Just In Case
Mae Decena
Just In Case began as an exploration of the relationship between the natural world and the artificial, or the man-made. The ecological systems of our earth are largely disconnected from the systems of human civilization. Humans have built a system of operating and maintaining their civilizations, which depends heavily on the suppression or manipulation of the natural environment for human use. Habitat destruction is common for harvesting natural resources or urbanization but damages our ecosystem by displacing or destroying the organisms that lived there before. If we are unable to prevent the collapse of the society that has for centuries maintained this system, how can the new modern New Yorker survive the new feral landscape of the city? Just In Case is the ecological survival guide for post-civilized Manhattan, aimed to pre- pare the jaded urbanite for living without society’s conveniences by giving them the tools and skills to transition into living off the land, through the narrative of the ecological landscape and increasingly complex biodiversity of a city without people.