Stasis

The Anthropocene Project. An Encyclopedia

Stasis. In medicine, the congestion of a bodily fluid, in the ancient world the description of a civil war. In science fiction literature, of course, time freezes, Sleeping Beauty’s slumber. Until the prince comes, or the bomb explodes. Until then nothing changes, only the hero flies through time and space… Let’s face it, Heros are rare. How much of the earth’s surface is involved with producing the same instead? Big Macs, MacBooks, Barbies, Billys, Bibles? The mobilization of resources to produce equality is immense. Economy works best if calculable, reliable, stable, so that law and order apply and production flows. A discourse of rigidity, when nature naturally mixes up everything and shows every particle is in constant change: Nature is a language, can’t you read? And in the discourse of the Anthropocene? Some see a mud, constantly changing and bearing everything with it. Rich in nutrients, sticky, dirty, unbelievably formless and overwhelming. Somewhere between the elements and other states, a primal mud of recent vintage.