This project constitutes an artistic interpretation of the moment we are living, and the reaction that the planet has to human actions due to the inappropriate use of its own resources. Man throughout his history has been a witness, perpetrator and victim of the progressive degradation of the environment and the depletion of natural resources. Their anti-environmental behavior is due to the desire for profit, both individual and social, and the lack of knowledge of their relationship with nature. According to the scientific community we are in a new Anthropocene geological era, characterized by human behavior on earth. These totally aggressive and violent actions, in which more than a thousand species per year disappear, is something worse, the Necrocene: the era in which human beings produce death massively...

…what if the current pandemic was Gaia's Revenge?

Gaia Theory was developed by James Lovelock and Lynn Margulis in the 1960s.  Gaia is a metaphor for the living Earth. The Greek goddess from whom the name comes.

From the inert or physical point of view (what is it?) it is the thin spherical layer of land and water that exists between the incandescent interior of the planet and the upper atmosphere that surrounds it.

From a biological point of view (who is it?) it is the interactive fabric of living organisms that have inhabited it for more than four billion years. The combination of that What and that Who, and how one continuously affects the other, is mother earth, Gaia.

Unbridled consumerism, a certain degradation of social norms, on the exploitation of human resources, and the environment continue to play against it.  The Earth, and its components mutate, adapt. There are enough signs that show that humans, and all living beings, are one more element that makes up this living organism. The coronavirus could be understood as the result of the behavior of a technocratic world, which has generated environmental problems for a long time such as the Greenhouse Effect, Global Climate Warming, Deterioration of the Ozone Layer, to name a few. During the strict quarantine in 2020 there was a sharp decline in pollution levels globally. The first values were seen in China, the United States and Italy when strict isolation began there with drops of between 20% and 30% in Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2) emissions in the air.

Nitrogen Oxides (NO2) are generated by the exhaust pipes of motor vehicles, in the combustion process of coal, oil or natural gas, and in industrial treatments (arc welding, electroplating, metal engraving and dynamite detonation). ). They are also commercially produced by reacting nitric acid with metals or cellulose and are used in industrial production (nitric acid, lacquers, dyes, and other chemicals). Nitrogen oxides are also used in rocket fuels, in the nitrification of organic chemicals, and in the manufacture of explosives.

In urban centers hit hard by the coronavirus, such as Madrid, Milan, Rome, Paris, a decrease of between 40% and 60% of this contaminant concentration was recorded. In Argentina, using maps created by the GeoPortal of Web Services of the National Commission for Space Activities (CONAE), the averages were analyzed three weeks prior to and three weeks after March 20, 2020. The results were surprising in cities such as Buenos Aires, Córdoba , Rosario, Mendoza and San Miguel de Tucumán. Daily observations from the Sentinel-5p satellite show that Nitrogen Dioxide in the atmosphere of urban centers was significantly reduced after mandatory isolation, up to 5 and 6 times lower. We do not have specific data for Salta Capital in 2020, but we understand that it had the same behavior, and that today in 2022 the levels are equal to or higher than at the time of mandatory isolation.

While we were in strict quarantine, the water in Venice was crystal clear. Deer were seen in Nara, Japan. Boars running through different cities in Italy, Spain, Israel. Ducks in the Fontana Di Trevi. Mountain Goats in Wales. Newly hatched turtles have been seen on beaches in Thailand. In Argentina, swamp deer were seen in Zarate and Campana, capybaras in Necochea, penguins in Miramar. In Santiago del Estero, the rescue and reintegration of wild fauna tripled. Birds, foxes, weasels and cougars were rescued. While we human beings locked ourselves in, the animals took over the cities.

For some, this lockdown turned out to be a mandatory spiritual retreat that led to introspection and analysis of what was happening and which in turn entailed a gigantic emotional roller coaster. The oppression generated by the exterior is very great. It is a feeling, it happens to most of us who live in big cities, sharing a public space that should be for leisure and recreation with the parties became a limited space, insecure, where it was difficult to share when there was no closeness to the other. We have developed new structures of thought and actions to deal with the relationship between us. These established systems, generated by us, and forced to control our behavior, have generated different types of phobias and even OCD that we had never experienced before.  We are learning to live with distance, not only physical, but also emotional, disconnected!

The only window that allows us to see and share with other human beings is a monitor. We have created autonomous artificial intelligence, resolving conflicts and algorithms for us. We interact with “bots”, we can do the “e-shopping” while we are in our pajamas and we hide our “corona-phobia” with a relaxed, luminous and perfect facial filter.

<<<<< System error, we must reformulate everything >>>>>

Higanbana Army is an organized military force that fights and defends the world of Gaia. Each warrior symbolizes a sign of the zodiac, with masks and the representation of the flower of  higanbana. They wear the same uniform and the same "Noh" mask that symbolizes a creature  supernatural, with 3 eyes and two mouths. They are standing with a defiant and confrontational posture. The two mouths allow rapid and continuous communication on the same frequency. The Higanbana flower, also known as "The Red Spider Lilies", is a brilliant summer flower native to Asia and is associated with final farewells. The red spider lily is said to guide the dead through samsara, the cycle of rebirth.

They are among us stalking us, watching us and letting us know everything we are doing wrong. They develop projects and programs that they use as tools to analyze the commitment we have with mother earth. This leads to making visible the slogan of the army, adding faithful and soldiers who proclaim to protect Gaia.

Taking as a scientific and research reference the information provided by the GeoPortal of Web Services of the National Commission for Space Activities (CONAE), of Argentina, Higanbana Army presents: "Status of the situation: Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2) contamination levels in different urban conglomerates. Today is Salta Capital”

Santiago Estellano

Buenos Aires, February 2022

REF: https://www.argentina.gob.ar/noticias/baja-la-contaminacion-atmosferica-en-grandes-ciudades-de-la-argentina