The Changing Modes and Manifestations of Ruination
Nostalgia for Classical Decay
Keywords:
Ruins, Ruination, Heritage, Sustainability, NostalgiaAbstract
In this paper, I focus on the changing modes, forms, and manifestations of ruination. In classical cases, it was Nature ruining the artificial, i.e., human artifacts, like constructions. In our contemporary reality, however, we can see more and more warning signs that this “natural” and “classical” ruination is itself challenged and changing: what we have now could instead be described as the ruination of Nature by the artificial. While earlier we paid attention to a relic caused by the agency of Nature, now we will have to pay attention to the relic of Nature’s agency itself.
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