Untooling: Carbon Flux, Shanghai 2024

How to inhale when there is nearly no translation, but enough airy space for unknown non-human encounters? Roaming between pak choi in eco villages enmeshed in Dao practices, floating in electric cars which were morphing into carbon certificates, sensing weather apparatuses disclosing their data, traversing textile factories and getting disorientated by artificial reed performing as blue carbon – did we circulate in and around Shanghai and breathing together inside the planetary carbon flux?
 
knowbotiq
 
 
There are so many things I don’t know! The universe is simply too wondrous!
 
WEI Xiaoying, mentor of the Daoist eco-village in Hangzhou

I perceive CO2 as an eternal silent observer, omnipresent in various manifestations and impacts in this time-space. Yet, to be considered a silenced agency means to overlay the constraints of human consciousness upon it and to deny the forms and effects it embodies and flows through the myriad of existence. What we hear is not the laughter or tears of CO2; [we hear] the projections of our individual and collective consciousness, intertwined with narrative [subjects]. CO2 has always remained inherently silent. Its usefulness, or lack thereof, its benefits and detriments, its mirth or wailing—all are interpretations of [the interpreters] from various positions. However, to serve the interests of the ‘narrative subject,’ we [the interpreters] have resorted the interpretations to overpowering means, rendering CO2’s mere existence in mainstream discourse impossible. During this process, there are too many voices. The complexity of the voices, as well as the complexity of the humans, necessitates diverse external methods [to identify the truth]. But they generates more voices.
 
Joy, a former practitioner in the field of climate change
 
 
Carbon dioxide is a living being, born from the breath of combustion and the respiration of carbon-based life. It wanders through the atmosphere, captured by plants, breaking down into sugar and oxygen under the presence of daylight, or merges and dissolves into the sea, where it acidifies the blue water and becomes the skeleton and shell of algae, plankton and coral. In either scenario, it remains silent, sinking to the bottom of the sea or embedding itself into the earth’s crust, sealed away for thousands, perhaps millions of years, until tectonic plates shift, the volcanoes erupt, or bipedal automation machines extract and dig for fossil fuels, cut down the forest, as if they need to keep the energy busy as it [was imagined] needed. Then, the CO2 is liberated, once again, singing and crying as its [warbles and] tears warm the entire planet, before resuming its wandering journey, once again.
 
Stanley Qiufan Chen, sci-fi writer

Carbon is important to me because it is always entangled with ethical tension and awkwardness amidst the advanced development of technology, cultural awareness, environmental consumption, and sustainability. It ticks in the multi-temporalities and plural cadences. It flickers at the alchemy of material transformation and, sadly, sometimes flows at the liquidity of financial products. It is invisible and yet so visible. More importantly, it is within me, softly determines my survival, although I am incorporated in this decision-making process, too. Carbon quantification seems to be important when new technology, political manoeuvers, and apocalyptic fears emerge. However, measurement without caution is merely a tool that only tells part of the story of the overall impact. To me, when carbon neutralises with the matters that truly matter—such as care, compassion, love, empathy, justice, and diversity— it finds its profound meaning in solidarity.
 
BI Xin, creates exhibitions and can hold her breath for 91 seconds
 
 
Carbon has an impressive versatility in forming compounds as it can form robust covalent bonds with other carbon atoms and a variety of other elements. This versatility is the basis for the vast number of organic compounds in living organisms and synthetic materials. Carbon is also the foundation of all organic molecules. As a carbon-based life form, my physiology and intelligence are originated from and limited by this. The most important thing about carbon for me right now is to break free from the inherent limitations of carbon-based life properties by ‘burning’ myself into sparks that ignite the singularity explosion of silicon-based life forms.
 
It [matter/meaning] becomes solidarity than ever at the beginning of human observational behavior and the end of the decaying of matter.
 
WANG Zi, a guy who is trying to bring artist’s obsession to his business brand operation, yet still not successful

I’m quite interested in this question. However, due to my age and my way of thinking, I find it difficult to engage in some wild imaginary. Carbon may impact our genes and affect the biodiversity of the entire planet in the future. We might be able to restore some species through carbon research. There may even be some innovations in species and some innovations in evolution, which I think could be considered as part of the ‘carbon imaginary’.
 
