The contemporary sublime: progressing the human environment relationship
Creators: name: Ferrara, Samuel
Publisher: name: No Publisher Supplied
Year: 2020

description: The environmentalist movement faces a number of obstacles in acquiring greater support from the general public. One of these obstacles is the challenge of overcoming the tendency to overlook the landscape as just background scenery. Furthermore, many aspects of environmental damage operate at scales that the average person does not usually encounter or contemplate, making it challenging to discern the proper degree of urgency for the issue at hand. Finally, the way in which these messages are represented can prove to be a challenge in their own right, in that they are required to convey important stories regarding the health of the natural environment in a way that people can understand and engaged with. This thesis looks to address the question of how it might be possible to confront and address serious environmental issues in a manner that would be engaging for the public. This thesis argues that this might be accomplished through a revival of the philosophical idea of the sublime updated for a contemporary context. Sublime landscapes that are informed by contemporary aesthetics can help people grasp the severity of environmental degradation on an emotional level and trigger changes in their behavior. Departing from the ideas of the philosopher Edmund Burke (1729-1797) this thesis establishes a basic understanding of what exactly is meant by the sublime or the experience of said phenomena. In order to adequately address the problems facing the contemporary environment, it is important to consider the cultural understanding of landscapes to detect what implications this might hold for the sublime. Historically, the relationship between people and wilderness in the United States of the colonial era has been antagonistic or hostile. Burke’s theory was born out of the same attitude. However, this bifurcated relationship between people and the natural world is not the only way in which one can relate to the landscape. Increasingly, people understand the natural world as integral to their own well-being. A contemporary sublime therefore, would necessitate an adjustment in regards to what sort of landscapes can inspire an experience of the sublime. By understanding our interdependence and interconnectedness with the natural world, the contemporary sublime can therefore also include landscapes that convey a sense of threat or danger to the natural environment. This thesis proposes a concept of a contemporary sublime and examines several case studies in which this theoretical idea might be best applied. These cases demonstrate a spectrum in which an experience of the contemporary sublime has or has not been attempted, ranging from instances in which it essentially absent to examples found of this idea present. These examples include the case of Fresh Kills Park, New York, where it can be seen that the potential for a contemporary sublime experience could be present, but has been overlooked in favor for a more conventional park. The second case study looks at the design efforts in Welzow Süd, Germany. This case serves as an example of a substantial effort to preserve a landscape experience of the contemporary sublime that was unable to come to fruition. The final case of The Quarry Garden in Shanghai Botanical Garden, serves as the best example of a landscape design that preserves this idea of a contemporary sublime experience. Each of the locations selected has experienced some degree of environmental degradation as a direct result of human practices, the impacts of which have left visible scars on the landscape which can be directly observed. This thesis argues that through framing (or re-framing) the narrative of these places as examples of a contemporary sublime landscape, these locations can function more effectively as mediums which can convey powerful environmental messages to the general public in a meaningful way.