N=1=NPK=KIMCHI=N

by

Jae Rhim Lee

B.A., Psychology (1998)

Wellesley College

Submitted to the Department of Architecturein Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of

Master of Science in Visual Studiesat the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

September 2006

@ 2006 Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyAll rights reserved

Signature of Author:Department of Architecture

August 11, 2006

Certified by: _Joan Jonas

Professor of Visual ArtsThesis Supervisor

Accepted by:Yung Ho Chang

Professor of ArchitectureHead of the Department of Architecture

MASSACHUSE-TTINS EOF TECHNOLOGY

SEP 18 2006 ROTCH

LIBRARIES

N=1=NPK=KIMCHI=N

by

Jae Rhim Lee

Submitted to the Department of Architectureon August 11, 2006 in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of

Master of Science in Visual Studies

ABSTRACT

N=1 =NPK=KIMCHI=N is a mobile, expandable living unit which consists of a urinal,urine processing system, hydroponic napa cabbage garden, seedling growing area,customized bed, and kitchen table. I tested my urine, modified my diet to produce aurine ideal for growing napa cabbage, grew napa cabbage hydroponically with theoptimized urine, made kimchi from the napa cabbage, and fed the kimchi to the publicfrom the living unit.

In this paper I elaborate on the intimate affiliation between the "narcissistic self" and theplanet proposed by N=1=NPK=KIMCHI=N. I synthesize concepts of the self-body,narcissism, death, and ecology to arrive at a methodology for the long-term preservationof the self and planet.

Thesis Supervisor: Joan JonasTitle: Professor of Visual Arts

TABLE OF CONTENTS

A B S T R A C T ................................................................................................... 2

TABLE OF CONTENTS. ................................................................................. 3

I. CASE HISTORY: BIOGRAPHY, PROJECTS .............................. 4

ILL US T R A T IO N S .......................................................................................... 12

II. NARCISSISM // SUSTAINABILITY.............................................................18

Ill. MASTERLIST........................................................................................35

B IB LIO G R A P HY ........................................................................................... 40

ILLUSTRATION CREDITS ........................................................................... 42

T H A N K S Y 'A LL! .......................................................................................... 43

3

I. CASE HISTORY: BIOGRAPHY, PROJECTS

Man's capacity to dig himself in, to secrete a shell, to build aroundhimself a tenuous barrier of defence, even in apparently desperatecircumstances, is astonishing and merits a serious study. It isbased on an invaluable activity of adaptation, partly passive andunconscious, partly active: of hammering in a nail above his bunkfrom which to hang up his shoes; of concluding tacit pacts of non-aggression with neighbours; of understanding and accepting thecustoms and laws of a single Kommando, a single Block.

Primo Levi, Survival in AuschwitzTranslated from the Italian by Stuart Woolf

What I would like to experience most of all would be to find myselffreed, even if only for a moment, from the weight of my body. Iwouldn't want to overdo it-just to hang suspended for areasonable period-and yet I feel intensely envious of thoseweightless astronauts whom we are permitted to see all too rarelyon our TV screens....

Where does this presentiment of what is now a concrete realitycome from? Perhaps it is a memory common to the species,inherited from our proto-bird-like aquatic reptiles. Or maybe thisdream is a prelude to a future, as yet unclear, in which the umbilicalcord which calls us back to mother earth will be superfluous andtransparent: the advent of a new mode of locomotion...

Thus we have vast and unforeseen margins of safety: the visionaryidea of humanity migrating from star to star on vessels with hugesails driven by stellar light might have limits, but not that ofweightlessness: our poor body, so vulnerable to swords, to gunsand to viruses, is space-proof.

Primo Levi, "Weightless"Translated from the Italian by Piers Spence

I define love thus: The will to extend one's self for the purpose ofnurturing one's own or another's spiritual growth.

M. Scott Peck, The Road Less Traveled

4

N=1

I have taken over 15 personality tests and career inventories, read 20 self-help books,

consulted 6 career counselors, and pursued a range of career paths in an effort to find a

vocation perfectly matched to my interests and abilities. So far, I have learned that I

strongly resemble a Navy general, I may have an aptitude for window dressing, I am an

"idealist" and a "healer", and I am ill-suited for careers in academia, banking, medicine,

social work, non-profit management, psychology, documentary photography, the

military, tutoring, administration, social policy and scientific research, retail, and

telemarketing.

My favorite hobbies at age thirteen were nocturnal-sleeping on the roof, running in the

dark, and regularly rearranging my bedroom furniture in the middle of the night, usually

in concert with my dad's halting, thunderous snores.

At fourteen, I moved my bedroom furniture to the basement, gave away most of my

clothing and other belongings, tore out the carpet, and slept on the hardwood floor for

eight months until I caught the flu.

In the summer, I alternated between watching music videos on MTV all day and

following a self-imposed daily schedule-0700: wake up, drink 2 glasses of lukewarm

water, 0713: brush teeth, wash face, make bed, 0718: do step-aerobics, stretch, drink 2

glasses of cold water, 0759: eat 2 bowls of cereal and half a grapefruit, 0831: shower

and dress, 0850: do required summer reading, 1250: eat salad, turkey sandwich, and

one apple, 1315: clean bathroom, 1400: study for SAT...

Ten years later I built 7 custom-fit body struts/chairs that held my body in various

therapeutic and uncomfortable positions. Each 'chair' had three or four configurations,

and I walked from chair to chair, my movements punctuated by moments of stillness as

my body conformed to each chair/position.

5

At 18 I enrolled in a women's college known as 'the nunnery' that was once considered

a finishing school for wealthy young women. During my first year I 'shopped' 5 different

Protestant churches but within six months decided that I was agnostic. At the beginning

of my sophomore year I joined Army ROTC and learned how to grunt (AHUJA), march

in formation, set landmines, and shoot M-16 rifles. The following summer I attended

and was kicked out of Army Airborne School at Fort Benning, Georgia.

