“The Shitthropocene" at the Figge Art Museum -- February 16.
Sunday, February 16, 3 p.m.
Figge Art Museum, 225 West Second Street, Davenport IA
With the event hosted by Augustana College's Sierra Club and featuring reflection speakers in a sustainability lifestyle panel, The Shitthropocene serves as the fourth presentation in this year's QC Environmental Film Series hosted by River Action, its February 16 presentation at Davenport's Figge Art Museum treating viewers to a 46-minute documentary that shows us how we might begin to save ourselves from ourselves, complete with the participation of dancing cave people.
A 2024 offering by Patagonia Works, the documentary short The Shitthropocene delivers a humorous, thought-provoking anthropological exploration of humanity’s consumption habits, turning a satirical yet brutally honest eye on how everything is turning to shit and why the impulse toward buying more crap might destroy us all. While it might seem unnatural, unusual, or inauthentic for a brand to tell its community only to buy what they need and not more, that's been a core message at Patagonia since the start. More than 50 years ago, the company's founders knew that the gear they made had to be of the highest quality or someone might get hurt. And then, another evolution: If what they sold wasn’t of the highest quality, it was just more crap that no one needed.
Soon, this turned into a commitment to using business as a tool for good and showing how a company can make a profit while operating responsibly. In practice, this meant making items that are functional, repairable and timeless with the lowest environmental impact and done by people being treated and paid fairly. But it’s also making films such as The Shitthropocene and asking consumers to demand quality products and keep gear in play longer through resale and repair. As Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard wrote last year in a New York Times essay, “People ask me how [Patagonia] has managed to stick around so long ... . I tell them it’s been our unrelenting focus on quality, which includes making things that last and that cause the least amount of harm to our planet.”
The Shitthropocene will be shown in the Figge Art Museum's John Deere Auditorium on February 16, admission to the 3 p.m. screening is $7 with students admitted free, and more information and tickets are available by calling (563)322-2926 and visiting RiverAction.org/filmseries.
