Hand Crafted Films

The Anthropocene is a proposed geological period defined by the fact that the earth’s systems are now fundamentally determined by human activity. 

A concrete example of this new era is the Interstate Highway System in the United States due to its impact on geology, habitat, and microclimate. Can the development of this modern transportation infrastructure be traced back thousands [sic] of years to the time of the dinosaurs? 

In this passionate sermon from Melvin McNally, adjunct instructor of landscape urbanism at Grand Junction Bible College, the argument is made that the alignment of the highway can be traced back directly to the beasts of our prehistory. Additionally, the narrator explores the idea of the Interstate as a living system: a cultural ecology with its own economy, culture, and traditions.

It sounds like the prologue to a dusty paperback science fiction novel from the late 1950s. But broken down step by step, it seems reasonable. Foregrounded in acknowledgment of the Anthropocene age (the period of history where human activity is the strongest force affecting planetary ecosystems and geology), it questions whether we’re really writing our own novel, or instead cribbing notes from a story told long, long ago.

Landscape Architecture Magazine

2016
Short
U.S.A.
English
230 seconds
Evan Mather

Runner Up: Not In My Backyard, 2016 International Festival of Landscape Architecture, Canberra, Australia. October 2016.