Two days after I graduated from college, 5 friends and I moved into a 3 bedroom

apartment with a sloping floor on a quiet street in "Meffah," Massachusetts. An average

of 9 people lived in the apartment at any given time. Whenever our landlord dropped

by, most of us scampered into closets or hid in our beds. I slept on a 14"x60" carpet

remnant in the 'sun room' and woke up every morning with my face pressed up against

the wall.

Five years later I lived in a 5'2"x5'2"x4' wooden box for 24 hours inside Le Corbusier's

Carpenter Center with a blanket, mattress pad, gallon of water, banana, pencil, pad of

paper, roll of toilet paper, cell phone, plastic urine bag, 7.5 watt light bulb, and two short-

term visitors. I took overhead slides once every hour and later projected these into the

bottom of the box.

In September 2003, I spent two weeks in silence, semi-isolation, and stillness while

learning Vipassana meditation. Each day began at 6 am with silent meditation in a

dimly lit, cavernous room. Meditators were separated by gender and were prohibited

from leaving the center, harming any living being, talking, stealing, having sex, under-

dressing, worshipping, writing, reading, exercising, overeating....

Meditation sessions typically lasted 2-3 hours, and we were asked to sit still

continuously, without shifting our bodies or making any noise. Occasionally, my mind

became totally clear and I could feel no physical sensations, as if disembodied. At other

times, obsessive thoughts, insights, to-do lists, food cravings, and a range of emotions

6

hijacked my concentration, accompanied by intense pain or bizarre sensations. For 10-

12 hours a day, I simply observed the range of my thoughts and bodily phenomena.

Eight months after Vipassana I built a "weightless" bed made of 10 separate pieces of

wood molded to the negative spaces of my supine body. I inspected my body. I

molded templates in clay of each supine negative space. I carved matching wooden

slabs and sanded each slab until it fit my body perfectly. With each slab placed

perfectly beneath me, I felt completely comfortable, weightless, incorporeal. When it

was finished, I threw out my coil mattress and began sleeping on my new bed. For two

weeks I tried unsuccessfully to sleep perfectly still on the wooden slabs. Each time I

moved, the slabs would become intolerably painful. Sleeping for more than a couple of

hours at a time was impossible. I stored the bed in a small pine box and bought another

coil mattress.

Over the next year, I measured and examined other parts of my body and made two

more beds-1) a vertical sleep bed made of wooden ribs contoured to the front of my

body with a wearable foam mattress, and 2), a portable bed consisting of 15 separate

adjustable nylon straps with quick-release buckles for sleeping on the underside of

tables. I slept on these beds for 15 minutes and 2 minutes, respectively.

For years my dentist has told me that my nighttime teeth grinding is decimating my

molars. Despite the hygienist's threats that I will develop TMJ and my face will become

compressed, I refuse the $600 customized mouth guard they offer me at each visit.

After my last teeth cleaning, I made a silicone cheek attachment with an elastic

headband which was programmed and calibrated to detect my teeth grinding then

deliver a mild shock to my cheek muscles.

N=1=NPK'

1 NPK values represent the percentage of Nitrogen(N), Phosphorus (P), and Potassium(K) in plant fertilizer.

7

During my second semester of grad school, I subleted my apartment and lived in my

studio for three months. Worried about formaldehyde, benzene, dustmites, carbon

monoxide, lead, chlorofluorocarbons, toluene, xylene, perchloroethylene, nitrogen

oxide, sulfur dioxide, mouse poop, and other airborne pollutants, I tested the air and

bought four spider plants (Chlorophytum comosum), a 5 foot Areca palm

(Chrysalidocarpus lutescens), a corn plant (Dracaena Massangeana), a Janet Craig

plant (Dracaena "Janet Craig"), and an english ivy (Hedera Helix). NASA research

indicates that these plants are highly effective at removing toxins from the air. I

underwent a homeopathic parasite cleanse in which I ate no sugar, fruit, yeast, or

processed foods, swallowed six capsules daily, and drank water to which I added 14

drops of tincture three times a day for four weeks.

I built a 'passivity system' in which I sat completely still while a recycling timer controlled

1) a 75 watt full-spectrum light bulb, 2) a turntable which spun the Areca palm whose

leaves tenderly brushed my cheek and 3) a water pump which delivered a custom-made

liquid nutrient solution (with minerals necessary for both plant and human nutrition) into

my mouth and to the roots of the Areca palm at a rate of 2 gph. For one minute every

10 minutes, the system turned on and confirmed that I was conscious.

Four months later, I lived in a 1O'x10' room for 24 hours with the same rotating Areca

palm, gallon of water, urine containers, and sleeping mat. I occasionally peed into the

soil of the Areca palm and continuously measured the C02, CO, humidity, and

temperature in the room.

Six months after that I made a portable indoor/outdoor urinal made of sod, recycled

plastic, and rubber tubes which distributed liquid directly into the soil. I sewed a

waterproof skirt that rolled up into its own belt to wear with my urinal. To use the urinal,

I unrolled the waterproof skirt, and squatted above the sod.

8

N=1=NPK=j Al 2=N

In May 2006 I sent my urine to a floriculture lab and followed a customized vegan diet

designed to transform my urine into an ideal nutrient solution for plants. I diluted my

urine with water and added ground soybeans, which contain urease, the enzyme which

converts urea into ammonia. I also added nitrosomas bacteria to activate the nitrogen

cycle, which converts ammonia into nitrate, the form of nitrogen required by plants. I

then sterilized the solution and pumped it into a hydroponic napa cabbage garden. I

built an expandable mobile living unit which contained a urine processing system, urinal,

foam bed in the shape of my body, kitchen, and hydroponic garden. I urinated, I made

kimchi from the napa cabbage, and I served the kimchi to my colleagues at school and

to gallery goers at an exhibition of the living unit.

