Ivana Radman-Livaja
Visiting and Narrating: An Interspecific Tale of Melancholia
My research uses sustainable book design as an outlet for studying the destructive dialogue between humans and the earth in the Anthropocene epoch. I investigate the effects of the Anthropocene on my own mental health, particularly attuned to moments of enlightenment and depression that arise as a result of the realities of human-made climate change. Our impact on earth has consequences that are both physical (droughts, flooding, illnesses/pandemics, etc.), and mental (stress, anxiety, depression, etc.). Exploring the phenomenon of loss of language in the depressed mind, I examine what experiences would improve this condition. This search leads me to the comfort I find in reading books and through the practice of finding myself in the written word. The acknowledgement of written language in books as both destructive (historically and culturally in Indigenous communities) and healing (as a sanctuary for independent mental and emotional growth) is the point of interest in this research.
Books exist as a vessel for communication, capturing historical shifts in societal values. In this way they serve as a dynamic timeline. Books move through space and thought, reflecting and dictating moments past, and also imagining futures. They are physically still and contained but breathe through their connection to other literary works — fiction and nonfiction. This research will live similarly, communicating the present and future outcome of our time on earth as a result of our past; our actions, while fleeting, influence the reaction of the land. In my material explorations and compositions, I view the land as body and the body as text — relational vessels for interspecific communication. The principal objective of the creation of my piece is to navigate my own state of mind and relationship to life in and around our roots of being: nature. While this embrace does not remedy anxieties around uncertain future conditions, it nurtures my soul that longs for tranquil kinship among living things. We have grown accustomed to our mastery over the land and do not recognize its cry for help over our aspirations for technological development. This is reflected in my practice that emphasizes handmade, sustainable methods of design.
Keywords: Sustainable Design, Melancholia, Anthropocene, Book Design, Loss of Language, Communication, Decolonization
Website: ivanamajadesigns.com
Instagram: @ivanamajadesigns
