The Big Here and the Long Now History for Sustainability Libby Robin [email protected] Fenner School of Environment and Society Australian National.

The Big Hereand

the Long Now

History for Sustainability

Libby [email protected]

Fenner School of Environment and SocietyAustralian National University/

Centre for Historical Research, National Museum of Australia

Image: Julie Kennett Table of the Long Now

The global imagination

‘Only One Earth’ View of Apollo 11 Space Mission

16 July 1969

The global imagination

Since 1969…• Information Technology revolution

• The end of equilibrium

• the Great Acceleration

Clock (above) and Orrery (below) of the Long Now

http://www.longnow.org/

Millennium Clock

The Millennium Clock Tower is over ten-metres tall, constructed in wood, metal and glass, containing fragments of the story of the millennium, with its disasters, tragedies and its human, scientific and artistic achievements. It is displayed at the Royal Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh in the shared space between the old museum and the new National Museum of Scotland.

Clock makersEDUARD BERSUDSKYTIM STEADANNICA SANDSTRÖMJŰRGEN TŰRBBECKETATIANA JAKOVSKAYMAGGY LENERT

Julie Kennett, Artist’s Statement, 2007

Rather than rigidly fixing the

boards of the table to each

other, they are held together

(and apart) by wooden butterfly

joints that allow the individual

planks to move independently as

they expand and shrink over

time. The joints are not glued,

but rather held in place with the

use of a lashing or binding

system that… (offers) flexibility

and sympathy to the wood

material…

Julie Kennett, Artist’s Statement, 2007

Lashes like these, working with butterfly joints ‘allow the wood to maintain its innate qualities and move with the natural forces working upon it’