N=1=NPK=7 JA1*=N1=N2=N 3...

Body double, monkey twin 3 , doppelganger, analogue, impersonator, mirror image,

Siamese twin, stunt double, facsimile, imitation, reproduction, cosmic twin, shadow,

lookalike, stand-in, dead ringer, the one, shape shifter, alter ego, alias, counterpart,

clone, replica, spitting image, chip off the old block, mate, match, counterpart, duplicate,

carbon copy, equal, model, equivalent, dead ringer, parallel, peer, take-off, exact

likeness, print, fake, photocopy, mock-up, maquette.

Two summers ago, I decided to visit a friend in Shanghai, China. Halfway across the

Pacific Ocean, however, I realized that I had forgotten to get a visa. After disembarking

in Tokyo, I caught the next flight to Hong Kong. After a week alone in Hong Kong, I got

my visa and took a train to Shanghai. For three weeks, I did yoga daily, ate mostly

packaged bread and water, contracted intestinal parasites, and designed and ordered

2 Korean characters for kimchi, a fermented pickled dish made from napa cabbage.3 Monkey twin (n.) A lesser version of someone. The average person is both someoneelse's monkey twin and possesses a monkey twin. The more attractive one is, the lesslikely he/she is someone else's monkey twin, and the more unattractive one is, the lesslikely he/she is to possess a monkey twin.

9

custom-fit clothing for my body. Everywhere I went in Hong Kong and China my feet

always reached the floor when I sat in chairs, benches, subway seats.

Two years ago I altered an assortment of discarded clothing in various ways to fit my

body-adding foam to the inner lining of a men's blazer, cutting slits into a girl's school

uniform shirt, sewing the outline of my body into men's XL jeans, cutting up a bedsheet

into 10 uniform rectangles to which I attached Velcro dots so that the pieces could be

connected in multiple ways....

On July 2, 2006, I walked into the Target store in Watertown, MA and bought 1 men's

blazer, 1 pair of boy's athletic shorts, 2 toddler skirts, 1 crocheted toddler sweater, 1

girl's school uniform jumper, and 1 maternity blouse. I altered each item to fit my body,

and returned them to the store.

I recently had a scan taken of my body with the VITUS/smart 3D Body Scanner at

Cornell University. The scanner was situated around a platform (31.5" x 31.5" x 15")

raised one foot off the ground. In each corner was an eye-safe laser (four lasers in all),

and eight cameras were placed around the periphery of the platform. I stood on the

platform with my feet 15 inches apart and extended my arms straight, 6-7 inches from

my body. After a few seconds the scanning began, and I was not allowed to move until

the scan was complete. In front of me was a mirror in which I could see the scanner's

laser roving up my body in a line bent by the curves of my body.

The entire scan took about 12 seconds and captured 300,000 data points. Once the 3D

scanner collected the data points, Polyworks, a software program, mapped the points

and created different visualization modes--cross section, slice area, surface area, and

volume.

In September 2006, I will design and commercially distribute a clothing line which will

use the data from my 3D body scan.

10

Today, I'm back on the job market. I go to weekly cognitive-behavioral psychotherapy

sessions. I meditate, attend yoga classes, and get shiatsu massages periodically. I

follow a highly irregular schedule, I eat solid foods. I live in a sunny, level, five bedroom

apartment with four roommates, sleep on a coil mattress in my own bedroom, use

standard flush toilets, keep warm in the winter, and make kimchi with store-bought napa

cabbage fertilized by free-range, vegetarian cows.

11

ILLUSTRATIONS

N=1=NPK=KIMCHI=N

Figure 1. N=1=NPK=KIMCHI=N, living unit.

12

Figure 2. N=1=NPK=KIMCHI=N. Detail of bed, urinal, and kitchen table.

13

Figure 3. N=1=NPK=KIMCHI=N. Jae Rhim Lee and urinal.

14

Figure 4. N=1=NPK=KIMCHI=N. Detail, sleeping.

15

Figure 5. N=1=NPK=KIMCHI=N. Making kimchi.

16

I I

Figure 6. N=1=NPK=KIMCHI=N. Detail, making kimchi.

KIMCHI (VEGETARIAN VERSION)

1 large Chinese cabbage (2 1/2 - 3 lb)1/2 cup salt6 green onions, chopped3 large cloves garlic, minced2 T red pepper powder1/4 t grated fresh ginger root1 T sugar3/4 cup hot water

Wash and drain cabbage. Rub salt into each leaf. Let stand for 2 hours. Rinsecabbage in cold water and squeeze out excess liquid. Place the cabbage in a largebowl.

Add the onions, garlic, red pepper powder, ginger, and sugar to the cabbage. Tossand mix all the ingredients so that the cabbage pieces are well-coated.

Pack the cabbage mixture into a large glass jar. Cover the jar with a tight lid and placein a cool room for 2 days before refrigerating.

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1I. NARCISSISM // SUSTAINABILITY:

A Model of Nature-Human Integration for the Long-Term

Preservation of the Self and the Environment

In my work, self-seeking is conflated with artistic process and "minimal" selfhood is the

foundation for a design practice. Confronted with physical pain, alienation from the

natural world, exhaustion, invisibility, and excess workloads, I attempt to become

weightless, sleep vertically, merge with plants, and distribute my body into the public. I

examine myself and attempt to arrive at solutions, which meet these ideals in one way

or another. Central to this process is the making and deployment of customized,

functional tools for my body, which represent ideal states of being and serve immediate

and long-term physical and emotional needs. In the beginning, I imagine that each

object/solution is the perfect, obvious solution. Inevitably, I do not/will not/can not adapt

to the object/system I've made for myself. Adaptation is not impossible, but requires

that I become less myself, and more cyborg, corpse, monk/nun, bird, or bat. Each

system/tool is more suitable than its predecessor as personal needs become more

aligned with planetary needs and boundaries between self, nature, and other become

increasingly blurred. The result is a closer integration of self and planet.

