Micro-Landscapes of the Anthropocene

Microcosmos

Microcosmos (1996) is a french film I saw when I was very young, and have remained intensely interested since. It has stunning cinematography, a majestic soundtrack, no dialogue (, and is entirely on youtube!). It presents the insect world in a brand new, and for most, unseen level and scale - usually unnoticeable tiny creatures are presented as grand screen-filling creatures. I feel the significance of all the worlds is a little lost in translation and a large part of that stems from scale and exposure. In presenting this usually hidden world, Jacques Perrin is flipping our perceived significance of the insect world on it's head!

This feels especially pertinent in this day and age given the absolutely critical role insects play in every single ecosystem of which they are a part (all of them), and that scientifically speaking, they are suffering in what is being generally accepted as a mass extinction at present.

We will not be able to take back the millions of years worth of damage we are doing right now, when finally one day we realise the gravity of these consequences.

In the meantime, Microcosmos is fun, interesting, enlightening, and makes me reconsider the way I think about all insects.

Carrington, D. (2017) Earth's sixth mass extinction underway, scientists warn: The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/jul/10/earths-sixth-mass-extinction-event-already-underway-scientists-warn
 
Ceballos, G., Egrlich, P. R., Dirzo, R. (2017) Biological annihilation via the ongoing sixth mass extinction signaled by vertebrate population losses and declines: PNAS. 114 (30). 

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