FUTURE FOSSILS
Questioning our materialistic legacy through speculative objects
Millions of years from now, the remnants of today’s world will be buried beneath layers of rock and sediment. What will future archaeologists uncover of our consumption-driven society?
While fossils of ancient creatures have long captivated scientists, the Anthropocene is likely to leave behind a new category of fossil: one shaped by human activity. These so-called technofossils may include plastic packaging, clothing fibres, obsolete electronics, chemical residues, and rare metals: silent witnesses of mass production, globalization, and ecological overshoot.
Future Fossils is a speculative design project that explores this material legacy by imagining how contemporary consumer objects might fossilize over a long time. Through the creation of fictional archaeological artifacts, the project examines the long-term impact of industrial design and raises questions about the traces we leave behind. This ongoing research project is in collaboration with professors in palaeobiology Sarah Gabbott and Jan Zalasiewski (University of Leicester), authors of the book Discarded.
