One year ago, or so, when we agreed to participate in Extraction: Art on the Edge of the Abyss, the world already felt a little apocalyptic and this type of artist intervention had been in effect for decades (or more). Extraction is a hopeful cross-borders global movement that seeks to provoke societal change through art. In this multi-venue, multimedia movement, the focus is upon “exposing and interrogating the negative social and environmental consequences of industrialized natural resource extraction”. Some of us are now, rolling our eyes, or taking a deep sigh, because we were in grade school learning about the over-consumption of the world’s natural resources and the finite timeline of operating at those levels. Because this is what artists do, time and again, we are using art - if not a catalyst for change - as a way to talk to each other and to introduce a dialogue that may not be comfortable, but is necessary, and we have to meet each other where we are at.

Retraction: A Human Edit is where we are at. These artists have investigated the current state of the world as it sits now, and whether it is contemplative or foreboding, it is not didactic. Our species’ actions and the understanding of our planet, historically, demands a retraction of old beliefs, old solutions, old patterns of behavior and editing what no longer works. A deep-dive into finger-pointing morality, however, is far from productive. Come, talk to someone different from yourself. Step outside of self.