Mary Mattingly grapples with her personal footprint in her “House and Universe” series, which is both performative and documentary. She began by cataloguing her personal possessions and tracing their journey from raw materials all the way through the global supply chain that brought them into her life. She then bound them with twine into “boulders” and commenced a series of performances, including a symbolic walk across the Bayonne Bridge. From the artist’s log: “05.15.13: Walking across the Bayonne Bridge, struggling with my objects. The permit was just approved to increase the height of the Bayonne Bridge so that the largest container ships can pass underneath with ease, eliminating a previous barrier to the staggering amount of objects that could be brought into Port Newark, servicing the entire East Coast through the Midwest, USA. The walk was a celebration of the bridge as it is, a nuisance for the shipping industry and a natural slowing of the NY/NJ economy and ports. At each place we were either monitored or confronted and told to leave the site, as this large disk-like shape of objects contained the unknown. It spoke to the curiosity and interest of the sculpture, to me, that we did not get shut down until we were usually done, with police and Homeland Security as onlookers. The intense struggle of bringing the large sculpture over the bridge was painful. A minute pain to that felt the world over, from the over-extraction of the earth, to the working conditions of the makers, to the chemicals that enter the air and water affecting all of us. This sculpture contains the stuff wars are started over. How can I be complacent? How can I expect it to not be painful to carry these things, laden with hurt, a 1/2 mile uphill with a police escort?” Learn more about this body of work in thisvideo and this interview with Mary Mattingly.

In the words of the artist: “My work proposes a world returned to nomadic roots following a peripatetic population constantly on the move. It expects that in the near future, much more of the world’s population will be forced to be nomadic. I focus on the creation of wearable environments, and autonomous living/traveling systems, based in engineering and science and fused with fantasy.” Learn more about Mary Mattingly and her “Nomadographies” in this interview. As Mary Mattingly was creating these visions of a post-industrial human existence, she was also developing prototypes for portable and wearable forms of architecture that were responsive to the nomadic ways of life she envisioned. Learn more about these survival-inspired designs in this article. Mattingly has also explored alternative modes of sustainable living through a series of sculptural ecosystems, which you can learn about in theseshort videos.

As Mary Mattingly reduced her own ecological footprint, she began to consider the true necessities of life. Can we reduce our footprint and still be happy? Author Colin Beavan and his family sought to answer this question by living for an entire year with minimal impact on the environment. They swore off plastic and toxins, turned off electricity, went organic, and traversed New York City by bicycle. The project culminated in a documentary and book entitled No Impact Man. For more inspiration on deriving happiness from a simple, minimalist existence, consider this post about the life of Mahatma Ghandi.

Many scientists believe that a rise in global temperatures due to climate change will increase the risk of more frequent and severe drought conditions. Among other effects, global warming increases the amount of precipitation that falls as rain rather than snow, produces earlier snow melt, and increases evaporation and transpiration — all conditions that contribute to drought. Can we be more prepared for a catastrophic drought? In thisTED talk, David Sedlak describes four solutions that have the potential to ease urban water crises and create a system that is better prepared for the challenges of climate change.

In Mary Mattingly’s work, we see a future in which humans have re-established a deep connection to the natural world and embraced a simpler existence. We also see traces of technology. (Zoom into the image to see small Monsanto placards on the ground and wires and cables connected to the suits worn by the figures.) Most of us view technology as the key to a sustainable future, and Mary Mattingly incorporates fabric technology and solar power into her design prototypes. But new technologies can also lead to irreversible changes in the environment and our way of life. Are the technologies we see in this work the enduring vestiges of an over-engineered civilization or the seeds of sustainable growth?

Mary Mattingly envisions a future shaped by climate change and displacement, and offers hope through her adaptive designs and poetic experiments in sustainable living. If you are inspired by her work, you can take action in your own life. Select one or more pledges listed below and spread the word.  You can also learn more by visiting our Pledge Center.  Let’s #EndOvershoot and save our #OneEarth.