On October 1, 2022, multimedia artist Jeffrey Gibson debuted the sweeping exhibition “This Burning World” at ICA SF. The provocative show examines our complex relationship to mother earth through a poetic video shot in the Hudson Valley as well as through multisensory installations—openings in the gallery floor allow for an intimate connection to the Earth itself. In one room, a Red Maple tree hangs majestically and vulnerably in front of neon imagery. Throughout the show, videos of nature’s awe-inspiring beauty are magnified and digitally altered, revealing both the innocence of the natural world and our profound influence on it.
“Indigenous kinship philosophies have provided the conceptual and philosophical framework for this installation. These perspectives acknowledge the elements of our natural environments as our equal ancestors, living relatives, and as extensions of our own minds and bodies,” said Gibson. “When we damage or treat the land without regard for its own sustainable well-being, we are in turn hurting and damaging ourselves and disregarding our own well-being, safety, and health.”
