Gordon Monro — Frozen Accidents

Something happened; something else could have happened. The something that did happen leaves permanent traces; it is a frozen accident.

Take a small island, and remove all life from it. The island will be re-colonised, but by different species from those there before.

Take the Earth, and subject it to a shock, a large meteor impact or a massive outpouring of carbon dioxide from volcanoes. Many species go extinct; new ones arise. The shock leaves permanent traces.

Take the Universe, and change the fundamental constants that govern it. The universe becomes a very different place. The theory of the multiverse holds that there are many universes with randomly different fundamental constants; our particular universe is an accident, an accident that has allowed us to come into existence.

Return to that infinitesimal speck, the Earth, and subject it to a shock, a swarm of intelligent apes who transport plants and animals thousands of kilometres from their homes and who alter the chemistry of the air and the oceans. Many species go extinct. Millions of years later, when all of our buildings, highways, pesticides and plastic bags have collapsed to a tissue-paper-thin geological stratum, life on earth is quite different from what it was before. Our legacy is a frozen accident.

Frozen Accidents was “grown” in four layers by a computer program written by the artist. Each layer was influenced by the preceding layer.

Digital print, 100 x 300 cm (H x W). Edition of 3, 2014.

Frozen Accidents is related to the print Limits to Growth, which was made by a similar process.