SELF / N = 1

NARCISSISM 101

Narcissists are popularly characterized as being highly self-centered by virtue of a belief

that the world is a mirror of the self and a source of endless attention and admiration,

the so-called narcissistic supply. The narcissistic individual sees him/herself reflected in

all living and inanimate objects, such that everything is an extension of the self.

According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders IV (DSM-IV),

Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD), is defined as:

18

A pervasive pattern of grandiosity (in fantasy or behavior), need for admiration,and lack of empathy, beginning by early adulthood and present in a variety ofcontexts, as indicated by five (or more) of the following:

(1) has a grandiose sense of self-importance (e.g., exaggerates achievementsand talents, expects to be recognized as superior without commensurateachievements)(2) is preoccupied with fantasies of unlimited success, power, brilliance, beauty,or ideal love(3) believes that he or she is "special" and unique and can only be understoodby, or should associate with, other special or high-status people (or institutions)(4) requires excessive admiration(5) has a sense of entitlement, i.e., unreasonable expectations of especiallyfavorable treatment or automatic compliance with his or her expectations(6) is interpersonally exploitative, i.e., takes advantage of others to achieve his orher own ends(7) lacks empathy: is unwilling to recognize or identify with the feelings andneeds of others(8) is often envious of others or believes that others are envious of him or her(9) shows arrogant, haughty behaviors or attitudes

Although popularly regarded as a negative trait, since its inception into psychological

canon the concept of narcissism has been viewed as having both healthy and unhealthy

manifestations. In "On Narcissism" Freud distinguishes primary narcissism from

secondary narcissism. Primary narcissism is universally experienced and is the

focusing of libidinal energy upon the self for the purpose of self-preservation. A variety

of positive traits necessary for healthy functioning, including self-esteem and stability,

are thought to be derived from primary narcissism (Stolorow 1975). Secondary

narcissism, pathological narcissism, arises from primary narcissism when the libido

ceases engage worldly objects and instead focuses solely on the self, resulting in a

"false self".

More contemporary research reveals a diversity of typologies and constructions of

narcissism, with some disagreement about the validity of each (Wink 1996). Many

psychologists further delineate unhealthy narcissism into covert and overt styles. Overt

narcissists frequently display "grandiosity, exhibitionism, and entitlement", similar to the

DSM-IV definition. Covert narcissists appear shy, timid, and withdrawing in public, but

19

exhibit all the qualities of covert narcissists in private. The primary exception is that

covert narcissists tend to have relationships based on idealization rather than mirroring,

which are more typical of overt narcissists (Wink 1996).

Unhealthy narcissists are also frequently subdivided into high, middle, and low-

functioning groups. High functioning narcissists are "frequently found in artistic and

creative professions that allow them to sublimate their exhibitionism and use

productively their intellectual interests and keen sense of empathy (Wink 1996). Middle

and low functioning individuals tend to have serious difficulties in work and relationship

due to their "impaired empathy, exploitativeness, hypersensitivity, and boredom." (Wink

1996).

SELF AT RISK: CULTURAL NARCISSISM and TRAUMA vs. RESILIENCE

Christopher Lasch suggests that modern conditions, including mass consumption,

warfare, economic decline, environmental degradation, and the dependence on

technologies, pose a threat to the self, resulting in a "contraction" of the self-focused on

survival through so-called self-serving and hedonistic activities. The threatened self in a

time of crisis becomes the minimal, narcissistic self pre-occupied with its own psychic

preservation (1984). Lasch writes: "...minimal selfhood is not just a defensive response

to danger but arises out of a more fundamental social transformation: the replacement

of a reliable world of durable objects by a world of flickering images that make it harder

and harder to distinguish reality from fantasy."

Lasch's pessimistic view of cultural decline suggests that consumptive self-involvement

is the primary outcome of psychological and cultural annihilation. Is anything else

possible? A significant, growing body of contemporary work on resilience and growth in

the face of trauma suggests that we have overlooked innate hardiness and resistance to

trauma that is found among some individuals who face loss. George Bonanno, a social

psychologist, points out that we misunderstand and underestimate resilience because

much of our understanding about trauma comes from treating and studying individuals

20

who have negative responses to loss (2004).

Varying levels of narcissism seem to play a role in the degree of resilience individuals

exhibit. Taylor and Brown (1998) found that self-enhancement, although socially

undesirable, often serves as a buffer against negative reactions to loss and hardship. In

a study of survivors of the September 11 bombings at the World Trade Center, self-

enhancers "reported better adjustment and more active social networks and were rated

more positively and as better adjusted by their close friends" (Bonanno, Rennicke,

Dekel, & Rosen, 2003).

Although the possibility of resilience provides some hope, it is also an unreliable

phenomenon at the mercy of individual and societal conditions. Hardiness may be an

effective coping (defensive) strategy for some, but in a time of mounting threat and

destruction, the self also needs an offensive strategy, one that heals the core of the

psyche.

SELF/PLANET AT RISK: ENVIRONMENTAL DEGRADATION & ECOPSYCHOLOGY

Theodore Roszak calls Lasch's concept of a culture of narcissism a "lambast of the

public, one which doesn't know better" and argues that "the general battering of

narcissism was a reaction to entrenched values of American Judeo-Christian values, a

moral horror based on a "radical sense of 'human unworthiness"' (1998). Rather than

denigrate self-seeking, Roszak says that the public's growing, less than academic

search for therapeutic self-knowledge is a positive cultural development worth

observing, no matter how shallow some of its manifestations may be:

The deepening psychological tone of the late twentieth century life, howeveramateurishly expressed, is born of a healthy sense of unlived life and alienatedpower. Just as neurosis, recognized and diagnosed, can be the first step towardsanity, so a narcissistic fascination with the self can be the beginning of culturalrenewal. (1992)

The cultural renewal Roszak seeks is an ecological revolution that bridges ecology and

psychology by marrying society's contemporary obsession with self-seeking with the

21

preservation of the planet. Ecopsychology, proposes that the best antidote to

environmental degradation and the alienation and "false identity" created by the urban-

industrial system is a recovery of the ecological unconscious, the fundamental

connection between humans and nature located at the "core of the mind" (1978).

