Introduction
Humanity has had a huge effect on the earth. It has progressed from fire, intensive poaching, and cultivation to rapid climate change, extensive pollution, plastics buildup, species invasions, and major extinctions—changes that have left a permanent imprint on the geological history of the rocks. Nonetheless, the idea for a new geological time period—the Anthropocene Epoch—has sparked controversy far beyond the research world. Today, human-environmental interaction has contributed to many ecological changes that have introduced “terror” in the world system (Ray, 2020). Mindless exploitation of resources is one of the most significant influences on the Anthropocene. Many artists have tried to sensitise people on their role in ecological protection and nature conservation through various pictorial representations. This essay discusses the Anthropocene Sublime through the lens of Edmund Burke’s philosophy and artistic representation to demonstrate how it has adapted to changes in the modern era.
An Overview of the Anthropocene Development
The Anthropocene has developed as a compelling new narrative about humanity’s interaction with nature. The geological time scale is used to separate the Earth’s history into a systematic series of shorter stretches of time. Eons, ages, eras, epochs, and periods, are the names given to these divisions in order of decreasing duration of time (Williston, 2016). The Earth’s layers of rock, or stratum, and the organisms found inside them are used to classify these units. Scientists can tell which creatures are typical of which areas of the geologic record by looking at these fossils. Stratigraphy is the study of this relationship.
The Anthropocene Epoch, is a geologic time unit that refers to the current era seen on the Earth’s history represented by significantly high human interference and negative impacts on the planet’s climate and ecosystems. The present epoch is officially known as the Holocene, and it started 11,700 years ago, following the last big ice age (Williston, 2016). The term Anthropocene is said to be developed by two key individuals; Eugene Stormer and Paul Crutzen in the early 2000. The term is derived from the Greek terms anthropo, meaning “man,” and cene, representing “new” (Williston, 2016). Scientific debates are ongoing on whether the Anthropocene is a separate entity from the Holocene. In fact, the International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS), which identifies and describes epochs, has not formally approved the term (Ray, 2020). Before applying the term Anthropocene, the IUGS must first determine if people have interfered with the natural Earth system to the degree that it is represented in the rock strata.
For those scientists who believe the Anthropocene is a new geological epoch, the next question is when it commenced, which is likewise a widely debated point of contention. It is believed to have begun with the advent of industrialization in the 19th century, when human activity would have a significant impact on the quantities of carbon gas and methane emissions in the air (Williston, 2016). Others argue that the Anthropocene should begin in 1945, as shown by Williston (2016). In that year, humanity performed the very first nuclear test and fired the first nuclear bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The resulting radioactive particles were discovered in soil samples from all across the world.
A search on the history and progression of research on the Anthropocene shows is useful in understanding different eras and human impacts. The Anthropocene Taskforce determined in 2016 that the Anthropocene is distinct from the Holocene and begins in 1950 with the significant increase in human activity that had an effect on the world systems (Williston, 2016). It is obvious how the anthropogenic theory can be severely attacked for a variety of reasons—terminological, philosophical, biological, and political. The word, however, remains significant for one reason: it documents the geological influence of historical and industrial activity on the evolution of the earth system (Williston, 2016). Cultural philosophers, historians, and designers have demonstrated sensitivity to shifts in terminology, such as from geology to “Earth system” or the recasting of a species’ economic and environmental role as a geologic force.
The Philosophy of Edmund Burke
Edmund Burke, writer of “Reflections on the French Revolution”, is well recognized as a great political thinker; yet, it is less often grasped that his philosophical advancement was contingent upon his grasp of philosophy and implementation of it in his social and environmental works and speeches. Unsurprisingly, his writing, “A Philosophical Inquiry into the Development of Our Thoughts of the Sublime and Magnificent” stressed the mind’s work in generating ideas and their influence on behavior (Williston 2016). It was first and foremost a clarification exercise, with the goal of refining the manner in which the arts touch the passions: in other words, it was assumed that a refinement of complicated concepts was a necessary precursor for a change in behavior.
