The Materiality of Time and Water: An Emotional and Cognitive Reinvigoration of Sustainability on the Edge of the California Coast
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Abstract
Ancient man had a full-bodied integration into the divinity of the earth that we
have displaced in our modern age. We have become subjects of the technological
advancements of today and as a result are tasked with replenishing a planet we
have overdrawn from. This exploitation of Earth has given birth to raging forest fires,
warming and rising oceans, and increased toxicity of the very air we breathe. Can the
reintegration of humanity into the forces of nature be the key to saving our planet from
the detrimental effects of our current environmental and social situation? My project
will be a research center and exhibition space, that re-establishes this integral primitive
relationship humanity once had with nature. An Elysium; a paradise within the dark
underworld that looms around it. A reprieve within our modern monster of technological
advancement. Through case studies, cognitive studies, philosophical exploration, and a
physical artefact, I will explore how the challenge of our displacement of nature can be
overcome and humanity can unify to fundamentally change a system that has put the
health of our planet at risk.