We Are the Asteroid

We Are the Asteroid is a large-scale installation in public space. On display is a three-dimensionally looking asteroid in a cuboid scaffolding construction.

The basis of We Are the Asteroid is an analogy between the activities of humans on Earth and an asteroid impact 66 million years ago. Along with other species, this led to the disappearance of the dinosaurs and thus to the fifth mass extinction.

Humans have been responsible for the extinction of animal species for thousands of years. Today, a massive acceleration of this destructive process can be observed and the threat of the sixth mass extinction looms.

The decline of wild animals caused by humans contrasts with an unimaginable number of industrially farmed animals. Two areas that are closely linked:
The expansion of agricultural land is one of the main drivers of the biodiversity crisis globally. Grazing land and the cultivation of animal feed account for the majority of these areas.
As meat and milk production are very inefficient compared to plant-based food production, an end to animal livestock farming would free up three quarters of all agricultural land as potential habitats for wildlife.

We Are the Asteroid denounces this double lack of solidarity between humans and non-human animals. The artistic intervention encourages us to question the future viability of industrial livestock farming and to think about restoring the land that can be reclaimed from it.