Ksenia Danilova

Lakeshore East Go

"Lakeshore East Go" is part of my thesis series "After the Event" in which I explore a potential post-climate crisis Earth, where giant plant women hybrids have replaced humans, and the world is thriving as Nature reclaims what's hers. I chose the locations I wished to reimagine based on places I've been in the city that I felt were recognizable or were part of my daily commute. I wanted a mix of popular and obscure locations. The monochrome green evokes nature and plants.

“The further you get down the tracks the taller the buildings get. Less fields and forests and more monumental slabs of concrete, glass, and metal. They’ve started to be taken over too. Slowly the ivy creeps over them. The trees and shrubs in their rooftop gardens grow uncontrollably, spilling over the edges. More trees still began ripping up the asphalt roads, to sprout through the cracks between them. Like in the suburbs, various grasses squeeze through the spaces between the sidewalks, and nobody steps on them. The figure’s feet are large, but they make no sound. She holds no weight. Every footfall is a ghost, each step a brief woosh of wind, leaving behind a faint woodsy smell. She climbs the concrete monuments fearlessly. She knows if she falls that the wind, the trees and the water will bend to catch her, to soften her fall. The ground will become soft, like a grassy meadow on a summer evening as you watch the sunset. She scales the skyscraper, climbing balcony over balcony, each floor a look into what used to be, if the windows aren’t too clouded by dust and grime. When she reaches the top, she can see the whole city. The houses, the gas station, the grocery store, the bridges, and the train tracks looked even smaller from up here. She swings her legs back and forth, pleased. The sign by the foot of the building is nearly obscured by thriving plants. The grass here had concealed the train tracks, and the bushes by the sides of the railing cascaded over the edge. ”