Mapping Research

For our mapping assignment my group has chosen to focus on the trees shown on the tree work and discussing native versus non native foliage, comparing their locations on campus and re-asserting the purpose of the tree walk and Elon as a botanical garden as an educational tool. The next, and most important, step that we need to take is going on the tree walk and actually documenting the location of the respective trees on campus. We have already acquired a copy of the tree walk from which we are able to identify our subjects as native and non-native, however there are 90 types of trees on Elons campus so we must determine as a group which trees to focus on, currently we are thinking about exclusively mapping the trees that are labeled on campus, that way our results will illustrate which type of trees, native or non-native, Elon feels deserve to be labeled. I would hypothesize that there is a greater number of non-native trees labeled in comparison to native ones.

Our mapping project is concerned on re-directing the origin of the tree walk, setting it at the community garden to draw attention to the space that we will be renovating over the rest of the term. We also will be displaying facts and statistics juxtaposed with eco-friendly alternatives.

Thoughts on Japan

To say the recent destruction and devastation in Japan is saddening is a vast understatement. The images, stories and video footage of the earthquake and subsequent tsunami that struck Japan on March 11th off the coast of Sendai are bone-chillingly soul crushing. To see images of such intense chaos and sorrow is strange when those events took place such a far distance away, it is easy to feel a disconnect, to feel sympathetic but to remain unchanged in your daily life and concerns. And I will be the first to admit that in the past, when natural disasters have struck in foreign locations, I absorbed the information and moved on, no emotions, no worries, it was just another thing that had happened. But when I first heard about Japan and perused the images and videos online I could not stop the tears from streaming down my face. This cataclysmic event destroyed the lives of countless people, and it is the thought of these people that made me cry. The land that was destroyed, well, that is simply a part of nature- earthquakes are a natural phenomenon- and in time the earth will heal, but the lives taken and the lives that are irreversibly scarred by the happenings are of a permanent state.

Continuing to spend time with these images of devastation is a ever present reminder of the fickle nature of the environment, as well as the power it holds. My thoughts and prayers go out to Japan and all those effected by this disaster, there is a light at the end of the tunnel, it just might be a long tunnel.

Dinner Party

Sitting down to dinner, and by dinner I mean a bowl of cereal, with an inanimate object probably isn't the strangest thing I've done this week, but is definitely in the top five. Seeing as my sacred object is a leaf with tiny hole in it, there wasn't much conversation, but i think it was a nice gesture to spend 20 minutes with a leaf that would otherwise be lying in a pile of its dead foliage compatriots somewhere in the Elon Forest. Unfortunately my camera is currently on the fritz, but I will soon post a picture of my... unique experience.

Environmentalities: Linda Weintraub

Upon receiving the Linda Weintraub reading I must admit, I was less than elated to read a half inch thick stack of papers. But when i finally sat down to thumb through the reading I was pleasantly surprised to see examples of a wide range of ecological art sub-sections. As a painter I am constantly considering aesthetics, and in creating art that is poetic and ambiguous in a sense. Throughout this semester I have struggled to fully appreciate some of the work we have looked at because aesthetics are not the main concern of all ecological artists, for many the informative aspect is more important which makes it difficult for me to acknowledge those pieces as successful works of art, when they appear to me to be more like science projects. Linda Weintraub's article was incredibly informative, both in the information provided but also in the exercises proposed, they helped me to better appreciate ecological art that I had originally dismissed.

Weintraub has a really open attitude in regards to the art that she is discussing, not dismissing aesthetic eco-art just because it is not bettering the environment, and not preaching about the amazing-ness that is science based eco-art. And I must say, although I know we have discussed him greatly in class, Andy Goldsworthy is the artist discussed in the reading that I really respond to, the abstracted, simple nature of his work is something I truly admire.

Alternative Maps

The other day I came across a map by Chris Kenny called Grand Island that is a part of a series of maps depicting a fictional location. I think this map provides a good example of stepping out of the box and tackling alternative ways in which one can create a map.

Vertical Garden?

In my mindless stumbling through the interweb,  I happened across and amazing website called Flora Grubb Gardens. The site is a lot of flower arrangements and what not, but it had an epic item for sale; a vertical garden.

Though i would never purchase this, for the sole reason that I know i could make it myself, I thought it was a really interesting co-mingling of art and nature, perhaps an Elon friendly eco-art project?

Patricia Johanson

Patricia Johanson should be the poster child for the ecological art movement. Not only is her work superbly breathtaking, her work epitomizes the mixing of art making and earth saving. If I was to put Patricia'a work in a subsection of eco-art I would most likely term it reclamation work, though she does not necessarily re-enter a damaged area and restore it to its original state, she is rehabilitating a damaged ecosystem through the installation of her work while simultaneously fulfilling the needs of the human population. I find it a truly beautiful attribute of Johanson's work that she seeks to find a happy medium between the need of the reclaimed spaces natural ecosystem and humans, I feel it a wise choice to appease those with power while at the same time succeeding in her quest to help the environment.

My favorite project of Johanson's (at least in an aesthetic sense) is Fair Park Lagoon in Dallas, Texas

The Lagoon was not only made to help the ecosystem of the site, but was actually modeled after two plants native to the area; the Delta Duck-Potato and the Texas Fern.