My New World

The Guardian featured Greenpeace’s new project depicting climate change in Spain and one of my favorite blogs speculated that these photos are so romantic that they would encourage “Climate Change Escapism”–that people would be so curious about this brave new world that they’d keep cranking out the pollution.

I’ve long been a connoisseur of the post-apocalyptic aesthetic–reading survivalism novels in my pre-teens and cyberpunk in my mid-teens only cemented the aching need to see this world in smoking ruins.

Granted, as BLDGBLOG notes, these are fantastic, romantic visions, with all of the traces of human suffering that this would entail happening off-screen. My personal carbon print is actually very small–walking/bicycling around with no car, tiny apartment, no air conditioning, recycling, buying local–but is it okay to do all of this with my fingers crossed? I am curious.

“blah blah, I miss the stars”
I heard they look like pinpricks in our sheet
of tinfoil, hung in the window of a dark room
Big deal!

They say the sunsets never used to look like this,
All blues and greens they’re beautiful
Admit it!
They’re beautiful.
My New World – Epoxies

Author: colleenmorgan

Dr. Colleen Morgan (ORCID 0000-0001-6907-5535) is the Lecturer in Digital Archaeology and Heritage in the Department of Archaeology at the University of York. She conducts research on digital media and archaeology, with a special focus on embodiment, avatars, genetics and bioarchaeology. She is interested in building archaeological narratives with emerging technology, including photography, video, mobile and locative devices. Through archaeological making she explores past lifeways and our current understanding of heritage, especially regarding issues of authority, authenticity, and identity. View all posts by colleenmorgan