Anonymous, a learned and worldly idealist

First of all, carbon rotations (or carbon cycles) refer to the exchange of carbon elements in the biosphere, lithosphere, hydrosphere, and atmosphere on Earth, which flow continuously with the movement of the Earth. So, we seem to realize that, across the entire Earth, whether in the form of free carbon elements (diamonds, graphite, etc.), solid carbon compounds (primarily carbonates of calcium, magnesium, and other electropositive elements), or in the form of CO2, the amount of carbon remains a stable effective constant. In a typical carbon cycle, we can see that: green plants on Earth obtain carbon dioxide from the air, convert it into glucose through photosynthesis, further synthesize it into carbon compounds in plant bodies; through the food chains, these compounds transform to carbon compounds in animal bodies. The respiration of plants and animals converts some of the carbon ingested into carbon dioxide and releases it into the atmosphere, while the rest becomes part of the organism or is stored within the bodies. After plants and animals die, the carbon in their remains, through the decomposition action of microorganisms, also becomes carbon dioxide and is ultimately released into the atmosphere.
 
Such a flow of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere takes about 20 years to complete one cycle. For a normal human life, 20 years is already a considerable time scale, but for a carbon atom, the 20 years may only mean a displacement from the airspace over the eastern hemisphere to that over the western hemisphere. Its nucleus and electrons remain unchanged from 20 years ago. There are countless such cycles on the planet Earth, with carbon atoms constantly moving every moment, following the program set by the Creator and fulfilling their missions over a vast time scale. Compared to this, human existence seems to lose its meaning, just a random occurrence, existing for more than a million years, but on the timeline of the universe, it’s just a grain of sand in the ocean; humans, as a complex aggregation of carbon organic matter, are also composed of basic particles, and are still very insignificant in front of nature, existing for a few decades, and will disappear; then carbon atoms and other atoms will continue to cycle, recombine, and usher in new life, grow, disappear, and repeat. Facing such facts, there is inevitably some sense of loss in the soul. Facing the unknown universe and the relatively little exploration of the world by humans, we cannot even understand the significance of human existence itself; seeing such exquisite design of carbon cycles, which allows this planet to run smoothly in the vast universe, I deeply feel a profound sense of powerlessness and loss, because humans are still ignorant about this world. Facing the infinite mysteries of the universe, the existence of the self is just a fleeting moment, and the truly vast and wonderful thing is the universe itself.
 
The science fiction Death for Truth by writer LIU Cixin tells such a story: at the moment when the largest particle accelerator in the world – the Einstein Equator is about to start to explore the Unified Model of the Universe, the Universe’s Disaster Preventers appeared and evaporated the Einstein Equator, telling the scientists that the proof of the Unified Model would bring about the destruction of the universe, attempting to stop humans from continuing to explore. So the scientists came up with a win-win solution, which was for the Disaster Preventers to tell them the ultimate secret of the universe, and then destroy them. The Disaster Preventers agreed, and they created a Truth Altar in the desert, where scientists obtained the truth they desired, and then were destroyed. Scientists rushed forward to obtain the truth, becoming martyrs who ascended to the altar. ‘Revering the stars above, but indifferent to morality in the heart.’ Perhaps this is precisely due to human’s nature of curiosity and sublime. In the end of the novel, the last scientist ascended the altar, and he asked only one question: what is the purpose of the universe? Unexpectedly, the Truth Altar did not provide an answer, and the Disaster Preventers stood there at a loss. Even though they possessed the most core Unified Model of the universe, they still could not answer this question of the ages. So returning to the question, the feeling brought to me by the carbon cycle is its exquisite natural design, which makes me marvel at the insignificance of humanity and the profundity of the universe, while also bringing a deep sense of loss because we the universe and its purpose are ungraspable. Even so, humans continue to strive to explore the mysteries of this world, and generations after generations are tirelessly working. After hundreds of years or even millions of years, can we discover part of the truth about this universe? Can we get the answer we want? Does the universe have its purpose?
 
Chaofan Wan, juggling micro-nano materials for energy storage and self-healing tech, all while chasing that M.S. in Inorganic Chemistry

For me, the way to hear, feel and touch carbon is associated with specific places, human relationships, and personal experiences of survival. I was born and grew up in a heavily polluted rural area. Carbon, in my views, represents a struggle between survival and development. It is present in the bodies of my loved ones who still live in the village, as well as in the black river that cannot be prompted. For those who live in the villages, substituting the natural environment for economic development is one of the few ways to survive. However, what kind of choices are available for the people who cannot leave the overlooked countryside to live, beyond the battle just between ‘survival and development’?
 
