“I will survive” explores ways of narrativizing humanity’s engagement with Earth’s materiality through the lens of ecological anxiety. More specifically, it addresses the relationship between the extraction of minerals, such as copper, and their use in devices like our smartphones. The intimate relationships we have with such devices, prevent us from considering the exploitative and problematic conditions under which minerals are extracted and distributed. Thus, these devices become symbolic of the exploitation of both workers and natural resources, and of the resulting resource depletion that occurs under a system that fundamentally thrives on the conversion of natural resources into capital.

Produced as part of the Installation Art & Digital Practices course led by Peter Eramian, at the University of Nicosia.

Polymnia Tsinti (b. 1993) works in between audiovisual and installation art. Her research focuses on the intersection between artificiality and materiality through the lens of ecological anxiety. She is affiliated with the publisher and music label Crossdressing Diogenes and its imprint digital magazine “becoming”. She is also part of the “Art & Design Research Lab” of the University of Nicosia, which is currently being put together by Dr Niki Sioki and Dr Evanthia Tselika.