The Future that Lies Beneath
Abstract
Today, there is wide (though contested) consensus that a materialist vision of nature will likely lead to our collective demise. Without sacrificing historical specificity, Kuipers provides timely insights on Rivera’s animistic approach to geology, which, as she eloquently demonstrates, did more than pay tribute to indigenous myths. The economic practices Rivera depicted on the walls of the chapel at Chapingo’s Autonomous University were, in his mind, not just functional activities, but social actions sustained by interrelations and spiritual significance. By situating the human rapport with nature within a metaphysical stream that irrigate cycles of life and death, he charted possibilities and opportunities that deserve our attention today.