destroy the East Coast, debating whether or not to push the button. Journalist Norman Mailer infamously demanded Jackie and the kids be sent to New York to die with the rest of us. Kennedy didn't push the button and Russia, of course, backed down, but it's less clear whether the threat of apocalypse ever truly subsided. Today, the world's eyes rest uneasily on countries like North Korea and Iran.

Whip It 

A recent Atlantic article (Matthew Barret Gross & Mel Gilles) observes:

Flip through the cable channels for long enough, and you'll inevitably find the apocalypse. On Discovery or National Geographic or History you'll find shows like MegaDisasters, Doomsday Preppers, or The Last Days on Earth chronicling, in an hour of programming, dozens of ways the world might end: a gamma ray burst from a nearby star peeling away the Earth's ozone layer like an onion; a mega-volcano erupting and plunging our planet into a new ice age; the magnetic poles reversing. Turn to a news channel, and the headlines appear equally apocalyptic, declaring that the "UN Warns of Rapid Decay in Environment" or that "Humanity's Very Survival" is at risk.

Amidst these threats, Doherty's x-rays are archetypes for renewal. Her expedition into the forbidden vault is one of hope. Life goes on, her images remind us. Out of the ashes, a phoenix rises. In the Svalbard Vault exists a blueprint of Eden.

Thirst

Red Yucca

Sunflowers

"There's a mosquito net maker in Africa. He manufactures around 500 nets a week. He employs ten people, who (as with many African countries) each have to support upwards of fifteen relatives. However hard they work, they can't make enough nets to combat the malaria-carrying mosquito.

Enter vociferous Hollywood movie star who rallies the masses and goads Western governments to collect and send 100,000 mosquito nets to the afflicted region, at a cost of a million dollars. The nets arrive, the nets are distributed, and a 'good' deed is done.

With the market flooded with foreign nets, however, our mosquito net maker is promptly put out of business. His ten workers can no longer support their 150 dependents (who are now forced to depend on handouts) and one mustn't forget that in a maximum of five years the majority of the imported nets will be torn, damaged and of no further use. 

... One of the most depressing aspects of the whole aid fiasco is that donors, policymakers, governments, academicicians, economists and development specialists know, in their heart of hearts, that aid doesn't work, hasn't worked and won't work. Commenting on at least one aid donor, the Chief economist at the British Department of Trade and Industry remarked that 'they know it's crap, but it sells the T-shirts.'"

-Dambisa Moyo, in her book Dead Aid 

I've decided to keep a record of current reads on this blog. 

The first book, Dead Aid, is by a Zambian economist named Dambisa Moyo who advocates that western aid is actually detrimental to African growth. The message seems grim, but it's actually imbued with hope. I first heard of Dambisa Moyo through my husband, and so far she has transformed the way I think about aid. She also writes in clear, everyday language that makes these complex ideas easier to grasp. It's also refreshing to read a book about Africa that's not written by a white, upper middle-class male, but by an African woman who hails from the continent. 

I started the second book, What You Should Know About Politics ... But Don't by Jessamyn Conrad four years ago during the last election and never finished. So far, it's been a fair, level look at the parties and ideas that shape politics today. I also  love that Conrad is pursuing her Ph.D. in art history but is able to write a knowledgeable and informing book about politics. It's great for anyone who wants to understand the major issues in politics today, and not just spout off about them on facebook, twitter, etc.

     

I wrote about Lamia Joreige's art work, Objects of War, over at  Map Mint yesterday. Map Mint is artist Sage Dawson's online blog, where you can find news about her work, exhibitions and inspirations. Read it here.