AND WHEN YOU LOOK CLOSELY  

Ongoing 2022- dato 
Annabelle
Greenpeace
DER GREIF feature

Too many things have happened
that weren’t supposed to happen,
and what was supposed to come about
has not (...)
Again, and as ever,
as may be seen above,
the most pressing questions
are naïve ones (...)
                            - Wisława Szymborska
                               T he Century’s Decline

Since time immemorial, coasts have not only marked the boundary between water and land. The intertwining of two completely different ecosystems has given rise to a special diversity of geological structures, flora and fauna. Coastal areas have also developed their own cultural spaces, characterized by socially contrasting population groups and ways of life, such as fishing, tourism, seafaring, beach promenades and luxury villas. In the context of recent cultural and economic developments, however, these intermediate spaces are also characterized by overfishing, mass tourism, overexploitation of resources and greed for profit. In these areas, naturally interlocking ecosystems with a particularly difficult diversity of flora and fauna have developed. It is precisely in such places that the effects of external changes become apparent earlier: plant varieties disappear, animal species die out, organisms and sediments absorb materials that are difficult to decompose, storms become more violent and more frequent, sea levels rise. By the end of this century, almost half of all beaches will have disappeared. 
Nevertheless, such destruction is often not visible at first glance: We continue to romanticize these places according to our ingrained ideals of supposed recreational paradises where we want to chill out on the beach and eat fresh fish. But if you take a closer look, the consequences of the developments of recent decades are already becoming clear: these dream beaches would hardly exist without artificial filling and the laborious collection of washed-up garbage. The fresh fish is often contaminated with microplastics and heavy metals.