Ecopsychology provides an alternative to current efforts. According to Roszak, the

ecology movement today is poorly equipped to bring about significant change in our

relationship with the environment, because it relies on fear and guilt, extrinsic factors, in

its efforts to motivate individuals to change rather than desire and interest, intrinsic

factors. The answer lies in a blending of self and planet:

Is there an alternative to scare tactics and guilt trips that will lend ecologicalnecessity both intelligence and passion? It is the concern that arises from sharedidentity: two lives that become one. Where that identity is experienced deeply,we call it love. More coolly and distantly felt, it is compassion. This is the link wemust find between ourselves and the planet that gives us life. (1992).

Despite its folk wisdom and widespread reception, ecopsychology has failed thus far to

engage psychology in a truly rigorous manner. As Joseph Reser points out,

ecopsychology is often confused, in both Roszak's writings and public perception, with

psychiatry, pop psychology, and various New Age practices. Reser challenges social

psychologists in particular to develop and revive the field of ecopsychology with more

dynamic constructions of the self as a step towards understanding how self-construal

and environmental stewardship are related (1995).

Drawing upon Roszak's ecopsychology movement, Ernest Becker's writings on death,

and new developments in existential psychology I propose a more intimate, narcissistic

affiliation between the self, the physical body, and the ecosystem, one which ensures

the psychological well-being and survival of both person and planet. In this relationship,

self-seeking, and the needs of plants and the larger ecosystem are closely tied, thus

offering an expanded construction of the self.

22

PRINCIPLES OF ECOPSYCHOLOGY(from Roszak, Theodore. (1992). The Voice of the Earth. New York: Simon & Schuster.)

1. The core of the mind is the ecological unconscious. For ecopsychology, repression of theecological unconscious is the deepest root of collusive madness in industrial society. Openaccess to the ecological unconscious is the path to sanity.

2. The contents of the ecological unconscious represent, in some degree, at some level ofmentality, the living record of cosmic evolution, tracing back to distant initial conditions in thehistory of time. Contemporary studies in the ordered complexity of nature tell us that life andmind emerge from this evolutionary tale as culminating natural systems within the unfoldingsequence of physical, biological, mental, and cultural systems we know as "the universe."Ecopsychology draws upon these findings of the new cosmology, striving to make them real toexperience.

3. Just as it has been the goal of previous therapies to recover the repressed contents of theunconscious, so the goal of ecopsychology is to awaken the inherent sense of environmentalreciprocity that lies within the ecological unconscious. Other therapies seek to heal thealienation between person and person, person and family, person and society. Ecopsychologyseeks to heal the more fundamental alienation between the recently created urban psyche andthe age-old natural environment.

4. For ecopsychology as for other therapies, the crucial stage of development is the life of thechild. The ecological unconscious is regenerated, as if it were a gift, in the newborn's enchantedsense of the world. Ecopsychology seeks to recover the child's innately animistic quality ofexperience in functionally "sane" adults. To do this, it turns to many sources, among themtraditional healing techniques of primary people, nature mysticism as expressed in religion andart, the experience of wilderness, the insights of Deep Ecology. Thus, for example,Wordsworth's hymns to the child's love of nature are basic texts for developmentalecopsychology, a first step toward creating the ecological ego.

5. The ecological ego matures toward a sense of ethical responsibility to the planet that is asvividly experienced as our ethical responsibility to other people. It seeks to weave thatresponsibility into the fabric of social relations and political decisions.

6. Among the therapeutic projects most important to ecopsychology is the re-evaluation ofcertain compulsively "masculine" character traits that permeate our structures of political powerand which drive us to dominate nature as if it were an alien and rightless realm. In this regard,ecopsychology draws significantly on the insights of ecofeminism with a view to demystifying thesexual stereotypes.

7. Whatever contributes to small scale social forms and personal empowerment nourishes theecological ego. Whatever strives for large-scale domination and the suppression of personhoodundermines the ecological ego. Ecopsychology therefore deeply questions the essential sanityof our gargantuan urban-industrial culture, whether capitalistic or collectivistic in its organization.But it does so without necessarily rejecting the technological genius of our species or some life-enhancing measure of the industrial power we have assembled. Ecopsychology is postindustrialnot anti-industrial in its social orientation.

8. Ecopsychology holds that there is a synergistic interplay between planetary and personalwell-being. The term "synergy" is chosen deliberately for its traditional theological connotation,which once taught that the human and divine are cooperatively linked in the quest for salvation.The contemporary ecological translation of the term might be: the needs of the planet are theneeds of the person, the rights of the person are the rights of the planet.

23

SELF@BODY

N= 1 =NPK=KIMCHI=N begins with two procedures: urine testing and diet modification in

order to purify and optimize the urine. I examine my body to understand its processes

and conditions, I subject my body and my thoughts to experiments, I develop

tools/systems to purify, alter, and comfort the body. The tools and systems are

customized for my body, mirrors of the self-body.

THE BODY AT THE CORE OF THE SELF

William James relegated the body to a secondary role in the definition of the self.

According to James, the self is dialogical--the self as knower ("I") perpetually overseeing

the self as known ("Me"). The body is merely the "innermost part of the material self'

which happens to be one of four "constituents" of an even larger three parts of the Me.

The boundary between the self and not-self is thus defined not in physical terms but

rather in ephemeral thought (1890).

