Contingency (philosophy):  In philosophy and logic, contingency is the status of propositions that are neither true under every possible valuation (i.e. tautologies) nor false under every possible valuation (i.e. contradictions). A contingent proposition is neither necessarily true nor necessarily false. Propositions that are contingent may be so because they contain logical connectives which, along with the truth value of any of its atomic parts, determine the truth value of the proposition. This is to say that the truth value of the proposition is contingent upon the truth values of the sentences which comprise it. Contingent propositions depend on the facts, whereas analytic propositions are true without regard to any facts about which they speak.

Contingency [noun]: a) a future event or circumstance which is possible but cannot be predicted with certainty. b) a provision for a possible event or circumstance. c) an incidental expense.

Contingency [noun]: something that might possibly happen in the future, usually causing problems or making further arrangements necessary: You must be able to deal with all possible contingencies.

Have you made any contingency plans?

Posterity  - [noun] All future generations of people. (the victims’ names are recorded for posterity) Synonyms: future generations, succeeding generations, those who come after us, the future.

Precariousness [noun]: a) The state of being dangerously likely to fall or collapse. “the precariousness of a cup placed on top of the plinth”. b) The state of being uncertain or dependent on chance. “the precariousness of privacy in the digital world”

Precariousness: Precariousness in Art History. Precarious started being used as a term to describe contemporary art from the 1990’s. Its temporality, its precarious relation to the audiences, the unstable contexts and its materiality often using or resembling waste and garbage.  In Prekäres Wissen (2012) Martin Mulsow explores the history of ideas in early Modernity through precariousness;  While precarious has directly been brought into discussion by Mulsow, others have already referred to ‘precariousness.’ In art, it has been used to describe certain contemporary art works; under the title of ‘The Beauty of Distance. Songs of Survival In a Precarious Age,’ the 17th Biennale of Sydney, held in 2010, was dedicated to the ‘affirmative power of art in the face of unprecedented threats: conflict, famine, inequity, environmental despoliation and global warming.’ 

Precarious has also been applied to the description of fragile material; for example, Maurya Wickstrom described the plywood and brown packing tape used in Thomas Hirsch- horn’s Gramsci Monument shown in the Forest Houses projects in the South Bronx, New York City in 2013 as precarious. Assessing contemporary American art, the renowned art historian Hal Foster described works of the last decade as having not shared any concept, but a precarious condition, namely that of uncertainty: ‘a stolen presidential election; the attacks of 9/11 and the war on terror.’ 2004

In Precarious Labour in the field of art, This issue of On Curating brings contributions from theorists, artists and activists concerned with the new conditions of labour under present day capitalism. Contributions range from theoretical analyses of different concepts regarding the issues of precarious labour, to reflections on the use value of such concepts in analyzing the present position of labour within the institutional contexts in the realm of contemporary visual arts. 2013 – 2016

Survival (NOUN) is defined as; 1. The state of continuing to live or exist, often despite difficulty or danger. 2. The struggle/battle/fight for survival: 3. Survival (from something), something that has continued to exist from an earlier time. A famous Idiom of survival used in the oxford dictionary definition is; ‘The survival of the fittest’. The principle that only the people or things that are best adapted to their surroundings will continue to exist. 

Survival (NOUN) is defined as; 1. The fact of a person, organization, community, etc. continuing to live or exist: 2. Something that has continued to exist from a previous time: 3. Continuing to exist or wanting to continue to exist: 4. The state of continuing to live or to exist, esp. after a dangerous event: 5. The state of continuing to exist, and not to fail or be destroyed.

¹ https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/Documents/college-artslaw/historyofart/vinzent-projektskizze.pdf / retrieved; 7th December, 2019

² https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/american_english/survival

³ Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary © Cambridge University Press. Definition of “survival”