Journey through the Alps, 2017
The Swiss Alps are the loci of many romanticised notions of the sublime, of natural beauty and of pastoral paradise. However the mundane reality of taking an all day train through the Alpine mountain range that joins Switzerland and Austria reveals scenes far from a bucolic fantasy. Beside the train tracks are placed highways, factories and even nuclear power plants. On my journey through the Alps I recorded the scenes I saw and which I found more interesting and perhaps in a way more beautiful than untouched mountain vistas, as they revealed the endeavor and also the fragility of human enterprise against the majesty of nature. The footage shows how humans have attempted to colonise and subdue even unfavourable environments in order to submit to our needs. If this is the reality of the Alps then perhaps the notion of the wild or the pure no longer exists. We are slowly strangulating the planet with our activity. Our exploits are toxic. But when you are the problem how do you fix it? I could only watch the scenes as they passed past my eyes, powerless to change the situation, a passive observer.
The Swiss Alps are the loci of many romanticised notions of the sublime, of natural beauty and of pastoral paradise. However the mundane reality of taking an all day train through the Alpine mountain range that joins Switzerland and Austria reveals scenes far from a bucolic fantasy. Beside the train tracks are placed highways, factories and even nuclear power plants. On my journey through the Alps I recorded the scenes I saw and which I found more interesting and perhaps in a way more beautiful than untouched mountain vistas, as they revealed the endeavor and also the fragility of human enterprise against the majesty of nature. The footage shows how humans have attempted to colonise and subdue even unfavourable environments in order to submit to our needs. If this is the reality of the Alps then perhaps the notion of the wild or the pure no longer exists. We are slowly strangulating the planet with our activity. Our exploits are toxic. But when you are the problem how do you fix it? I could only watch the scenes as they passed past my eyes, powerless to change the situation, a passive observer.