This paper revises the conceptual problems of preserving nature, focusing on the geological heritage. The stratigraphic configuration of planet Earth is a historical source which is increasingly endangered by contemporary hyper-urbanization and other negative impacts of the Anthropocene. The geological substance suffers human-made erosions and intoxications. The different temporalities of geological “deep time” and contemporary time of civilization clash extremely. Thus, it seems to make sense to preserve the geological memory of the world.
Yet, any heritagization of nature is contradictory, because nature is in a permanent and independent process of evolution and does not require any human intervention. Nature may even persist, when the dominating species on Earth, the human being, no longer exits.
Aware of these contradictions, this paper revises the successful UNESCO initiative for preserving outstanding geo-sites, the Global Geoparks program. Three key issues will be revised, asking what precisely our discipline, art history / visual studies (Bildwissenschaft), may contribute to these conceptual debates on geo-preservation.
First, a critical revision of the historical models, such as the US National Parks, where in many cases, the Native American population was expelled and exterminated in order to create a “clean” image of preserved mountain-scapes, which then were codified as a colonial American value of “freedom”. Other historical examples of geo-preservation will be analyzed with the intention to understand the contemporary model of the UNESCO Geopark, which clearly includes social and cultural parameters (for example: the training of unemployed dwellers of these sites as eco guides, and the promotion of local arts and crafts).
Second, a conceptual review of how art historical methodology and knowledge production determines geo-preservation may show the relation with the geological expertise, which is basic for the UNESCO Geopark program. Revising the conceptual concordances of the early, mid-19th geology and art history, it may become clear how the knowledge transfer between these two disciplines work. Especially the use of early photography for documentation geological and artistic values is essential for geo-preservation. Innovative methods at that time, such as the photogéologie (Pierre-Joseph Civiale) prove the synergies of visual and scientific research for the heritagizations of mountains. In detail, this paper will analyze how images catalyze knowledge production for geo-preservation.
Third, geo-preservation generates eco-tourism, but every human act to expose nature, and make it accessible to the visitors, is also an act of destruction, because the authentic stone substance suffers the interference of tourists’ infrastructure, such as highways, access roads, parking lots, and hotels, which leave a considerable ecological footprint. Some concrete examples of international Geoparks may illustrate this conceptual problem, which is a topic of critical eco-aesthetic research.
The paper concludes with considerations on geo-preservation in times of environmental crisis, and what art history / Visual Studies (Bildwissenschaft) can contribute to a critical, inter, and even transdisciplinary discourse on environmental ethics, in the sense of Donna Haraways postulate of „response-ability“.
Key words: geo-preservation, geo-aesthetics, Anthropocene, heritagization of nature, aesthetic theory of nature, photography
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Peter Krieger, Ph. D., Research Professor, Instituto de Investigaciones Estéticas, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México.
2004 to 2012 Vice president of the Committee of Art History (CIHA).
2016 Aby Warburg professorship at the Warburg Haus / Hamburg University, Germany.
2017 Visiting Professor at the Universities of Tübingen and Regensburg, Germany
His research and publications encompass the aesthetics, ecology and political iconography of cities and landscapes in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.
Institutional page: https://www.esteticas.unam.mx/peter_krieger
This paper revises the conceptual problems of preserving the geological heritage which, especially in the Global South, is increasingly endangered by contemporary hyper-urbanization. Analyzing the UNESCO Global Geoparks program, I shall explain how art history / Bildwissenschaft may contribute to these complex debates on “heritagization” of nature, fostering a critical interdisciplinary discourse on environmental aesthetics and ethics. My analysis first presents a critical revision of the historical models of preserving wilderness, second, a conceptual review of how art historical methodology determines geo-preservation since the mid-19th century, and third, considers the positive as well as destructive impact of contemporary Geopark tourism.