The work instructs visitors to see, hear, and feel the world anew by noticing the nonhuman and nonliving at the level of elements. “We tend to overlook the role of elements within our relations to our world,” explains the curatorial team of faculty from NYU Abu Dhabi. “Classical elements, such as air, earth, and water, connect us with each other and with nonhumans, such as animals and plants. So too do chemical elements, such as aluminum, iron, oxygen, and silicon, which we tend to overlook.”

The work in the exhibition examines specific matters that become visible to many of us in dazzling sunsets but is caused by human activity, notably the burning of fossil fuels for electricity and global trade. Another work examines how mangrove trees have adapted to global warming, by increasing the amount of salt they remove from the water of the Persian/Arabian Gulf to survive while also removing carbon dioxide from the air, so that other mammals, including humans can survive.

For more information please check the press release here.