One can see claras vision for the future in this picture.
The background: For years, humans constructed so many buildings without any regard for nature that there were no longer any open spaces left on Earth. Green spaces were covered over and animals were driven from their natural habitat. For fear of not having sufficient room, people started stacking their houses on top of each other to take better advantage of the available space. As a result of the massive CO2 emissions, the last small remnant of nature was obliterated once and for all.
But Mother Nature was not yet completely destroyed. Deep below the earth’s surface, buried beneath tons of concrete, many plants were still alive. Nature knew that if the self-destruction brought about by humans did not stop, all forms of life would soon be extinguished. So the plants ultimately penetrated through the earth’s surface, the animals found safe spaces, and little by little, the plants began to devour the buildings. No person or animal died, and the humans were given time to flee upwards.
Recognizing the error of their ways, the humans then began building lovely structures in harmony with nature. Each building was required to have a certain minimum number of plants. Thanks to this change in thinking—and with nature’s help—humans realized that they had made a grave mistake, and they saw that a green city was much more livable.
This is what gives the picture its name, Reunited, because nature, animals, and humans live together again in a symbiosis. In her picture, one can see the habitat of humans. In the lower part of the picture, one can recognize the old city, which is gradually being dismantled by the plants. At the very edge of the city, the natural habitat begins; the animals prefer to live in nature a bit farther away from the city, where they can enjoy their own lives.
This story sounds like a made-up fantasy, but there is something true about the destruction of the natural habitats of animals and of green spaces.
Reunited received the Young Creatives Award in the u14-create your world category at the Prix Ars Electronica 2021.