XU Binghuang, curator
 
 
Carbon responds in its abundant physical forms (that are used by us, harming us, complicit with us).
 
WANG Zi, a guy who is trying to bring artist’s obsession to his business brand operation, yet still not successful

The carbon cycle is the core of the material and energy cycles in the Earth’s system, and is the link between the Earth’s biosphere and atmosphere. Carbon flux is natural respiration, which may flow from soil to vegetation, or from vegetation to the atmosphere. Sometimes, carbon flux is sequestered and no longer flowing, such as becoming a towering tree. There are significant differences in carbon flux between different processes. Infrared spectroscopy technology can achieve continuous observation of CO2 and its carbon isotope concentrations, combined with vorticity covariance and atmospheric flux gradient observation methods and technologies, or combined with box flux and soil flux gradient observation methods and technologies, respectively, to achieve long-term continuous observation of CO2 and its carbon isotope fluxes at the vegetation atmosphere interface and soil atmosphere interface.
 
Anonymous, a carbon-based man with silica-based thoughts

Through national policies and corporate conceptual campaigns, environmental concerns regarding carbon have shifted from the abstract concept of climate change to a more tangible reality. While it takes approximately 100 years for the average global temperature to increase by one degree, the stock funds in the green energy industry can fluctuate drastically within a single day. Truly achieving ‘carbon offset’ may seem like a never-ending endeavour. Take reforestation, such a common environmental project, as an example, the emissions resulting from the energy inputs during the lengthy growth period of trees due to the variable ecological conditions may go beyond the [offset the intended carbon reserves], and uncertainties such as natural disasters can hinder the realisation of desired outcomes. Human existence is but a fleeting moment in time, and we may be overestimating our own impact on the environment in our pursuit of creating a so-called ‘livable’ environment. Throughout its history, Earth has experienced numerous extinctions, yet life is still going on. Even if the human race were to become extinct, the Earth likely possesses the inherent capacity to heal itself. However, at that point, there would be no ‘human-ones’ remaining to address the carbon problem.
 
CAO Daxu, an exhibition space planner only has 2 GB free space in his laptop drive

I have a 20-year history of tinnitus, and my hearing begins to decline between 2000-4000 Hz, indicating mild to moderate hearing impairment. Several years ago, I experienced sudden deafness in my left ear. Alongside the loss of hearing above 250 Hz, I also suffered a significant deterioration in my sense of balance and direction. Prior to this event, I had not realised that I could have had these two different perceptions. While the symptoms of sudden deafness have subsided, the tinnitus persists, manifesting a high-frequency tone above 2000 Hz. I am particularly aware of it in quiet environments, sometimes using it as a gauge of ambient noise level. In fact, areas where one might expect tranquility, like the mountains or forests away from urban are not so silent, various species contribute to an abundant of sounds – from birds, bugs, and small animals to the rustle of leaves and the whisper of the wind – hearing by ears, absorbing through skin, and circulating within brain and body. Bamboo forests, in contrast, are notably quieter, with fewer avian and insect calls, even in summer. Due to my work, I frequently visit a village in Qingpu, Shanghai, surrounded by fields and farmlands. Distinguishing the sounds of the countryside solely by ear proves challenging. Nearby shipping lanes and motorways often drown out the chirping of insects and the croaking of frogs, which are already diminished in volume.
 
Anonymous, er ming ya ba wang（耳鸣鸭霸王）
 
 
To develop practical carbon listening skills, we must fully understand the carbon cycle and think about issues from the perspective of global climate change. We must use a carbon-based heart to listen to the organic world and resonate with it.
 
Carbon deafness is only due to your lack of attentiveness in listening to the world, especially the lack of care for the diverse organisms composed of carbon. We can never listen to carbon deafness, just as we cannot see carbon blindness.
 
Anonymous, a carbon-based man with silica-based thoughts

I don’t know how to comprehend this question. I have always believed that carbon is a neutral existence/being, a consistent subject that is presented in different forms. You can be both the beginning of the problem and its solution simultaneously. When people realise that carbon itself is an objective reality, a being that transcends the logic of dualism – much like life and death are entangled and merely laws of necessity, there is no need to take action upon it in a pretentious manner. I believe that carbon is simply ‘being’. What you think and do [towards our contributions to carbon fluxes] in the moment is what it is. Our self-righteous solutions to the carbon fluxes are merely our own solutions (and even those are only temporary), but in the larger ecological context, carbon will have another definition [which transcends human understanding]. The validity of our movement is limited, and there is no need to enhance it further. As mentioned in the question, sometimes, we need to move over, and sometimes, we need to get out of the way, what we could do is just go with the flow. This path may take the form of an arc, a parabola, a spiral 🌀, or a chain 🧬?
 
