We must take radical steps fast: On our horizon are the dual, self-amplifying threats of climate collapse - a legacy of industrialization - and social collapse caused by advancements in technology. In response to doomsday scenarios both real and those peddled by fear-mongers, I fine-tuned a large language model on selections from 23 end-of-the-world texts primarily located in New York City, a megapolis which, if we are to survive, we must reimagine. The resulting narrative is that of a post-human migrant fleeing to the megapolis, only to realize that it is collapsing as the world is transforming in regeneration of the geo- and the genome.
Dystopiany (pronounced dystopianee) is a 14:11min long video that incorporates original footage (durational recordings), generative animation, and original sound design.
Dystopiany was developed during year-long (2022-23) Video Art Fellowship at BRIC.
Credits:
Directed by Tusia Dabrowska
Camerawork by Tusia Dabrowska
Animation by Wiktor Freifeld and Tusia Dabrowska
Sound design by Wiktor Freifeld
Narration by Tusia Dabrowska
Vocals by Clara Ines Schuhmacher
Production by Tusia Dabrowska and Wiktor Freifeld (TV Studio)
Literary research by Maria S. Grewe, PhD, and Tusia Dabrowska
Story consultation by Maria S. Grewe, PhD,
Script generated by Tusia Dabrowska
Generation tech support by Sam Amegavi
Script edited by Tusia Dabrowska and Maria S. Grewe, PhD
Script developed using a Curie model fine-tuned on a selection from the following texts:
Articles
Radhika Jones. “Silence in the Streets: Dispatches From New York City Under Lockdown” (2020).
https://www.vanityfair.com/style/2020/04/silence-in-the-streets-dispatches-from-new-york-city-under-lockdown
Adam Larson. “Covid-19 quarantine keeps humans home while animals roam free. Is that good for them?” (2020).
https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/covid-19-quarantine-keeps-humans-home-while-animals-roam-free-ncna1241881
Elias D. Mallon, S.A., Ph.D. CNEWA Connections: “The Post-Pandemic World” (2020).
https://cnewa.org/cnewa-connections-the-post-pandemic-world/
Klara Mednis. “The habitat of crime – Random Acts of Senseless Violence from the criminological perspective” (2020). https://repozytorium.uwb.edu.pl/jspui/bitstream/11320/9215/1/Crossroads_28_2020_K_Mednis_The_habitat_of_crime.pdf
Matthew Rozsa. “This is what New York City will look like after climate change” (2021).
https://www.salon.com/2021/08/27/this-is-what-new-york-city-will-look-like-after-climate-change/
Reports
The Nature Conservancy. Climate Change Impacts in New York (2006).
https://www.nature.org/media/initiatives/new_york_factsheet_5.pdf
NYC Mayor’s Office of Resiliency. Climate Resiliency Design Report (2020).
https://www1.nyc.gov/assets/orr/pdf/NYC_Climate_Resiliency_Design_Guidelines_v4-0.pdf
Siobhan Watson, Joy Sinderbrand, Michele Moore. “Climate Change at NYCHA Report” (2021).
https://www1.nyc.gov/assets/nycha/downloads/pdf/Climate-Change-at-NYCHA_lores_single-pages.pdf
Books
Margaret Atwood. Year of the Flood (2010).
Margaret Atwood. Oryx and Crake (2004).
John Bierhorst. Mythology of the Lenape: Guide and Texts (1995).
Octavia E. Butler. Parable of the Sower (1993).
N. K. Jemisin. The City We Became (2021).
Catherine McNeur. Taming Manhattan: Environmental Battles in the Antebellum City (2014).
P. Timon McPhearson. “Toward a Sustainable New York City: Greening through Urban Forest Restoration” (2011). In Sustainability in America's Cities: Creating the Green Metropolis, ed. Matt Slavin.
Lilliam Rivera. Dealing in Dreams (2019).
Kim Stanley Robinson. New York 2140 (2017).
Benjamin Shepard. Sustainable Urbanism and Direct Action Case Studies in Dialectical Activism (2019).
Films
John Carpenter, Nick Castle. Escape from New York (1981).
Harold Ramis, Dan Aykroyd. Ghostbusters (1984).
Stanley R. Greenberg. Soylent Green (1973).
Websites
Official Website of the Lenape Delaware Indians. Lenape Stories.
https://delawaretribe.org/blog/2013/06/27/lenape-stories/
NYC Mayor’s Office of Resiliency. Financial District and Seaport Climate Resilience Master Plan
https://fidiseaportclimate.nyc/