Infographics for the Anthropocene


How do ideas about the nature of the universe, from supernatural explanations to data-driven evidence, inform our understanding of the environmental crises in the Anthropocene?
 
Inspired by the notebooks of Leonardo DaVinci, Suzette Marie Martin combines 21st century environmental science graphics and research with historical illustrations and texts in a visual exploration of the evolution of humanist approaches to knowledge, from theological speculations on the nature of the universe to early scientific methodologies grounded in observed and measurable data. Passages from Genesis evoke an ancient story of banishment from a garden paradise, and act as an allegory of consequences for industrialized humanity’s cumulative, destructive behaviors.

Work developed as Artist in Residence, Kinney Center for Interdisciplinary Renaissance Studies, College of Humanities and Fine Arts, University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Mixed wet and dry media on cotton canvas and paper, sizes variable. 2023.
Tipping Points, 2022-23 Acrylic paint, graphite and colored pencils, walnut ink, pastel on cotton canvas. 34 x 53 inches.
Tipping Points, 2022-23 Acrylic paint, graphite and colored pencils, walnut ink, pastel on cotton canvas. 34 x 53 inches.
The Sacred Theory of the Earth, 2022-23 Acrylic paint, graphite and colored pencils, walnut ink, ink marker on cotton canvas. 34 x 53 inches.
The Sacred Theory of the Earth, 2022-23 Acrylic paint, graphite and colored pencils, walnut ink, ink marker on cotton canvas. 34 x 53 inches.
Installation view: The Sacred Theory of the Earth at "Apocalypse: Science & Myth", Kinney Center for Interdisciplinary Renaissance Studies, University of Massachusetts, Amherst
Installation view: The Sacred Theory of the Earth at "Apocalypse: Science & Myth", Kinney Center for Interdisciplinary Renaissance Studies, University of Massachusetts, Amherst
Detail: Tipping Points, 2022-23 Acrylic paint, graphite and colored pencils, walnut ink, pastel on cotton canvas. 34 x 53 inches.
Detail: Tipping Points, 2022-23 Acrylic paint, graphite and colored pencils, walnut ink, pastel on cotton canvas. 34 x 53 inches.
Detail: The Sacred Theory of the Earth, 2022-23 Acrylic paint, graphite and colored pencils, walnut ink, ink marker on cotton canvas. 34 x 53 inches.
Detail: The Sacred Theory of the Earth, 2022-23 Acrylic paint, graphite and colored pencils, walnut ink, ink marker on cotton canvas. 34 x 53 inches.
Paradoxa Hydrostatica, 2023. 
Walnut ink, ink marker, colored and graphite pencil on Rives BFK paper. 22 x 30 inches.
Paradoxa Hydrostatica, 2023. 
Walnut ink, ink marker, colored and graphite pencil on Rives BFK paper. 22 x 30 inches.
Detail: Paradoxa Hydrostatica, 2023. 
Walnut ink, ink marker, colored and graphite pencil on Rives BFK paper. 22 x 30 inches.
Detail: Paradoxa Hydrostatica, 2023. 
Walnut ink, ink marker, colored and graphite pencil on Rives BFK paper. 22 x 30 inches.
Detail: Cherubim of the Flaming Sword, 2023. 
Walnut ink, gold acrylic paint, colored, charcoal and graphite pencils on Rives BFK paper coated with gesso. 
22 x 30 inches.
Detail: Cherubim of the Flaming Sword, 2023. 
Walnut ink, gold acrylic paint, colored, charcoal and graphite pencils on Rives BFK paper coated with gesso. 
22 x 30 inches.
Notes
As a nod to academic research protocol, attributions are included in standard footnote format within many of the images as design elements. Full attributions for each work below.
Tipping Points, Suzette Marie Martin, 2022-23
Boulenger, Jean. Traité de la sphère du monde. France, Chez Jean Jombert, 1688.
Bible. Latin. Vulgate, Genesis 3: 22-24. Venice, 1495
Reassessment of climate tipping points, Supplementary Materials for Science, Vol. 377, No 6611, 2022. “Exceeding Global Warming Could trigger Multiple Climate tipping Points”, Mckay et al.
Chart: “Nine Planetary Boundaries for Biosphere Integrity”, Designed by Azote for Stockholm Resilience Centre, based on analysis in Wang-Erlandsson et al 2022. 
Chart: “A schematic illustration of possible future pathways of the climate against the background of the typical glacial–interglacial cycles”. Trajectories of the Earth System in the Anthropocene, Will Steffan et al, Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, Vol. 115, No. 33, 2018.

The Sacred Theory of the Earth, Suzette Marie Martin, 2022-23
Thomas Burnet, The Theory of the Earth: Containing an Account of the Original of the Earth, and of all the General Changes Which it hath already Undergone, or is to Undergo, Till the Consummation of all Things. London,1684.
Pierre de Sainte Marie Magdeleine, Traite D’Horlogiographie, Paris, 1691
Boulenger, Jean. Traité de la sphère du monde. France, Chez Jean Jombert, 1688.
IPCC, 2021: Summary for Policymakers. In: Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis. WGI AR6, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK and New York, NY, USA. doi:10.1017/9781009157896.
Chart: Fig. S10. The interaction between the biosphere integrity planetary boundary and other planetary boundaries. science.www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/science.1259855/DC1
Chart: GHG concentration stabilization level, IPCC 2007, AR4, WG3, SPM, Figure SPM 8.
Chart: Hannah Ritchie, Max Roser and Pablo Rosado (2020) - "CO₂ and Greenhouse Gas Emissions". Retrieved from: 'https://ourworldindata.org/co2-and-greenhouse-gas-emissions' [Online Resource]

Paradoxa Hydrostatica, Suzette Marie Martin, 2023
Robert Boyle, Paradoxa hydrostatica novis experimentis (maximam partem physicis ac facilibus) evicta, Geneva, 1677.
IPCC 2021: Summary for Policymakers. In: Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis. WGI AR6, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK and New York, NY, USA. doi:10.1017/9781009157896
Center for Sustainable Systems, University of Michigan. 2022. “Greenhouse Gases Factsheet.” Pub No. CSS05-21.
Bible. Latin. Vulgate, Venice, 1495. Genesis 3:1-24.

Cherubim of the Flaming Sword, Suzette Marie Martin, 2023​​​​​​​
Thomas Heywood, The Hierarchie of the Blessed Angells, London, 1634
IPCC, 2021: Summary for Policymakers. In: Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis. WGI AR6, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK and New York, NY, USA. doi:10.1017/9781009157896
Boulenger, Jean. Traité de la sphère du monde. France, Chez Jean Jombert, 1688.
Bible. Latin. Vulgate, Genesis 3:22. Venice, 1495.
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