The Extinction Gong (2017) is a ceremonial automaton for the Sixth Mass Extinction, the human-induced process of planet-scale biological annihilation first formally recognised by scientists in 2014.
Taking the form of a large traditional 'Chao Gong' its rear-face is fitted with a mechanism that beats to the rhythm of species extinction, estimated by eminent biologist E.O. Wilson to be about 27000 losses a year, or once every 19 minutes. The significance of this figure (and those like it by other scientists) cannot be overstated: for millennia the average 'background rate' of (plant, animal and insect) species extinction has been between 1 and 5 a year, right back to the 5th Extinction that took the dinosaurs 65M years ago.
Should biologists declare a new species extinct while the Extinction Gong is active it will receive an update via a 3g link and perform a special ceremony: four strikes in quick succession alongside a text-to-speech utterance of the Latin Name of the species lost, resonating through the gong.
Seen at its front, the Extinction Gong hangs in a large metal frame and bears the stark neo-primitivist image of the Extinction Symbol, the official mark of the Sixth Mass Extinction. Seen from the back however it is a work of engineering, complete with mallet, electro-magnet, audio transducer, embedded computer and 3g downlink. This diametric expresses a brutal and contradicting irony - while advances in science and technology augment the devastating impact of human endeavours over wild habitats, so are they our best means of studying and understanding it.
The Extinction Gong is a 2017 project by Crystelle Vu and Julian Oliver.
The Extinction Gong pictured at The World as Forest
DATA SOURCES
Selecting the period of gong strikes was not trivial, given the extreme variation of estimates as to the rate of extinction within the scientific community. The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, drawing from the expertise of more than 1000 scientists, put it at 24 extinctions a day, whereas more recently the U.N. Convention on Biological Diversity concluded "Every day, up to 150 species are lost" a rate much higher than that of E.O. Wilson's.
Perhaps more confusingly, the official list of extinct and endangered species, the The IUCN Red List, has a widely-criticised lack of completeness, or latency, largely due to the fact they only reevaluate all categories of species every 5 to 10 years, a cycle seen as too slow given the accelerating changes in habitats observed by scientists.
Our decision to select E.O. Wilson's metric was largely due to it being considered a conservative estimation, and so as such the gong may miss a beat or two.
Extinction Gong installed in the Tieranatomisches Theatre, Berlin,
as part of The World as Forest (travelling exhibition, 2018). Photo by Michael
Pfisterer.
Extinction Gong installed in the Tieranatomisches Theatre, Berlin,
as part of The World as Forest (travelling exhibition, 2018). Photo by Anexact
Office.
Extinction Gong detail (right-to-left): circuit with solid-state relay,
12v to 5v DC/DC regulator/converter, Beaglebone Black embedded computer (running
Debian GNU/Linux), USB hub with sound and network adaptors, 12v electromagnet
and permanent magnet attached to mallet, audio transducer and amplifier
AUDIO
A stereo recording of a single strike of the Extinction Gong, recorded on site at CeNak, Hamburg.EXHIBITIONS
PREVIOUS
• Struer//Tracks - Urban Sound Art Festival
23 August 2019 - 7 September 2019
Foyer of the Town Hall
Østergade 11
Struer
Denmark
• Die Welt als Wald #3
19 October 2018 – 14 December 2018
Zentralmagazin Naturwissenschaftlicher Sammlungen (ZNS)
Martin-Luther-Universität
Halle/Wittenberg
Germany
• Die Welt als Wald #2
27 April 2018 – 26 August 2018
Tieranatomisches Theater
Humboldt University of Berlin
Berlin
Germany
• Die Welt als Wald #1
10 November 2017 – 29 March 2018
Centrum für Naturkunde (CeNak)
Hamburg
Germany
TALKS
• "BEHIND THE EXTINCTION GONG", as part of How On Earth? at Tieranatomischen Theater, 28/04/2018:
Artist talk by Crystelle Vu discussing the primary drivers of the current biological collapse, what to do about it, and why that motivated both her and Julian Oliver to make The Extinction Gong.
• Panel on Environment & Art at Manchester International Festival, 20/07/2019
Julian Oliver introduces the Extinction Gong
REFERENCES
Entering the sixth mass extinction - Cebellos, Ehrlich, et alBiological annihilation signaled by vertebrate population losses and declines - Cebellos, Ehrlich, Dirzo
Are we in the midst of the sixth mass extinction? - Wake, Vrendenburg
Why do extinction rates vary so wildly? - Yale/Fred Pierce
Sixth mass extinction of wildlife also threatens global food supplies - Guardian
Earth's sixth mass extinction event under way, scientists warn - Guardian
60% global biodiversity loss due to meat-based diets - WWF
Where have all the insects gone? - Science Mag
More than 75 percent decline over 27 years in total flying insect biomass in protected areas - Hallman, Sorg, Jongejans et al
Link list at Center for Biological Diversity
On the diversity of Life - E.O. Wilson