SHOHEI KATAYAMA
GREEN HELL
Green Hell excavates parallels between the decay of preexisting architectural design and ecological determinism to explore the current climate discourse in the Amazon. This site-specific installation turns Phosphor Project Space into a disquieting place of uncertainty.
"Green Hell," is a term coined by early colonizers to describe the Amazon rainforest’s harsh environment. Betty Meggers, an archaeologist at the Smithsonian, believed that the Amazon was a “counterfeit paradise” and that human life could not be sustained in the jungle regardless of the seemingly beautiful flora and fauna. She believed that the nature that encompassed the Amazon was deadly and therefore a human death trap. The rhetoric was used to justify the exploitation of the forest resources and to devalue the native Amazonians' traditions, culture, and values.
The exhibition attempts to redefine the term Green Hell — capitalism as a “counterfeit paradise”, and to showcase Phosphor gallery’s hidden jewel, usually concealed above its drop ceiling.
Material: Preexisting architecture, audio collected from the Adolpho Ducke Reserve in the Amazon Rainforest, scent of burning mugwort.
Year: 2019
Location: Phosphor Project Space
Fire above and fire below - where are you?
Fire above and fire below - where are you?