JUNCTIONS21: SUNBURN
Sina Hensel & Rosa Whiteley

Themes

Sunscreens are no longer just applied to our skins, but also to the skins of mountains, clouds or trees. As we struggle to control shifting climates and our ability to adapt to them, sunscreening has grown in size, through solar geoengineering, to encompass the planet. Skins in different bodies — cells, species, ecologies, territories and technologies — often change colour in a reaction to UV light. Chemical »alarms« in cells trigger inflammation and metabolic mechanisms produce protective pigments. Leaves flash red, algae secrete pink, whilst humans smear shades of white. As climate related stress amplifies, colours strain to perform resistance. These colours act as both a defence and a signal for the intensity of the sun; bearing the impressions of the weather-world. ›SUNBURN‹ by Sina Hensel & Rosa Whiteley explores the spaces between colourful feral ecologies, and synthetic post-human skins; uncovering methods of living in a hotter, sunscorched earth.