Materials: Native ImpressionsTM "Fragmented"; "Memorial Wreaths/Wreaths of Celebration?" and "Death Mask/Living Mask?"; "My Body/Last Body?"; urban exotics (created from non-recyclable man-made).
"Why the Last Human?" asks us to contemplate how the end of our species will come about: by natural causes or by our own greed and denial. I recall being taught that eventually the sun would dim and life as we know it on earth will no longer be possible. I define this as demise by natural causes. I was also taught that the sun's cooling was so many thousands of years in the future that we didn't need to worry for hundreds of generations to come. But as our human species continues to severely alter our natural habitat to maintain our large industrial systems, replacing our natural systems with low to non-functioning detritus, I begin to wonder if climate change and sea level rise may be minor symptoms of larger problems yet to come. I believe our entrenched ignorance, our addiction to more and greater things, and the denial of our own individual responsibility will be our real undoing.
I am known as an eternal optimist. Part of redirecting in a positive way is being very real with what is. I have read that we may be doing ourselves a disservice when we show images of our beautiful natural landscapes because people get the idea there is plenty of pristine land left, but the reality is quite different. My dear State of Florida has 51 animals and 48 plants listed on the Federally Endangered (FE) List. Combining plants and animals, there are 204 listed as FE, FT, FT(S/A), FXN, ST, and SSC -- please look up these categories. The primary cause is loss of habitat, which includes the planting of mostly exotics, especially turf grass in our urban landscapes. The exotics have taken the place of native plant species and are severely disrupting the food web. The human species is at the top of this food web. Entrenched ignorance is a form of stupidity. A major paradigm shift is needed and now.
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