A Dutch tin-glazed earthenware plate from 1661, bearing the words “You & I Are Earth,” survived London’s Great Plague of 1602 and the Great Fire of 1666. Rediscovered in a sewer, it now resides in a museum, bridging centuries of human and planetary upheaval.

Though its inscription remains cryptic, it signals our inescapable connection to Earth’s living systems. Today, with climate disruption, species loss, and resource exploitation on the rise, these words resonate more than ever, compelling us to rethink our place in the world.

While some yearn to revert to a pre-industrial era, there’s no turning back. Humanity never truly discarded its sense of wonder, and we can’t simply return to an imagined, enchanted past. Instead, we must transform how we coexist with nature in radical, innovative ways.

This exhibition, “You and I Are Earth,” explores such possibilities through worldbuilding. Students from UCL’s BA Media program present games, films, immersive installations, and interactive pieces that probe our relationships with the planet. These projects combine theory, practice, and AI-driven exploration to envision fresh paths toward ecological balance.

Rooted in a practice-as-research approach, the BA Media program merges game design, immersive media, filmmaking, and theoretical investigation into a forward-looking curriculum. Part of the newly established School of Creative and Cultural Industries at UCL East, it fosters bold experimentation and meaningful collaboration with industry and beyond.

Showcasing 42 capstone projects, the exhibition spans Marshgate’s galleries and the One Pool Street Cinema at UCL East. Through immersive storytelling and inventive technologies, visitors are invited to reconsider how we inhabit Earth’s fragile ecosystems. Step into these collaborative visions and imagine new, symbiotic ways of living on our shared planet. Embrace “You & I Are Earth”—each creative exploration helps shape a future where humans and the planet thrive in unison.

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