NICK BRANDT

INHERIT THE DUST 塵土繼承

an exhibition at Blue Lotus Gallery

13 March - 22 April 2020

On October 27, 2012 Nick Brandt  photographed Qumquat, one of the best known matriarchs in the elephant population around Kenya’s Amboseli National Park, walking with two daughters, their young and other kin. One day later, the old female and nearly all of the other elephants in this group were found slaughtered. Their faces had been hacked off by the poachers to be sure they gleaned every ounce of ivory from the tusks.

More than 100,000 elephants have been poached for their tusks in the last decade. Various species of rhinos are declared extinct and the few remaining have to be protected around the clock by armed park rangers.

If we continue at this pace, we risk that within the next 20 years wild elephants, lions, giraffes and rhinos will no longer roam the vast wilderness of Africa. This wondrous rich planet we once knew will be depleted and empty, if we continue at this pace. Our future generations will inherit little more than dust.

Hong Kong is still the world’s major hub in wildlife and ivory trade. Wildlife often is consumed as deluxe delicacies, grounded into medicines or carved into luxury objects. 

“If you take photographs, make the photographs useful.” Ansel Adams once said. Nick Brandt wanted to do exactly that after seeing the ongoing destruction while collaborating on a music video for Michael Jackson, ‘Earth Song’, in Tanzania in 1995. 

Nick Brandt’s spectacular body of work ‘Inherit the Dust’ was photographed 2014-2015. The series consists of unreleased portraits of animals, taken over prior years, printed life-size and glued to large panels. These panels were then placed in within a world of explosive urban development, locations where animals such as these used to roam but, as a result of human impact, no longer do. In all but a few of the final photographs, the animals within the panels are effectively invisible to the people going about their lives. The animals have been reduced to ghosts in these violated landscapes. 

The damnation of animal life, the debasement of human life, the destructive conjugality between the two: It is not just the animals who are the victims of environmental devastation, but also the humans inhabiting these landscape. Humanity’s experience and consciousness whilst on Earth is vastly deprived by our increased separation to the natural world and its creatures. One cannot exist without the other; together they prosper and together they fall.

And the damage is not limited to the humans sharing wildlife habitat. Currently many innocent people in China and across the world are being infected and are dying by novel viruses stemming from this cruel and needless trade. As per SCMP 29 Jan: “China has to choose between the narrow interests of wildlife businesses and the national interest of public health. It cannot allow a minority of wildlife traders and exotic food lovers to hijack the public interest of the entire nation.”

2012年10月27日，Nick Brandt 在肯亞的安博塞利國家公園，拍攝了大象種群中最著名的女族長之一：Quumquat，當時她帶著兩個女兒及其他年幼的同類一同散步。一日後，Quumquat 和族內幾乎所有其他大象都被屠殺。牠們的臉全被偷獵者砍掉，以確保能夠從而收集每一盎司的象牙。在過去十年內，經已有超過十萬頭大象的象牙被盜獵；多種犀牛宣布絕種，剩餘的數種犀牛必須由武裝的公園護林員全天候保護。如果我們繼續以這種速度推進，於未來二十年內，我們將冒著失去所有野生大象、獅子、長頸鹿和犀牛於非洲廣闊燎原內漫遊的風險。如果我們繼續以這種速度推進……這顆我們曾經熟悉的、奇妙的富饒星球將被耗盡和虛掉。我們的後代將只會繼承一片塵土。

而香港仍然是全球野生動物和象牙貿易的主要樞紐。野生動物經常被當作美食佳餚享用、被磨成藥材或被雕刻成奢侈品。

當 Nick Brandt 於1995年在坦桑尼亞為米高·積遜（Michael Jackson）創作《Earth Song》的音樂錄像時，看到當地生態受到持續破壞，令他想起了著名攝影師安瑟‧亞當斯（Ansel Adams）曾經說過的格言：「如果你拍攝照片，請確保這些照片有其助益。」

這促使了 Nick Brandt 於2014－2015年創作出驚豔的作品系列《塵土繼承》，當中包含了他於數年前拍攝而從未曝光的動物肖像，並印刷成一比一尺寸在巨型畫板上，再將這些畫板放置回已被城市發展吞噬的原有動物棲息地之上。在同一片土地，這些美麗的生物曾經自由自在地漫遊著，卻因人類的影響，導致這一切已去不復返。 除了系列中最後拍攝的數張照片，幾乎所有其他照片內，印在巨型畫板上的動物早已從真實生活中消失。在被持續破壞的生態環境下，這些動物早已淪為亡魂。