Yet in much of psychology's history, the body is a principle aspect of the self. Since

Freud's reductionist assertions, the body has played a significant role in the

development, construction and ongoing negotiation and development of the self in

psychology. In Lacan's Mirror Stage, the infant begins to develop a sense of and "ideal-

-I" as a result of seeing its reflected body. D.W. Winnicott and others believe the body

to be the physical boundary of the self (1965). Fisher posited that the psychological

boundary of the self is rooted in the experience of the body (1986). Antonio Damasio

and other cognitive psychologists propose that the self is merely a checking system of

physiological states (2003). Terror Management Theory posits that because the body is

a constant reminder of mortality, we engage in efforts to regulate the body in order to

elevate the body from animal status to that of cultural symbol, thereby minimizing our

vulnerability to death (Goldenberg and Pyszczynski, et.al, 2000).

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TECHNOLOGIES OF THE SELF

In a time of war and environmental degradation, the beleaguered body-self might

attempt to engage in self-care practices, what Michel Foucault 4 has termed

"technologies of the self', those "which permit individuals to effect by their own means

or with the help of others a certain number of operations on their own bodies and souls,

thoughts, conduct, and way of being, so as to transform themselves in order to attain a

certain state of happiness, purity, wisdom, perfection or immortality" (1988).

Foucault's survey of technologies of the self, his last writing, reveals that spiritual and

political (social) fitness and participation is contingent on on-going self-care practices,

which in early Greek-Roman and Christian practices involved vigilant self-examination

and self-questioning, purification of the soul, reflection through dialogue, meditation and

writing, dream analysis, and other truth games. Self-preservation and "narcissistic"

activity were not considered coping mechanisms for distress or pathological in any way.

They were prerequisites and necessary aspects of engagement with the divinity and

society. These technologies are the precursors to contemporary self-care practices and

point to their importance in the spiritual and social lives of its citizens, despite any

narcissistic (pathological or other) undertones. Foucault notes that our own morality of

asceticism has allowed us to obscure the importance of self-care because the self is

that which one can reject (1988).

SELF-EXPERIMENTATION

Self-experimentation is one such technology of the self.

Human experimentation, particularly outside of established, legitimate medical settings,

carries with it echoes of inhumane acts at Nazi war camps. However, the committees

4 Foucault's work on "technologies of the self" was largely inspired by a reading ofLasch's The Culture of Narcissism: American Life in an Age of DiminishingExpectations.

25

established to prevent such atrocities and abuses by researchers, the IRB's and others,

frequently do not regulate self-experimentation. Moreover, as Lawrence Altman, MD

points out in his book Who Goes First?, the Nuremburg Code, developed in response to

the Holocaust, specifically supports and encourages self-experimentation. The fifth

code states:

No experiment should be conducted where there is an a priori reason tobelieve that death or disabling injury will occur; except, perhaps, inthose experiments where the experimental physicians also serve assubjects.

Over the course of history, numerous scientists have conducted experiments on

themselves, most likely inspired by the second tenet of the Nuremberg Code:

The experiment should be such as to yield fruitful results for the good ofsociety, unprocurable by other methods or means of study, and notrandom and unnecessary in nature.

Daniel Carrion, a medical student in Lima, Peru died after he purposely infected himself

with veruga perruana, a skin disease that produces bumps and rashes. His goal was to

discover the skin disease and Oroya fever were related. For Carrion, the decision to

experiment on himself was an ethical one, a necessary step to gaining knowledge about

the course of the disease (Altman 1986).

Seth Roberts, a professor of psychology at Stanford University, has conducted a

number of studies on his own body. For over twelve years he has undergone intense

self-examination of his everyday activities and measured the effects of different

activities on his weight, sleep patterns, susceptibility to cold, etc. Some of his

experiments have failed or yielded insignificant results. Some experiments produce

unusual findings. One of his most interesting findings was that drinking unflavored

fructose water causes weight loss. His explanation as that "flavors associated with

calories raise the body-fat set point: The stronger the association, the greater the

increase. Between meals the set point declines" (Roberts 2004).

26

Carrion's and Roberts' examples illustrate that 1) self-experimentation is a promising,

unrestricted source of scientific and humanistic discoveries, exempt from the scrutiny of

the International Review Board or other governing bodies, 2) failure is common to any

self-experimentation, and 3) one must have a specific relationship with oneself in order

to engage in self-experimentation.

What is this unique relationship? We diet, we exercise, we manipulate our physical

appearance, we engage in or refrain from sex, we care for our bodies or we abuse

them. Exerting control over the body provides the most immediate, most accessible

form of affirming personal power. Technologies of the self represent an exertion of

personal control usually for a higher purpose. The sum of these activities between the

body and self results in a closer relationship between self and body, but at the same

time enforces the hierarchy of psyche over body.

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SELF DEATH4BODY

The attempt to achieve a still, weightless body and the distribution of the body via

growing and sharing vegetables made with one's urine (N=1...) are simulations of

death, thought experiments of an irrevocable, terminal state enacted through the

body.

DEATH IS THE MEDIUM BETWEEN THE BODY AND THE

SELF

DEATH, DENIAL & HEROISM

Before Christopher Lasch, Ernest Becker offered an alternative, although not

incompatible view of the self and the human condition synthesized from the work of

Soren Kierkegaard, Sigmund Freud, Otto Rank, Abraham Maslow, and others. In The

Denial of Death, he argues that the struggle for heroism' is central to human nature and

is based on "organismic narcissism" and our innate need for self-esteem: "Society itself

is a codified hero system, which means that society everywhere is a living myth of the

significance of human life, a defiant creation of meaning."(1973) Becker goes on to

conclude that this heroism is a reaction against the fear of death, what William James

calls the "worm at the core," the universal dilemma.