Burke believed that the origins of human activity resided in the passions of inquiry, pleasure, and suffering. Inquisitiveness stimulated the mind’s activity in all areas. Pain and joy were associated with self-preservation and community, respectively, and society entailed the emotions of sympathy, emulation, and ambition. Mimicry tended to create habits, whereas desire tended to bring about change. Sympathy accomplished neither, but it did foster a genuine concern for the welfare of others that stretched to mental connection with them. In contrast to compassion, which was limited to that in a worse circumstance than oneself, sympathy could be extended to everyone (Williston, 2016). This breadth of concern was unmistakably concerned with social order but could also reflect Burke’s views about the theatre.
The passions, as interpreted by Burke, implied simultaneously that society as a whole responded to natural inclinations and contained significance and improvement. Burke then demonstrated how nature and relevant cognates implied the complex concept of the sublime, not the least of which was the concept of a creator, found to be both active and terrifying (Williston, 2016). Notably, beauty encompassed a totally different set of straightforward concepts that rooted in pleasure. Thus, the sublime and beautiful evolved from quite disparate sources.
A Philosophical Enquiry’s different viewpoints were unified by the widespread idea that the natural state of human beings, as it originated from the beginning and was applied without a direct connection to God, was in one way, sufficient to the human condition. Rousseau’s Dialogue on Inequality contradicted Burke’s concept of society as natural, as well as his opinion that solitude, was a source of sorrow, and that sympathy, as opposed to mere compassion, represents a critical emotion (Williston, 2016). Burke’s belief that the mind derived his philosophy of beauty from harmony concepts contrasted Shaftesbury and Hutcheson’s view that beauty (similar to virtue) was a perception supplied by an ethical or rather a sixth moral sense.
Burke’s subsequent perspective that our uncomplicated concepts of pain evolved into a complex concept of a God capable of inspiring terror was diametrically opposed to the deists’ belief that God may be understood solely through the natural attribute of reason and, therefore, was recognized to be compassionate and little else (Ray, 2020). These three viewpoints all assumed that unimproved human faculties, viewed in isolation from God, were adequate to motivate behavior. Burke’s rejection of them is unsurprising.
Not only did Burke believe that nature deserved improvement, but he also acknowledged its ambiguity. For example, ambition was an origin of endeavor and improvement. However, Burke did not believe that the enterprise generated was always beneficial to its proponent, and once referred to it as the source of the greatest sorrow, pain, and misfortunes, and occasionally of dangerous human conduct (Ray 2020). If Burke had a forward-thinking mind and believed that humanity both needed and facilitated development, he opposed the view that advancement was always a net gain: for example, when discussing the civilization of American savages, he saw a decrease in their fortitude as well as a boost to ethical human conduct.
The philosopher Edmund Burke established the crucial relationship between terror and the sublime. This happened two years following the Lisbon earthquake of 1755 and 32 years prior the French Revolutions’ social eruptions (Ray, 2020). Whatever causes or relates to horror, according to Burke, is a source of the sublime, “the strongest emotion that the intellect is capable of feeling” (Ray, 2020, p.36). The sublime is more complex than dread, as it combines terror with ecstasy. Terror, like pain and risk in general, can be enjoyable “when it does not push too near” (Ray, 2020, p.47. From this quote, Burke argued that if terror approaches too closely, delight is eliminated.
The sublime pleasures because its full menace is translated and experienced vicariously through some length in space or time, certain spectatorial security. Despite this, the sublime is not a carnival, nor is it merely a thrill. Because the risks and perils that activate the sublime are “passions that belong to self-preservation” and are the strongest of all the passions, Burke keeps the traditional stresses on awe and elevation (Ray, 2020). Nature’s forces act on us as an irresistible force that demands reverence and awe, according to Burke. The ocean is an object of no small horror as a source of power, catastrophe, and danger.
With a good observation, Burke sums up the ingredients in the mix and their relationships by claiming that the self-preservation passions lead to pain and peril and are painful when their origins directly affect humanity. They are appreciated when people can understand the concepts of sorrow and pain without actually facing those challenges. He concludes from a personal perspective that “I have not called this delight pleasure because it turns on pain and is distinct enough from any idea of positive pleasure (Ray, 2020, p. 49). In summary, Burke was concerned with the “joy” derived from the Anthropocene and its impact on human beings.
