“As artists we need to take a stand against the ongoing erasure of species, even where there is little chance of ultimate success. It is our privilege and our duty to be at the forefront of the struggle. While humanity has moved through extreme crises in the past, time and speed is of the essence.” \–Gustav Metzger

–Gustav Metzger

The 2014 Serpentine Marathon included artists, writers, scientists, film-makers, choreographers, theorists and musicians, who presented on the topic of Extinction.
On the weekend of 18–19 October 2014 – during the Frieze Art Fair – Serpentine Galleries presented the Extinction Marathon, the ninth in the Galleries’ yearly Marathon series. Artists, writers, scientists, film-makers, choreographers, theorists and musicians explored the complex and timely topic of extinction through talks, conversations, performances and screenings. Felt across the humanities and the sciences alike, the spectre of extinction looms over the ways in which we understand our being in the world today: environmental degradation, atomic weapons, threats to communities and languages, global warming, economic collapses, natural catastrophes, life wiped out by genocide, disease and hunger – the constellation of topics around extinction is ever-expansive and as urgent now as ever before.

Both a reflexive overview and a call to action, the two-day event invited us to respond, together, to a changing world, addressing visions of the future in all their scientific, artistic and literary ramifications. The Extinction Marathon was programmed in collaboration with artist Gustav Metzger, whose work – including his Serpentine Gallery exhibition Decades 1959–2009 – addresses extinction and climate change.

Participants include artist and poet Etel Adnan; artist Maria Thereza Alves; artist Korakrit Arunanondchai; artist Ed Atkins; conservationist Jonathan Baillie; architect Alessandro Bava; writer and media activist Franco ‘Bifo’ Berardi; designer Irma Boom; Founder of The Whole Earth Catalogue and Co-Founder of The Long Now Foundation, Stewart Brand; artist James Bridle; EDGE Foundation founder John Brockman; philosopher Federico Campagna; artist Heman Chong; artist Yve Laris Cohen; model and actress Lily Cole; philosopher Helena Cronin; artist Jesse Darling; artist Benedict Drew; artist and poet Jimmie Durham; mathematician Marcus du Sautoy; palaeontologist Richard Fortey; agriculturalist and biodiversity archivist Cary Fowler; artists Gilbert & George; cultural critic and queer theorist Jack Halberstam; artist Susan Hiller; artist and designer Marguerite Humeau; choreographer Mette Ingvartsen; environmental social scientist Jennifer Jacquet; biologist and author Steve Jones; Royal Navy Rear Admiral Nick Lambert; speculative designer Lisa Ma; biologist Georgina Mace; physicist Chiara Marletto; filmmaker  Sandy McLeod; artist and activist Gustav Metzger; artist Katja Novitskova; artist Trevor Paglen; artist Cornelia Parker; artist Hetain Patel; anthropologist Elizabeth Povinelli; evolutionary ornithologist Richard Prum; design writer Alice Rawsthorn; astrophysicist Martin Rees; Professor of Operational Research Jonathan Rosenhead; artist Jeremy Shaw; artist Shimabuku; filmmaker Eyal Sivan; writer Adam Thirlwell; environmental lawyer James Thornton; musician and sound recordist Chris Watson, artist Cerith Wyn Evans and artist Anna Zett, as well as contributions by artist and writer Sophia Al-Maria; sociologist Zygmunt Bauman; artist Paul Chan; filmmaker Adam Curtis; artist Tacita Dean; artist Olafur Eliasson; artist Anna Galkina; writer William Gibson; author Daniel Kehlmann; poet Joanne Kyger; concrete poet Franz Mon; artist Yoko Ono; artist and poet Heather Phillipson; filmmaker Laura Poitras and designer David Rudnick.

The event is live-streamed by thespace.org, which partners with Serpentine for the Extinction Marathon in 2014. The Space hosts two new digital commissions by Gustav Metzger and Ed Atkins in addition to the online platform EXTINCT.LY, which gathers data about global resource depletion, conflict zones and climate change scenarios as well as artists’ projects and activists’ calls to action, including works by Kari Altmann; Kevin Bewersdorf; David Blandy; Benjamin Bratton; Femke Herregraven; Italian Limes; Emily Jones; Maurizio Lazzarato; Lisa Ma; Alex Mackin Dolan; Timothy Morton; Julian Oliver; Tobias Revell; UBERMORGEN; Michael Wang; Liam Young and Anna Zett.

Stage design by
Heather Phillipson

Programme design and Extinction identity by
David Rudnick
Raf Rennie

Additional posters, statements and programme texts by
Maria Thereza Alves, AXOLOTL
Zygmunt Bauman, conversation excerpts in the Extinction Marathon programme
Tacita Dean
Olafur Eliasson
Anna Galkina
Joanne Kyger, ‘Post Extinction’
Franz Mon, Wortbilder

Extinction Marathon: Visions of the Future is curated by Hans Ulrich Obrist, Co-Director, Exhibitions and Programmes and Director of International Projects; artist Gustav Metzger; Jochen Volz, Head of Programmes; Lucia Pietroiusti, Curator, Public Programmes; Ben Vickers, Curator of Digital and Claude Adjil, Assistant Curator.

Curatorial Assistants: Sarah Shattock, Joseph Constable, Bridie Hindle, Lizzie Homersham and Owen Lacey.

Video of the presentation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Qblup9qx5U

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