There is only one thing we can count on in this chaotic universe: nothing lasts forever. Nothing lives forever, keeps its shape forever, or even stays in the same place forever, because place is in many ways relative and even if one particle remains fixed, the things surrounding it shift, thus relatively altering its location.
Following this logic, nothing grows forever. This is frightening when you consider the fact that our economy, our system that divvies out the resources necessary for life, is predicated on the notion of infinite growth. In a universe where nothing grows forever, on a planet with finite resources, why do we measure our success only against the impossible notion that our production will infinitely increase?
De-growth presents a potential solution to our futile, yet deeply entrenched economic approach. It is a political, economic, and social movement that espouses negative growth and a departure from our capitalist consumer culture. The inertia surrounding this reorientation has grown rapidly in the past year, with the publication of what Inequality.org calls “the first comprehensive book” on de-growth.
A new initiative in Oslo, Norway, recently set about exploring this movement, artistically applying its principles to the city’s streets. Desire Lines, as explained by organizer James Finucane, is “a new platform that aims to broaden the diversity of expression in public space in Oslo.”
The initiative’s website explains that its first project followed “the curatorial theme set by [the] Oslo Architecture Triennale” and employed their inaugural artists-in-residence program to explore de-growth “from a street art perspective, in particular how human-scale, intervention-based street art can offer an alternative to resource-heavy muralism.”
A press release states that in their efforts, Desire Lines utilized the talents of five international artists “who specialize in producing site-specific and ephemeral outdoor artworks”: Ampparito (Spain), Brad Downey (USA), Clet (France), Diego Sologuren (Switzerland), and Jazoo Yang (Germany). Finucane wrote, “the purpose was to invite them to produce spontaneous, temporary, and ephemeral works in the city centre.”
As a result, the press release continues, “more than 120 works of art (including temporary interventions and performances) were created over the course of one week, touching upon the paradigms of de-growth, sharing economy, gig economy, rights to the city and intangible heritage.”
Teaming up with architect Diego Sologuren, Brad Downey created a structure “designed to attach to Oslo’s public e-scooters.” The pair call their creation the ´Plug-in Pulpit´. Their austere, yet elegant work staged public performances from the Bishop of Oslo Kari Veiteberg, opera singer Anne Røkke, and graffiti writer Word War Treeman and was also “used to access rooftops and ledges undetected, as well as for unsanctioned firefighting.” It collected data while enabling its users to move quickly, symbolically becoming a participant in the gig economy.
Jazoo Yang concentrated on the city’s most developed region to “collect and catalogue examples of the tiny living organisms co-existing alongside us in the city.” The resulting series, titled ‘Live,’ depicts “spiders, worms, fungi, and moss” that the artist “photographed under a microscope to reveal details and colors unintelligible to the naked eye.” Using her findings, Yang created “large-format posters to symbolically highlight the richness and diversity of life that exists within the city.” Reflecting on her project, Yang remarked, “collecting tiny things from the street is a really good way for me to observe the city more deeply.”
Clet debased traditional ideas of authority simply by applying vinyl stickers to road road signs throughout Oslo. His completed his contribution in less than three days. The press release notes that “ranging from the humorous to the political, whilst always keeping an eye on the local context, Clet teased out various aspects of Oslo´s cultural heritage. In Galgeberg (which literally translates as “gallows hill”) for example, a ´no entry´ sign now depicts a man being held in medieval stocks – less than a stone´s throw away from where the town´s court and gallows used to stand in the Middle Ages.”
Ampparito directly explored de-growth “by creating a series of absurd installations,” wherein the artist planted small trees upside down and attempted to water them. This act “highlights the incompatibility of de-growth economic theory within dominant capitalist ideology.” The artist noticed, “it’s hard to find examples of living things ´degrowing´ – when they do its usually a precursor to death, a kind of reverting back to how we were in the beginning – like asking to be young again at death´s door. The Spanish for upside-down is ‘bocabajo,’ which in Puerto Rico and Cuba describes a kind of torture. This also seemed like a good analogy for our prospects of achieving economic degrowth!”
De-growth faces barriers to implementation because it runs counter to our society’s ideals. Why would we purposefully seek to scale back progress? The answer to that question unearths the very principles that are killing our planet: a commitment to exponential wealth at any cost, which stems from our belief that value lies only in dollar worth rather than some more sentimental, difficult to pin down metric like moral good or interpersonal connection. If de-growth is to succeed, then we as a society must become more adept at cherishing these concepts above the easily understood pursuit of material gain.
Projects like Desire Lines which are simple, intuitive, and highly effective, might prove a helpful asset in instigating such a shift. At the very least, they bring people together, whether it’s the spectators who stop to look or the artists themselves. Of the project, Finucane said, “ it was an absolute joy to work on a series of performances with Brad and Diego; Jazoo Yang and Ampparito both developed new work; and Clet has perhaps left the biggest impression on the city, transforming almost 100 street signs in less than three full days!”
Desire lines is supported by Oslo´s Agency for Cultural Affairs and the Car Free City Life Program. A growth in this organization’s endeavors is one type of expansion that would absolutely do our planet good, as Desire Lines sets out to contemplate even more of the issues facing our human society.