The Era of the Romantic Sublime
To comprehend nineteenth-century romantic landscape painting, the aesthetic form of the sublime has been used extensively. It is, in fact, a term used to describe Caspar David Friedrich’s paintings and, more broadly, all that is outside the scope of beauty (Grey Art Gallery, 2021). The sublime is defined by profound intellectual connotations such as the infinite and unlimited, as well as a succession of overwhelming sentiments that they can provoke in individuals who encounter it. Pseudo-Longinus, in the first century AD, was the first to coin the phrase that led to what we now call sublime: the Hypsos (Peri Hypsous).
Such a structure evoked evocative concepts about “the highest” and a level of spiritual “elevation,” a sense similar to “transcendence. Edmund Burke maintained, among many other ideas, that the sublime can be inspired by the succession of elements in space in his Philosophical Investigation into the Source of Human Ideas of the Sublime and Magnificent (Ray, 2020). In the eighteenth century, it was dubbed “the artificial infinite” by Burke. Kant contributed to the sublime a few years later when he declared the existence of two varieties of sublime: one dynamic and the other quantitative.
Sublime Artwork
Environmental art is effective because it combines scientific facts with quite human emotions and responses to bad news, such as grief, fury, and even apathy. Artists who, in particular, adhere to the Anthropocene Sublime heritage use their works as a means of chronicling our time’s climate disasters (Ray, 2020). Landscapes after Ruskin delves into this subject through artworks that confront an increasingly perplexing sense of the sublime. The exhibition, created by artist Joel Sternfeld, features works from the Hall and Hall Art Foundation collections (Grey Art Gallery, 2021). Sixty pieces by 46 artists demonstrate how environmental issues are now depicted in a variety of styles—from naturalism to expressionism, surrealism to figuration (Grey Art Gallery, 2021). Using the Gallery, Anthropogenic impacts can be observed and compared across different historical periods.
In the nineteenth century, humans was believed to be under the sway of nature. It needed to be appeased in order to survive, according to Williston (2016). J. M. W. Turner and other landscape artists portrayed the natural environment as transcendent and magnificent, but also overpowering and, at times, frightening (Grey Art Gallery, 2021). Turner’s greatest defender, John Ruskin—a Victorian art critic and social activist—argued that the primary purpose of an artist should be “truth to nature.” (Grey Art Gallery, 2021). Turner, Ruskin believed, was able to offer an accurate portrayal of the sublime by generating emotions of astonishment and human insignificance by provoking sensations of both elegance and dread (Grey Art Gallery, 2021). Later in life, Ruskin expressed broader concerns about the world, standing against environmental contamination and establishing himself as one of Europe’s foremost environmentalists.
Between the mid – twentieth century and the present day—an age termed the Anthropocene by some scholars—humanity has come to be recognized as a significant geophysical force. Numerous pieces on display here address environmental disasters caused by mankind. Others argue that terrorism is the sublime’s most striking manifestation in the post-industrial era—a new environment riven by ruin and encircled by continual surveillance (Grey Art Gallery, 2021). Landscapes after Ruskin reveals that, even in a society besieged by rapid technical advancements, natural disasters, and heightened fear, it is still possible to encounter unexpected beauty and thereby reinvent our concept of the sublime.
Wanderer above the Sea of Fog
Wanderer above a Sea of Fog (sometimes known to as “Sea of Mist”) is one of the crucial elements for Anthropocene analysis. It shows a lone man, dressed in formal attire and wielding a walking cane, perched on a rocky outcrop and gazing out over an inhospitable landscape (Friederick, 1818). He stands completely still, only his hair disturbed by an unseen breeze, in the midst of a turbulent field churning beneath his feet. The sky is packed with white clouds in the background, and the contour of mountaintops is barely discernible through the mist. As the guy observes the expanse before him, the cosmic consciousness of nature is shown not through a tranquil vista, but through the overwhelming might of natural forces.
Friedrich is known to have conveyed political remarks through his paintings, which were frequently coded subtly. The costume worn by the person was worn by learners and others during Germany’s Liberation Wars; by the time of this painting, the apparel had been prohibited by the new ruling government. By portraying the figure in this clothing on purpose, he made a visible, statement against the current government (Friederick, 1818). However, the political character of this work did not end there; the Nazi dictatorship embraced and misused his work, particularly this painting, as emblems of passionate German nationalism (Friederick, 1818). Friedrich’s paintings were easily reworked to match changing political goals since he eschewed literal representation in favor of purely suggestive messaging. It would take well over three decades, far into the 1980s, for his art to be examined and appreciated free of Nazi taint (Friederick, 1818). This artwork is crucial for the examination of natures’ magnificence in the days past and comparing it to the present conditions.