Joy, former practitioner in the field of climate change

Here (the Daoist eco-village in Hangzhou) is an ecological and pollution-free village, formed by a group of kind-minded, nature-loving individuals dedicated to learning and preserving traditional Chinese culture. Our lifestyle here is self-sufficient; we produce everything needed for daily use and ensure that all our products are eco-friendly. Our ethos revolves around protecting our Earth Mother. Here, the materialistic desire is kept to a minimum. Residents relish in a back-to-nature existence, harmonising with the sky, earth, and fields. We deeply value the harmony between man and nature as well as observance of the laws of nature.
 
We learn from nature, seeking wisdom in its ways of living. Much like bees, we aim for harmony and symbiosis, sharing the tasks and collaborating towards common goals. Similarly, our way of existence is designed to harmonise with the environment, ensuring that our actions do not harm the ecology and striving to enhance the ecological balance within our village to make it healthier and more sustainable.
 
Here is different from there. People here care about our living environment. We live a lifestyle in harmony with nature and slow down our pace of life. Here, the concept of commuting for work is nonexistent; we voluntarily share tasks and responsibilities. Here, decisions are made collectively. We become a family, frosting a sense of familial unity that allows us to support each other and transcend blood relations. Here, people take what they need and contribute to the collective well-being. Together, we cultivate life in the eco-village.
 
I believe that eco-villages or eco-communities have been established in many places globally. Countries like Japan, Germany, Thailand, Africa, India, and others have seen the establishment of such communities. We are all united in our efforts to protect the environment. I do not have direct connections with such communities, but I believe there exists a shared motivation driving us towards a common goal to establish a low-carbon lifestyle.
 
Liang, an eco-farmer and a Gen-Y, returned to his hometown and has dedicated over nine years to the field of eco-farming

If dreams reflect the human subconscious and project the material world from various perspectives, what kind of substance must we feed our dreams to weave such narratives? What actions are we willing to take to harness the irrational creativity of dreams? (Consider the energy consumption of AI…) The contents of dreams consist of the intentions generated by our actions (karma). To transcend these experiences, does it entail extricating carbon imagination from our daily lives, thereby discovering our carbon myths, our carbon fables?
 
Dreaming constitutes the initial step, followed by information gathering and interpretation, which is dream analysis. I find myself envisioning as a carbon dream interpreter, transitioning from processing spiritual atoms to enacting carbon consummation… However, I must first achieve a minor goal – I’m trying to manifest and utilise my mobile phone in my lucid dreams. Despite dreaming almost daily, my mobile phone, a vital external organ, surprisingly never materialises in my dreams.
 
Anonymous, er ming ya ba wang（耳鸣鸭霸王）
 
 
For me, it is very difficult to talk about ‘carbon entanglement’ without giving close attention to the place-based, context-dependent, visceral, bodily, messy, vernacular, and local experiences. I have been doing research on a place called Fushun. It is a coal mining and heavy industrial city in northeast China which has the largest open-cast coal mine in Asia; it is also Asia’s first fossil fuel-related heavy industrial cluster. After more than a century-long extraction, Fushun suffers from numerous ecological problems that range from geological subsidence to water pollution.
 
As a researcher and image-maker, I was first drawn to the mining site because of the subliminal entanglement between geo-force, technology and human labor/human body. Mining registers as a technologically mediated force that is able to shape the viewer’s experience and cultivate an embodied proximity to geological matter. Such a ‘geo-intimacy’ informs both the labor conditions of filmmaking and the underlying geo-power indispensable in building China’s industrial modernity entwined with colonialism and imperialism. As I walked in the landscape with a camera, I felt a deep intimacy with the mountains and waters which have been radically altered by industries. The film I am currently editing brings together oral history, ethnography, local mythology, and media theory. I foreground the subterranean mine as a site of eventful mediation that produces geologic experience as a cinematic experience. This mediational view further connects the mine with the movie theater through the technique of breathing. My film also includes two major renewable energy infrastructure projects: a waste-to-energy incinerator and a hydropower station. As I talked to the female workers there, I also learned about the local mythologies of earth goddesses. The mountains and the waters they work on are intimately connected to the local myths. I was very touched by the conversations, personal encounters and mythic stories. My field research convinced me to include geo-intimacy and social-ecological entanglement in my work. I think to talking about any eco-related topics without understanding would be quite empty.
 
