From our Forefathers: Climate Crisis In Chemistry History

Aislinn Pentecost-Farren introduces participants to a selection of discoveries behind iconic 20th century inventions. She re-narrates the Science History Institute’s permanent collection to reveal the start of the climate crisis within advances in modern chemistry. From a nylon stocking to a lightbulb, Pentecost-Farren illuminates our understanding of climate catastrophe by unearthing its origins. 

Aislinn Pentecost-Farren is an artist and public historian. She reframes museum collections, historic buildings, and overlooked landscapes as starting points for sculpture, writing, and public interventions. Her practice infiltrates existing systems of cultural reproduction to reveal new narratives within established histories and explore hindsight, responsibility, and time.