A Respite for a Tired Soul

It was getting towards the end of the semester. I knew I would be soon packing up my classroom and transferring to a new school at the end of this year’s teaching contract. The idea of the abundance of boxes and crates consuming my apartment once again overwhelmed me. My husband was getting ready to leave for his deployment and we spent the remainder of his days at home preparing last minute things while trying to squeeze in time together. I looked forward to my time away this summer on my travels and studies, but felt the crunch of time approaching quickly. I read when I can, submitted my graduate work when needed, took care of my body with the necessary exercise, sleep and healthy eating, but was finding it difficult to appreciate the small things in life that I advocate so often for.

I’m currently working on an eco art photography series which intends to entice the viewer to take some time to look more closely at small delicate moments in nature and time in daily life, pique their curiosities of the natural world, and provide wonder to natural happenings that tend to be overlooked or taken for granted in our busy technologically infused schedules. I have realized through the development of this series that the process of my art making is both mentally and emotionally stimulating and to explore this component in detail would provide me more insight on my work. Through the next stages of my research, I investigated the process of my picture taking and discussed its qualities and elements that continue to influence and shape my art making decisions. 

2121. 20 x 30 inches. Photography. 2014.

After some encouragement, I found a small sliver of time to sneak away to capture a couple of natural happenings. Although the initial process felt slightly forced, I managed to embrace the escape and discover new visual moments of excitement and wonder. It felt like a guided meditation. A time to self-reflect through a camera lens. A time to crop a mysterious moment of light and/or reflections in an effort to provoke wonderment in someone else once shared. I found myself thinking how slowing down to appreciate the smallest of things helps me connect with myself. These small compositions of light, shapes, unidentifiable movements, and color transitions I felt were representing a part of the many things that go unnoticed.

While taking these photos I imagined my body calm, collected, steadying my breathe, holding a pose, and closing my finger tip on my capture button like the slight tap of my eyelids touching. I am reminded of my yoga practice and the postures my body often finds itself in during these captivating moments. I remember an excerpt I read when I studied mediation. In Wherever You Go There You Are, Jon Kabat-Zinn explains how it is important to be awake, aware and conscious to be able to observe and be satisfied with what we are seeing or feeling in that moment. He describes that “The best way to capture moments is to pay attention” (Kabat-Zinn, 2005, p. 17).  I stand, correct my body’s unusual position, release tension off of my muscles, joints, blood flow returns to those silenced places, and I quietly, informally, almost unrecognizably, thank the subject of my new abstracted image that is presented on my screen. I continue on and consider new objects to delight my lense. Everything has seemed to slow down and the smallest details are becoming areas of excitement for my eyes. I ponder, wonder, and contemplate over the next composition I will construct. Questions are asked but I know they will sometimes be unanswered, hypothetical, and rhetorical. All the while, I embrace the stillness that I have entered.

Blues. 20 x 30 inches. Photography. 2014.

Thirty minutes have passed and I feel less anxious than I did before. I relate it almost to a power nap standing up; yet, these moments spent with my surroundings provided me ample time to explore and reconnect with my natural environment. A respite for a tired soul. While describing the importance for children to connect with nature, Richard Louv, the author of the Last Child in the Woods, also emphasizes the importance for adults not to forget how beneficial time spent exploring the outdoors. He explains time in this sense: “Time in nature is not leisure time; it’s an essential investment in our children’s health (and also, by the way, in our own)” (Louv, 2005, p. 120). He also compares controlled outdoor play to self-directed exploration, stating that the latter is more important in nurturing creativity and wonder since “It takes time – loose, unstructured dreamtime – to experience nature in a meaningful way” (Louv, 2005, p. 117). I could, indeed, compare these thirty minutes to a euphoric, dreamlike state.

Across 2121. 20 x 30 inches. Photography. 2014.