In this film, I also engaged with the dreamscape to create a blurred state between reality and fiction. One of the key reasons is actually censorship. The environment is a sensitive topic in China. I can’t make a film to utter a direct and critical voice about the eco-disasters caused by mining and petrochemical industry in China. Hence, I opt to use a woman’s dreamy voice to lead my journey in and out of major energy infrastructures. The Dream is a rhetorical device that creates a para-reality and also a pragmatic way to dodge censorship.
 
Mia Yu, Beijing-based researcher, curator and filmmaker

According to my understanding of carbon imagination, it has various forms such as scientific experiments, literary works, and artistic imaginations through which people express and formulate ideal strategies for a more harmonious carbon cycle utilizations when encountering the current irrational/excessive use of carbon resources. In my opinion, this is certainly helpful, as both literary works and artistic imaginations reflect people’s explorations of carbon resource utilization methods.
 
A common logic for problem-solving is: identifying the problem, proposing a solution, and implementing the solution. This logic is evident in the above three forms. Scientific experiments rely on this common logic, which will not be further elaborated here. Literary works entail identifying problems. Through analysis of the current situation, either directly or indirectly, this is bound to trigger some readers or social reflections, perhaps planting a seed in people’s minds. Artistic imaginations are more like scientific experiments because they not only explore the current situations and propose some imaginative thoughts, but also provide some sort of answers that may more or less promote and enlighten social development or consciousness. Like an expanding flat circle, a small breakthrough and contemplation may not bring much at once, but over time, small steps can lead to significant changes on a macro level.
 
Therefore, people should dare to innovate boldly, but at the same time, adhere to objective laws (such as the conservation of energy, and the non-existence of perpetual motion machines). For the development of the whole society, whether in terms of technology or ideology, it can bring many subtle and imperceptible benefits.
 
Chaofan Wan, juggling micro-nano materials for energy storage and self-healing tech, all while chasing that M.S. in Inorganic Chemistry

During the research trip, a question was often asked and crossed my mind: To what extent could various carbon reduction and carbon sequestration experiments or theories alleviate today’s greenhouse effect? Similar type of questions are common in art lectures or discussions. I think they reflect a kind of inertia. We are accustomed to understanding (knowing) those speculative discussions and practices that are seemingly disconnected to reality through familiar knowledge structures, such as supply-demand relationships, zero-sum games, and human-nature binary perspectives. If we jump out of this inertia and rethink today’s carbon rotations and greenhouse effect, we will find that they are heterogeneous complexities constituted by plural entities, spheres and temporalities that can not be grasped by simple binary relationships.
 
I think not-knowing/not-anymore-knowing is such a process of breaking away from the thinking inertia and re-examining knowledge or forms of knowledge, dismantling the history and latent power dynamics of a certain knowledge paradigm. This is certainly not something new. As for the forms of not-knowing/not-anymore-knowing, I believe that the answer still lies in the above rethink on carbon rotations and the greenhouse effect that requires pluralizing imaginations to sense today’s carbon imaginary and ecological reality.
 
CAO Jiamin, an art worker powered by bubble tea… and O2

Currently, I can only recount the carbon story in an educational and popular science format. I haven’t considered other methods. For instance, when communicating with children, I would leverage animated videos to discuss various scientific aspects. With adults, I might delve into more comprehensive discussions with case data, even integrating economic-related narratives into the discussion.
 
Anonymous, a learned and worldly idealist

My ‘dirtiness’ may arise from the incautiously improper disposal of waste, from extensive travelling, and from all the direct or indirect over-the-top daily activities that sustain my biological, cultural, and social life. In this scenario, my ‘dirtiness’ muddies the air. While I’m not proud of it, I don’t want to turn a blind eye to my ‘dirtiness’, and I try to learn and adopt eco-friendly habits to cleanse it.
 
My ‘dirtiness’ can also manifest as the rejection and abandonment of the immaculate conception of technological or cultural products that are entwined with ideologies implicitly endorsing coal power and the burning of fossil fuels. I’m not shy to let my muddy rustles rouse the supporters who hold their pure misconception that development and progress can occur with sacrificing the welfare and survival of other species in the process. In this scenario, I hope, my ‘dirtiness’ can swirl through the air.
 
BI Xin, creates exhibitions and can hold her breath for 91 seconds