Magazine Spread (VART3662 Assignment 2)

Zade Omar by Dodu

You can see it anywhere. A prickly little tendril of a grassy plant stubbornly crawling along the pavement in search of an oasis among asphalt, or a tiny leaf erupting awkwardly out of a crack in a wall with hopes of warm sun but finding the realities of city smog.

The promised paradise is nowhere to be found. That tenacious tendril spreads further and further as its offshoots find a man-made replica of rock instead of the comforting bosom of earthen dirt. Defying the odds by springing up out seemingly just concrete leads mostly to baking in the sun or being trod on by passersby or being submerged after some rain.

THE RECLAMATION OF NATURE

The allures of eco-brutalism, solar-punk and green infrastructure are hard to ignore, it would be wonderful if an easy middle-ground could be found between urban developments and the flora they flattened to be there.

In some ways, we can see this in action with vines that grow on sidewalks and flowers growing in rusting pipes, rebelling against brittle human infrastructure. In others, this is the vestigial efforts of the natural world fighting for a foothold in an environment that it no longer belongs to.

Yes, nature can make itself known in an urban setting and yes, it can reclaim land it once dominated. But what this looks like might differ from the ideal.

We are only left with the weeds that are as stubborn as we are, and it’s not always a welcome reflection. There are no winners of war, after all.

It’s perhaps difficult to differentiate between brave plant warriors providing a glimpse of loveliness as they slowly and resiliently besiege cities, and weeds that would otherwise be ripped up and thrown away being the only things that can match the dull, grey, monotonous energy of a CBD. What does ‘Nature Reclaims’ actually mean for the nature? Surviving in a land that it’s barely allowed in may ensure nature’s continued presence, but it also does away with the gentleness, rarity, softness and beauty that we’ve come to expect and desire from a natural landscape.

We are only left with the weeds that are as stubborn as we are, and it’s not always a welcome reflection. There are no winners of war, after all.

nature’s reclaimlamation

there are no winners of war