An Avalanche in the Alps, 1803
De Loutherbourg, who was born in Strasbourg, France, established himself as a prominent landscape painter in Paris. He relocated to London in 1771 and started working as a production and costume designer (De Loutherbourg, 1803). De Loutherbourg’s career as a theatre set designer aided his pursuit of sublime impact. Additionally, he built the ‘Eidophusikon,’ a miniature theatre in which animated landscapes were accompanied by music and sound effects. De Loutherbourg successfully mixes nature and human comic in this scenario (De Loutherbourg, 1803). The image depicts an avalanche approaching toward three individuals and a dog.
De Loutherbourg has captured footage just before they are overcome by nature’s mighty force. Although centuries of British travelers were familiar with the Alps, it was not until the late 18th century that their harsh and enormous attributes were recognized for their Sublime connections (De Loutherbourg, 1803). In his specialty in such scenes, De Loutherbourg (1803) infuses human drama to the avalanche’s astounding advance here by including fearful humans (foreground) who are about to be overwhelmed by nature’s might. This artwork can be taken to imply that as human beings interfere with the environment through destructive activities, their pleasures are cut short by the same Anthropocene they harm.
Comparison between the Past and Present States of the Sublime
Terror and the sublime are synonymous in modern Western aesthetics. The sublime contact with nature, according to classical thinkers and interpreters of the eighteenth century, renders horror lovely, or at least pleasant, through a “negative pleasure” gained in many ways (Ray, 2020). Constructivists of the sublime were clearer than before about the role of fear after the brutality of the mid-twentieth century, yet some descriptions of the negative sensation did not last long after Second World War (Ray, 2020). The perspective and historical nature of the sublime have been elucidated through renewed contemplation on the sublime since 1945 (Williston, 2016). As modernity has progressed, and as the relationships and interactions between people and nature have begun to have an impact on global climate and ecology, the feeling has shifted.
There are many distinct types and degrees of dread, and it appears that different terrors induce diverse sublimes. A new planetary environment of fear is forming today, in Anthropocene. Ray (2020) explores the emerging context of terror today, and asks how this context may be shaping new aesthetic experiences of terror and the sublime in the frame of reference of socially driven climatic change disarray, toxification, and eradicationi. Nature has ceased to be natural and now seasons are no longer predictable. As we grow more aware of our increasingly damaged planet, we notice how the human-built, technical, and medial worlds that surround us are gradually blending with what was once referred to as the “natural environment.” With anthropogenic climate change, no region on Earth is immune to human interference.
Impacts of Artwork Responses
As evidenced by the Landscapes after Ruskin art compilation, many people have had an opportunity to evaluate the impact of their activities on the Anthropocene. By comparing past and current views, people have started considering environmental protection and initiating healthy practices to limit environmental degradation (Williston, 2016). The paintings by Friederick and De Loutherbourg have also attracted positive responses from various stakeholders regarding the Anthropocene’s adaptation to the modern world. These responses can lead to global movements advocating for environmental conservation.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the Anthropocene has become a crucial topic of discussion in the current environmental negotiations. Human activities have a significant impact on the environment by determining the various interactions with nature and their implications on human life and sustainability. As shown in this essay, Edmund Burke, showed that people’s pleasure may be derived from a humanistic interaction which seeks to maintain nature’s magnificence. The Anthropocene has changed significantly because, today, terror has become inseparable with the sublime.
Reference List
Friederick C. (1818) Wanderer above a Sea of Fog. [Oil on canvas] Collection of Kunsthalle Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany. Web.
Grey Art Gallery. 2021. Landscapes after Ruskin: Redefining the Sublime – Grey Art Gallery. [Online] Web.
De Loutherbourg, P.J. (1803). An Avalanche in the Alps. [Oil on canvas] London, Tate Gallery. Web.
Ray, G. (2020) ‘Terror and the sublime in the so-called Anthropocene’, Liminalities: A Journal of Performance Studies, 16(2), pp. 2-15
Williston, B. (2016) ‘The Sublime Anthropocene’, Environmental Philosophy, 13(2), pp. 155 – 174.