Megumi Aihara & Dan Spiegel
This project will study representations of “landscapes after the fire” across cultures in film, literature, and artifacts of the built environment, with a focus on the devastation and renewal brought about by fire. These depictions reveal a precarious balance between nihilism and optimism about the future—horror juxtaposed with beauty; mundane objects gaining spiritual significance in the scorched landscape. Regeneration in this climate will produce new natives and recalibrate species, ecosystems, and cultures. Can cultural and ecological identity be transplanted after fires, and if so, what remains? In these moments of heightened urgency, can representations of possible futures suggest a path for new forms of reimagination, resilience, and inhabitation?