suburban houses extending into horizon

It's Already A Mess

Natalia Nowinska, 2015
Digital
Image © 2015, courtesy of the artist

About the Artist

In her digital composition entitled, “It’s Already A Mess,” Natalia Nowinska creates a whimsical account of our sprawling housing footprint. She uses Photoshop and 3D modeling software to build a dystopian picture of suburbia extending soullessly into the infinite horizon. Nowinska places featureless houses atop lawns that rise above alleys filled with post-consumer waste. She calls out our tendency to push our garbage to the periphery, and offers a stark reminder that we are running out of places to stash the trash.

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Delve

  • In the artist’s words:  

    “How soon before our actions catch up to us? We can try to live in beautiful homes away from our irresponsible treatment of the earth, but we cannot avoid reality.”

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Learn

  • From Global Footprint Network:  

    In Japan, the food Footprint is a main contributor to Japan’s Ecological Footprint. One quarter of Japan’s food Footprint is caused by food waste and is a key driver to address for Japan’s sustainable future.

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Interpret

  • Natalia Nowinska presents a bleak picture of our housing footprint and trash generation.  In an imaginative design for converting landfill-bound waste into building materials, Mitchell Joachim and his fellow architects propose a sustainable alternative for Manhattan that reuses compacted waste in new construction.  Look for Mitchell Joachim’s work in Part II of the exhibition.

    Rapid Re(f)use, Mitchell Joachim, Maria Aiolova, Melanie Fessel, Emily Johnson, Ian Slover, Philip Weller, Zachary Aders, Webb Allen, Niloufar Karimzadegan, Lauren Sarafan.

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Act

  • Featured Actions:

    * Use sustainable building products!

    * Purchase products that use less packaging and are made out of renewable materials or post consumer recycled content.

    * Bring a reusable cup for your morning coffee or tea!

      I pledge to use sustainable building products!I pledge to Purchase products that use less packaging and are made out of renewable materials or post consumer recycled contentI pledge to bring a reusable cup for my beverage purchases

      * Your pledge will be counted in Earth Day Network’s “A Billion Acts of Green” campaign.  Learn more about this campaign by clickinghere.

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    Reflect

    • Reserved for future conversations.