Inspired by what I learned form my Urban Political Ecology course, I realized that cities and nature are intrinsically interconnected, no matter if we think that parks and buildings are from complete separate realms.. Walking through Amsterdam, my perspective has now completely changed, and I no longer see such a stark division between city and nature.

When I was tasked to make a final assignment for a course inspired by human-nature relationships, I knew this would be my starting point. No matter if we think that parks and buildings belong to separate realm, the reality is that both are intrinsically interconnected.

My goal with the video I made was to show exactly how this plays out in the city of Amsterdam, by showcasing examples of plants and animals living in this urban area and how they adapt to it. There is nothing unnatural about the Dam Square, and there is nothing natural about Westerpark: all of those landscapes are examples of the urbanization of nature and the constant dialectical processes within them.

There is nothing polluting or contrary to nature in human nature, but there is something wrong in the way our global society uses Earth’s resources (aka the Anthropocene). The video I made showcases the the active role humans play as part of complex entanglements with non-human entities, urging us to move beyond seeing nature as a separate entity. Instead, we should acknowledge the intertwined, dynamic relationships between various life forms and design landscapes with this in mind. After all, as the many clips in my video show, nature will find a way to survive, so we might as well integrate it.

This video is also in direct contrast with the sentiments of sadness for the loss of nature and a yearning for its restoration. In reality, nature is still here and we are constantly surrounded by it, no matter how much concrete there is around us. The idea that nature is fragile and needs protection is fake: plants can grow from concrete tiles and birds are not afraid of humans anymore.

A more nuanced, integrated approach to human-nature relations emerges from this, allowing us to move beyond binary thinking and embrace entanglement, hybridity, and adaptability. We are already part of nature. The question is how we choose to live within it.

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I decided to name the video “Evidences of the One World”  because a big inspiration of mine for this project was this poem by Mary Oliver:

Poem of the One World

This poem is about the belonging we feel to nature once we really notice it. This sentiment of feeling beautiful once you realize you are nature, was quite striking to me, and I wanted to pay homage to it by titling my video in a way that recognizes it. While this poem is about the One World of us and animals and everything in between land and sky, my video comprises of visual evidences of the existence of this One World. Unfortunately I could not get a clip of a heron for this video, which is a bird I see often here in Amsterdam.

This video is also in conversation with a similar art project I made. My goal with that painting was to show nature’s inherent adaptability and the strength of the urge to live, and message was that no matter what apocalyptic things we end up doing to the Earth, nature will be okay. In contrast to this, my video project is about how nature does not need a dystopian future to prove is adaptability, as it is already constantly present in places that were not designed for it.

Hopefully this video helps you notice all of the hidden corners in which flowers and insects and birds can be found, just as much as it did for me. Also, if you live in Amsterdam, perhaps you will recognize some of the sites featured in it.