In March 2013, artist and political activist Gustav Metzger presented a lecture about his work to the UCA Farnham's Fine Art department. During the lecture, his final question was, "What are you going to do about extinction?" As a direct consequence, a collaborative project began between him and University for the Creative Arts (UCA) Fine Art department in Farnham.
The first of two linked events was the exhibition, 'Facing Extinction' curated by Andrea Gregson in collaboraton with the UCA Cultural Programme, Surrey, at the James Hockey Gallery, UCA Farnham, an ambitious re-working of Metzger's seminal work 'Mass Media: Today and Yesterday.' Thousands of newspapers stacked in a rectangular mass in the centre of the gallery space collected and sourced by staff and students from UCA and Farnham residents. Addressing the capitalist consumption of goods and information that threaten the planet's ecological survival, Metzger states, "I want this work to be useful, to emphasise the dangerous environment in which we live - events of life and death that can lead to extinction".
For the duration of the exhibition, the visitors are invited to clip articles from newspapers related to the topic of "extinction" and to pin them to the gallery walls. Metzger's installation is intended to be a work in a state of flux; continually changing and growing as visitors are also invited to add newspapers to the stack.
A series of films related to the theme of extinction were programmed to accompany the exhibition. At the request of the artist, students have been invited to make work in response to the theme of extinction. These projects were be presented around UCA's campus for the duration of the exhibition.
The Facing Extinction Conference, 7-8 June 2014, brought together presentations by artists, scientists, ecologists, architects and other specialist academics focusing on immediate and long term action against mass extinction. The conference was co-convened by Rose Lejeune and Andrea Gregson in collaboration with Gustav Metzger.