Becker's concept of "heroism" is echoed in Lasch's "hedonistic and self-serving

practices" as our attempts to escape the fear of death lead us to consume, amass

wealth and prestige, and build systems of power. Thus, though they are different in

their approaches, Becker and Lasch derive their arguments from the same basic focus

on self-preservation as a primary motivation. Becker's fear of death is a survival

instinct, a biological and evolutionary tool to ensure life, much as Lasch's minimalist,

narcissistic self is focused on psychic survival.

28

TERROR MANAGEMENT THEORY

Our existential fears are centered around the body, the symbol of our mortality. Becker

writes: "[T]he existential dilemma, the essence of man: we are half animal, half

symbolic." This duality of body and conscious self is irreconcilable, for "[H]is body is a

material fleshy casing that is alien to him in many ways-the strangest and most

repugnant way being that it aches and bleeds and will decay and die." (1973).

Becker's synthesis of psychoanalytic thought, existentialism, cultural criticism, and

humanistic psychology has been widely influential. Psychologists Jeff Greenberg and

Todd Pyszczynski developed Terror Management Theory (TMT) in homage and

response to Becker's work. TMT posits that human beings need two kinds of support

against the knowledge that we must die: self-esteem and an enhanced cultural

worldview. Self-esteem, according to TMT is derived from the knowledge that one is

meeting cultural standards for beauty, achievement, wealth, etc.

The body is frequently a focus of TMT inquiry, reflecting Becker's influence.

Goldenberg and Pyszczynski, et.al. (2000) argue that because the body is a constant

reminder of mortality, we engage in efforts to imbue the body with meaning in order to

elevate the body from animal status to that of cultural symbol, thereby minimizing our

psychic vulnerability to death. TMT is used to explain societal norms regarding physical

attractiveness, hygiene, dress, and sexual behavior. Solomon, Greenberg, &

Pyszczynski (2000) observe that:

Although a variety of hypotheses derived from TMT have been tested, the mostwidely researched is the MS [mortality salience] hypothesis, which states that tothe extent that psychological structures provide protection from the potential fordeath-related anxiety, reminders of death should intensify efforts to uphold thepsychological structures-cultural worldviews and self-esteem-that provide thisprotection. More than 120 studies have supported variants of this MS hypothesisby showing that thoughts of one's own death affect a wide range of humanactivities, including prosocial behavior, aggression, nationalism, prejudice, self-esteem striving, sexual attitudes, risk taking, and close relationships (seeGoldenberg, Pyszczynski, Greenberg, & Solomon, 2000; Greenberg et al., 1997;Mikulincer, Florian, & Hirschberger, 2003)

29

Terror Management Theory, despite 20 years of empirical evidence, has not yet

explored whether any conditions or behaviors actually reduce the fear of mortality.

Solomon, Greenberg and Pyszczynski's observations point to the fact that there are a

number of confirmed and defensive responses to perceived existential threats. They

test the potential functionality of certain anxiety-reducing measures, but fail to confirm

that they in fact do affect death-anxiety. A handful of studies have observed actual

effects of anxiety buffers on death-anxiety. These include studies of close relationships

(Mikulincer, Florian, Birnbaum, and Malishkevich 2002), objective self-awareness (Silvia

2001), and self-esteem (Greenberg, Pyszczynski, and Solomon, 1993; Harmon-Jones,

Simon, Greenberg, Pyszczynski, Solomon, McGregor, 1997, and others). These

anxiety buffers present the most likely candidates for reducing mortality threat. For

instance, one could test the effect of increases (albeit temporary) in self-esteem on

mortality salience, etc.

Self-esteem as Anxiety Buffer

Self-esteem as an anxiety buffer was an early focus of TMT research, and further

empirical evidence continues to support the importance of self-esteem as a key factor in

managing existential fear (Solomon, Greenberg, Pyszczynski 2004). For example,

Harmon-Jones, et al (1997) found that high self-esteem individuals did not respond to

mortality threat with an increased worldview, a terror management response.

Individuals with high self esteem thus did not need to rely on another construct in order

to deal with the mortality threat; rather their positive self-regard acted as a buffer against

the threat of death. In a previous study, Goldenberg, et al (2000) studied the effects of

mortality salience on identification with one's body. They found that those with high

self-esteem identify and cling to the body when reminded of death whereas those with

low self-esteem distance themselves from the body when reminded of death. The

authors explain that those who feel they are (by their own standards) living up to cultural

standards of physical attractiveness have high self-esteem, and in the face of death will

thus cling to their bodies as a source of self-worth to buffer the threat of death. Those

30

who feel they are not living up to cultural standards will have lower self-esteem and will

thus seek alternative sources of self-worth to deal with the threat of death. More work

appears necessary in this area, as self-esteem is the product of many different factors,

including satisfaction with one's physical appearance. Furthermore, it would be useful

to distinguish between the effects of global self-esteem and trait-specific self-esteem on

mortality threat.

Thus, Terror Management Theory, particularly the mortality salience studies, seem to

confirm Ernest Becker's thesis that death is intimately tied with conceptions of the self,

and dealing with existential threat appears to be a major focus of the mind's activities.

Death is a major component of our psychological make-up, is constantly on our minds

and affects our everyday actions, beliefs, etc. The self, in confronting the body, must

also confront death.

31

BODY@DEATH@P LANET

If the body is the first boundary of the self and digestion and purification are largely

internal experiences, growing and sharing vegetables made with one's urine represents

a dispersal of the self-body, and a union of bodies and body-nature. Death is the

eventual distribution of the body into the earth via decay-- the ultimate formlessness,

weightlessness of the body.

