David Aston

FURTHER DETAILS

Darwin published the Origin of Species in 1859. Written at a time when humanity was fascinated by the past and the origin of all species, it introduced us to the concept (although not the word) of evolution by means of natural selection. Fast forward less than 200 years to today and the conversation has changed. In today’s age of the Anthropocene and Artificial Intelligence, the focus has shifted from past to future; from the origin to the future prospects of our increasingly man-made planet, our own species, and all other species that occupy this pale blue dot.

Future is an original 2nd edition of Darwin’s The Descent of Man in John Murray binding, identical in format to the first edition of Origin of Species. The book has been embossed with new front and back plates, so that when it is displayed spine up it becomes a triptych depicting the transition from the Origin of Species to the Future of Species, via The Descent of Man.

The book is presented spine up to focus our attention on the diachronic transition and mindset shift that has occurred in the last 200 years, from the origin to the future of species, and the central role that man has played in this transition in the age of the Anthopocene. This Anthropogenic point is underlined in the sub title, which on Darwin’s Origin reads “By means of natural selection” and updated on Future to read “By man made means”.

The first edition of Future has no text and so asks us individually to imagine and write the transition from our origin to our many potential futures. To consider the many man-made scientific, technological, environmental and social developments since the 1850s, and how the learnings from these developments can inform our role in shaping the future. The future of the planet, the future of species diversity, and the future of humans in the context of Artificial Intelligence.