動物生命被毀滅，人類生存環境被惡化，兩者之間存在破壞性的聯結：不僅是動物成為環境破壞下的受害者，居住於同一星球下的人類亦無法倖免於難。隨著人類與自然世界及其生物之間的距離愈見遙遠，人類對於保護地球的意識亦日漸退卻。不論大自然生態抑或人類，兩者都無法獨善其身，是為唇亡齒寒、甘苦與共的存在。

上述的生態破壞，不只影響到共享野生動物棲息地的人類。目前為止，中國和世界各地許多無辜的人們，都正被殘酷且不必要的野生動物交易當中帶來的新型病毒所感染，並且導致死亡。引述《南華早報》（SCMP）於1月29日的說法：「中國必須於野生動物貿易的的狭隘利益與公共衛生的國家利益之間作出選擇，不能允許少數的野生動物商人和野味食品愛好者騎劫整個國家的公共利益。」

INHERIT THE DUST

This was the inspiration behind Nick Brandt’s spectacular body of work. ‘Inherit the dust’. 

No effort was spared by Nick Brandt to express the dire state of our environment in relation to its beautiful wildlife. The making of ‘Inherit the dust’ started in 2014 and took over a year to complete. The artist carefully sought out locations where once animals roamed, now replaced by toxic dumping grounds and concrete jungles. In these selected locations he installed.

Nick Brandt’s spectacular body of work ‘Inherit the Dust’ was photographed 2014-2015. The series consists of unreleased portraits of animals, taken over prior years, printed life-size and glued to large panels. These panels were then placed in within a world of explosive urban development,  locations where animals such as these used to roam but, as a result of human impact, no longer do. 

In all but a few of the final photographs, the animals within the panels are effectively invisible to the people going about their lives. The animals have been reduced to ghosts in these blasted landscapes. 

The damnation of animal life, the debasement of human life, the destructive conjugality between the two: It is not just the animals who are the victims of environmental devastation, but also the humans now inhabiting these landscapes.

As per Kathryn Bigelow, Film Director, The Hurt Locker; ‘‘The wasted lands in Inherit The Dust were once golden savannah, sprinkled with acacia trees, where elephants, big cats and rhinos roamed.  These now dystopian landscapes - as Nick Brandt’s unvarnished, harrowing but stunning work reveals - brings us face to face with a crisis, both social and environmental, demanding the renewal of humanity itself.’

Nick Brandt shot everything on film. Every large scale panorama consists of a series of analog medium format of 6 x 7 cm negatives, scanned and stitched together with editing programs.

The exhibition marks a debut for Nick Brandt in Hong Kong. His works have never been shown here before. 

這是 Nick Brandt 驚豔的作品系列《塵土繼承》背後的靈感：

Nick Brandt 不遺餘力地展示出與野生動物生存環境相關的可怕狀況。《塵土繼承》的製作始於2014年，歷時一年多的拍攝，包含了他於數年前拍攝而從未曝光的動物肖像，並印刷成一比一尺寸在巨型畫板上，再將這些畫板放置回已被有毒的垃圾場和水泥叢林所吞噬的原有動物棲息地之上。在同一片土地，這些美麗的生物曾經自由自在地漫遊著，卻因人類的影響，導致這一切已去不復返。 除了系列中最後拍攝的數張照片，幾乎所有其他照片內，印在巨型畫板上的動物早已從真實生活中消失。在被持續破壞的生態環境下，這些動物早已淪為亡魂。

動物生命被毀滅，人類生存環境被惡化，兩者之間存在破壞性的聯結：不僅是動物成為環境破壞下的受害者，居住於同一星球下的人類亦無法倖免於難。

根據《拆彈雄心》（The Hurt Locker）電影導演Kathryn Bigelow的說法：
「《塵土繼承》中展示那些被浪費的土地，曾是金黃色的大草原，遍佈了閃爍光芒的相思樹，那裡曾經有大象、大型貓科動物和犀牛在漫步其間。在Nick Brandt的鏡頭下，這些樸實、令人心痛同時驚嘆的作品，揭示出一系列反烏托邦景觀，帶領我們面對社會與環境危機，重新審思生態保育的重要性。」

Nick Brandt 以底片拍攝所有作品。每張大型全景圖均由一系列中片幅6x7厘米底片分別拍下，並通過數碼掃描和後製編輯程序進行拼接而成。

本展覽將成為 Nick Brandt 於香港的首次亮相。他的作品從未在香港曝光過。

If you wish to receive Nick Brandt’s e-catalogue with more information in regards to available prints and prices, please submit the form here below and we will revert real soon.