DEATH IS THE MEDIUM BETWEEN THE BODY AND THE

PLANET

Ernest Becker's Denial of Death and Terror Management Theory suggest that the body

and self/soul are somehow separate entities that are connected but at odds with one

another. The body perpetually asserts itself via excrement, hunger, pain, exhaustion,

and sexual desire. The self attempts to elevate itself into a symbol of transcendence,

one that is immortal and therefore immune from the smells and tastes of the (lesser)

mortal body. This split between body and self as a result of fear of one's mortality is

echoed in the difficulty of marketing ecological burials to the public:

There's a cultural barrier to green burial in mainstream culture," says Kim Sorvig, alandscape architect at the University of New Mexico who serves as an advisor tothe Green Burial Council. "We have a detachment or denial about people dying.You can go your entire life and never be confronted with the actual facts of death."Sorvig says planning for conservation burial can change the way people view theirown deaths, and thus their lives. "People are depriving themselves of importantpsychological or spiritual connections by playing along with the idea of deathembedded in the conventional culture," says Sorvig. "This offers great potential forengaging people now and helping them connect with the cycle of birth and deathas a part of human ecology -- it's a very meaningful use of the earth"(http://www.alternet.org/envirohealth/39923/)

By confronting death in an ecological way, it is possible to achieve a reconciliation with

one's own mortality. This reconciliation eliminates the "worm at the core," one's

g r e a t e s t f e a r

32

That mounting environmental degradation threatens the survival of the planet is a priori.

Theodore Roszak argues that the best remedy is a narcissistic revolution in which

personal needs are aligned with planetary needs:

What the modern cultural environment has required of us is an enormousextroversion of attention and energy for the purpose of reshaping the Earth into aglobal industrial economy. For two centuries we have been subordinating theplanet and our deepest personal needs to that project. This great act ofcollective alienation, I have suggested, lies at the root of both the environmentalcrisis and individual neurosis. In some way, at some point, a change of direction,a therapeutic turning inward, had to take place within a culture as maniacallydriven as ours has been by the need to achieve and conquer." (1988)

The reconciliation and merger between self and planet may be accomplished via a

process of self-examination, body-self integration, reconciliation with death and a uniting

of body with nature. Once merged, the self develops an ecological unconscious.

SELF@PLANET // N=1=NPK=KIMCHI=N

1. A thorough examination of the self-body and soul.

2. Performing tests and experiments on the self to understand the best systems

and conditions for the self.

3. Confronting and dealing with the terror of death; foregoing this leads to

neurosis and despair.

4. A closer integration of the body into the self-concept

5. Connecting to nature and working to ensure the safety of the planet.

33

6. Synthesizing self-knowledge and design principles to produce technologies of

the self

7. An increasing level of personal change through adaptation, reorganization,

and retro-fitting to the new technologies of the self resulting in purification,

reconciliation with death, and a closer integration of self, body, and nature.

34

Ilil. THEMASTERLIST

abject

adaptation

advanced life support

agentic self

agriculture

air exchange

alienation

anima mundi

annhilation

biography

biomimicry

body double

body scanner

bowling alone

breast feeding

bruxism

Buddhism

case history

chair

cleanse

closed loop

confession

consciousness

consumption

contradiction

control

corporeal

corpse

35

covert/overt

cryogenics

culture of narcissism

customization

cyborg

death

decay

defense mechanism

design

dialogical self

diet

digestion

distribution

eating disorder

ecopsychology

ecosystem

ecovention

ego

environmental degradation

ergonomic

existentialism

failure

false self

feeding tube

fermentation

fertilizer

fit

fragmentation

furniture

gaia

garden

36

healing

heroism

hierarchy of needs

horticultural therapy

Human Potential movement

human subject

Humanistic Psychology

human-plant

hydroponics

idealization

identity

immortality

individualism

interdependence

International Review Board

intervention

isolation

kidney

kimchi

landscape

living unit

love

meditation

minimalist

mirror stage

monk

mortality salience

narcissism

nature

negative staining

nirvana

37

nitrogen cycle

nitrosomas/nitrobacter

npk

objectification

pain

pathology

perfection

permaculture

pickle

prophet

proprioreception

prosthetic

psychotherapy

public-private

purification

recycling

ritual

self-assertion

self-body

self-care

self-control

self-efficacy

self-examination

self-experimentation

self-help

self-preservation

septic system

simulation

sleep

soul

space

38

Spaceship Earth

Survival

sustainability

techniques of the body

technologies of the self

terror management theory

terrorism

thanatopsis

torture

transcendent

transformation

transitional object

trauma

uncanny

urban

urine diverting toilet

urine therapy

utopia

vegan

vehicle

waste

water reclamation

water treament

weightlessness

39

BIBLIOGRAPHY

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Sciences, 27, 227-288.Roszak, Theodore. (1978). Person/Planet. Garden City, NY: Anchor

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What Makes Green Burials So Hard to Market?http://www.alternet.org/envirohealth/39923/ (retrieved August 10, 2006).

Wink, Paul. "Narcissism." (1996) In Personality Characteristics of thePersonality Disordered. (1996). Charles G. Costello, ed. New York: JohnWiley & Sons, Inc.

Winnicott, D. W. (1965). The motivational process and the facilitatingenvironment: Studies in the theory of emotional development. London: HogarthPress.

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ILLUSTRATION CREDITS

Figures 1, 3-6. Jonathon Hexner

Figure 2. Jae Rhim Lee

42

THANKS Y'ALL!!

This project was funded by the generous financial support of the Council for the Arts atMIT and the Peter de Florez '38 Fund for Humor at MIT.

I would like to thank the following individuals who kindly gave their time, expertise,encouragement, and feedback. Without these folks the project could not have beenpossible:

Mike Grusak, Ph.D.Krzystof WodiczkoJoan JonasTammy ChuMarion DumasJulia ScherChris DewartCharlie MathisAnna Jasonides, RD, LDDr. Reza AbdiKai Udert, Ph.D.,Sarah Booth, PhDSusan CohenMagda FernandezDouglas Pfeiffer

Special thanks to my mother, Jeong Shin Lee, for teaching me how to make kimchi.

43