Micro-Landscapes of the Anthropocene Main Menu Marginal Worlds Plant Worlds Animal Worlds Amy Huang, Natasha Stavreski and Rose Rzepa Watery Worlds Insect Worlds Bird-Atmosphere Worlds Contributed by Gemma and Merah Extinctions Marginal Worlds Sam, Zach and Alex E-Concepts An emergent vocabulary of eco-concepts for the late Anthropocene

Hyperobjects

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The hyperobject was proposed by Timothy Morton in his 2013 book Hyperobjects: Philosophy and Ecology After the End of the World. The concept is intrinsically linked to what Morton refers to as the "ecological crisis", and has emerged in an endeavour to classify enormous non-human entities that are beyond human comprehension and thus demand reconceptualisation. Hyperobjects cannot be localised to any one place, as they rebel against normal interactions with time and space. Their enormity is not mere physical size, but rather a reflection of their great impact, and thus events such as climate change therefore accrue the status of hyperobject. 

See this article by Alex Blasdel about Timothy Morton's proposals (2017) 'A Reckoning for our Species': the Philosopher Prophet of the Anthropocene

And Heide Estes' chapter in Anglo Saxon Literary Landscapes (2017) Objects and Hyperobjects

Wolf Volcano
When I think of objects that are too large to grasp, I think of volcanoes. They are big, certainly, but it is the scope of their impact that truly makes me feel small. They have shaped the air we breath, flavoured the soil which feeds us, and moulded the very foundations of our earth. In this image, however, I am not drawn to the hyberobject but the bird that floats above it. I want to see as it sees, feel as it feels. Perhaps I will be able to see the volcano more clearly through its eyes. 

The Butterflies 
In his book Tales From the Inner City, Shaun Tan has produced a series of fictional hyperobjects. He alters the size and habits of animals to force the human reader to reclassify them. In this image the multitude of butterflies overshadows the multitude of human beings, both in numbers and in vivid colour. 

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