Paul Virilio and Diller Scofidio + Renfro, EXIT

EXIT is an immersive installation visualizing human migrations, as well as deforestation and the loss of languages around the world. Prompted by an idea from French philosopher and urbanist Paul Virilio, it was created by American artists and architects Diller Scofidio + Renfro, architect-artist Laura Kurgan, statistician-artist Mark Hansen, and artist-designer Ben Rubin, in collaboration with scientists from diverse disciplines, including Bruce Albert, François Gemenne, and François-Michel Le Tourneau. It was initiated by the Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain for the 2008 exhibition Native Land, Stop Eject, which proposed a reflection on the notions of being rooted and uprooted, as well as related questions of identity.

Composed of a series of animated maps gene­rated by data collected from over one hundred global sources, EXIT is divided into six scenarios—Population Shifts: Cities; Remittances: Sending Money Home; Political Refugees and Forced Migration; Natural Disasters; Rising Seas, Sinking Cities; and Speechless and Deforestation—providing the rare opportunity to understand the complex relationships between the various economic, political, and environmen­tal factors underpinning contemporary human migrations. In 2015, it was updated for COP21 in Paris, reflecting the alarming evolution of the data since its creation.

Through many illustrations and texts by Paul Virilio, Diller Scofidio + Renfro, Laura Kurgan, Mark Hansen, and François Gemenne, this book retraces the creation of EXIT and explores the questions that are at the core of this timely and compelling artwork.