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Arch maria  nora brighid kelly sp26  (1)

The Interspecies Neighborhood Watch

Nora Kelly Manicured rurality in the East End of Long Island evokes images of green lawns, trimmed hedges, and ornamental flower gardens: fragile recreations of English gardens that require constant irrigation, trimming, and chemical maintenance. While visible lawn care across many yards constructs the idea of a human “neighborhood,” sterilized soil free of insects, microbes, and weeds signify a lack of faith in interspecies coexistence. Under what conditions, then, can we speculate upon a future in which drought-resistant grasses replace turf, aquifers are not polluted by fertilizers and herbicides, and the decades-long downward trajectory of bird populations reverses? Playing on human affinities for competition and surveillance, this project imagines a future in which landscapers become stewards of the Interspecies Neighborhood Watch, a home security and landscaping system designed to maximize biodiversity, human pleasure, and circularity while minimizing manual labor and material extraction.