In 1970 ‘Earth Day’ was established by a generation of people who were aware of the delicacy of the balance of nature and the effects of pollution on the environment. Under the shadow of the Vietnam War, (Catch 22, [J Heller, novel published ’51 – Film ’70]), the feminist movement, de colonialisation of Africa, protest and civil disobedience grew. Many of the protests were against the increasing industrialised pollution, petrol polluting transportation, growing cities, urban spread, dehumanised industrial farming systems, rapid disappearance of rain forests, and the rise in armaments industries of the ‘cold war’.

But when the iconic and enduring image of a small beautiful blue Earth rising over the Moon’s grey desolate horizon was observed and photographed (by heroic astronauts Frank Borman, Jim Lovell and William Anders) from the US spacecraft Apollo 11, millions of people realised how tiny and fragile our planet was within the immense blackness of space. This image of ‘Earth’ quickly became the lasting symbol for ‘Earth Day’ – a movement supported over the decades by ecologists, scientists, politicians, pacifists, humanists… ‘Earthday’ continues to remind us that no matter how vocal and active people are – the same ecological problems which threatened the planet in the 1960s still persist.

Is the latest Covid-19 epidemic a bleak reminder of how nature responds when it’s under attack or is it the result of an imbalance in the nature which suits us as humans but which has in turn created the condition which triggers the evolution of a living organism that could supersede human beings?
Is this our ‘dinosaur moment’?

In our ‘social distancing’ behind the large pink gates of AND eventSpace we are considering the next move. Moving on from several discussions, exhibitions and investigations on geo-environmental, architectural and social issues we’ve held over the past few years AND eventSpace remains open for creative intervention…
‘Earth Day’ is a synchromatic hook upon which we can hang our hat.