Thesis: The mermaid, from Emilija Škarnulytė’s short film Sirenomelia, bridges nature and human isolation from nature, through her hybrid existence and her ability to explore the human civilization’s remnants in the Arctic Circle. She explores the tunnels that once docked submarines, and views the facility’s equipment from the water, but she also observes the way the base of the facility has become part of the underwater ecosystem. The human facility she explores used the ocean as a means of exploration and a strategic location to conduct submarine intelligence and warfare during the Cold War. Her hybrid existence, however, supersedes what the mechanizations of war were capable of discovering. She can explore this facility through the water, through sight and sound, but this comes at the cost of what is seemingly an apocalyptic post-human world, where humanity has left behind its legacy of destruction by evolving and becoming a hybrid creature. Her existence bridges the human and underwater realms, and is important because it suggests a future in which our evolved selves can grow from the issues of the present and past and learn from humans’ self-destructive tendencies and the imprint they leave on the earth. 

I will be using Twine to present my creative essay through non-linear story telling. Within this non-linear storytelling mode, I will discuss the history of submarine warfare in the arctic during the cold war, as well as citing not only the imagery and sound in the short film, but Emilija Škarnulytė’s commentary on this project: https://www.vdrome.org/emilija-skarnulyte/ 

I was interested in incorporating some creative writing through this non-linear method, by weaving in the thoughts of the siren as she explores the NATO base, which I would write myself.