It is quite apparent to me that my brief exploration with nature was therapeutic as it very easily restored my mental and emotional state. Allan Kaprow, eco artist and author of Essays of the Blurring of Art and Life, similarly describes a therapeutic art called “lifelike art.” Through a very lengthy discussion in his essay “The Real Experiment,” Kaprow explains how lifelike art represents art that is portrayed in action, experience, performing (and not necessarily in a theatre), interaction, participating with an environment, daily movements recognized and embraced, and anything that is inseparable from real life (Kaprow, 1993, pp. 204-206). However, in the article “Allan Kaprow: Art as Life,” this philosophy is easily summed up as the “reconsideration of artwork as a physical object” (Ozler, 2008). While the therapeutic element is an underlying tone that is represented throughout these activities, I have found similar qualities between this thought process and the process of my photography series. “The purpose of likelike art was [is] therapeutic: to reintegrate the piecemeal reality we take for granted. Not just intellectually, but directly, as experience – in this moment, in this house, at this kitchen sink…Lifelike art can be, for therapy and meditation, a bridge into daily affairs. It is even possible that some lifelike art could become a discipline of healing and meditation as well” (Kaprow, 1993, pp. 206, 218). I am able to compare parallel similarities to Kaprow’s “Performing a River” and my capturing of natural happenings. During Kaprow’s environmental interaction, he enticed participants to savor the guardianship of transporting a wet rock alongside of a river; while atypical considerations of humidity, distance and how the rock was placed in one’s hand were at play (Weintraub, 2012, pp. 87-92). Both activities, my picture taking and his performance, elicit a quiet recognition of a small event and moment taking place that would often go unnoticed and untold, disappearing in the fast development of a day’s time, while embracing the emotional connection to procedural steps.

Quiet wakening. 20 x 30 inches. Photography. 2014.

During my picture taking process, my future audience, their reaction and response, also guides my decisions. I look forward to showing the images to others and to see what feedback arises thereafter. Without this sharing, without their few minutes of contemplation over the subject matter, without eliciting a desire in my viewer to discover their own natural happenings, without provoking this change in their behavior and perspective, I feel my art would not satisfy my needs. I strive for the viewer to feel an intrinsic desire to discover these intimate details that the natural environment could provide. This reaction is what would complete my art. In this artistic process, I have identified that the viewer is just as important to me as the art making. The two go together, complement and encapsulate my practice. I found that nearly 80 years ago John Dewey – a philosopher, psychologist and educational reformer – had deeply rationalized the relationship between the art making and audience in his book Art as Experience. The following excerpt illustrates this: “The doing or making is artistic when the perceived result is of such a nature that its qualities as perceived have controlled the question of the production. The act of producing that is directed by intent to produce something that is enjoyed in the immediate experience of perceiving has qualities that a spontaneous or uncontrolled activity does not have. The artist embodies in himself the attitude of the perceiver while he works” (Dewey, 1934, p. 50).

Slowing down and reflecting on my process reminded me of what I intend to capture through my photography. Not only capturing a moment and its details, but also connecting with an internal awareness; as it is through this awareness that I can acutely give attention to something so small as a repeating pattern of a light gradation. I believe that it is by means of this self-guided meditation that I am able to embrace the process as the art form. While I value my imagery as tools to engage and elicit a reaction in the viewer, I also perceive this physical component as much as my art form as well. Without being aware of this essential component to my art decisions, I would only merely be capturing beautiful imagery, however my intentions ultimately lie in provoking change in the perspective of my audience.

References: 

Dewey, J. (1934). Art as Experience. New York: Penguin Group.

Kabat-Zinn, J. (1994). Wherever you go there you are (10^th ed.). New York: Hyperion.

Kaprow, A. (1993). Essays on the blurring of art and life. Los Angeles: University of California Press.

Louv, R. (2005). Last child in the woods: Saving our children from nature-deficit disorder. New York: Algonguin Books of Chapel Hill.

Ozler, L. (2008, March 14). Allan Kaprow: Art as life. Retrieved from http://www.dexigner.com/news/14013

Weintraub, L. (2012). To life!: Eco art in pursuit of a sustainable planet. Los Angeles: University of California Press.

Moments of Contemplation

Over the past couple months of my eco art studies, I have been influenced by a small handful of eco artists and have developed a desire to create a related art series based on these eco art concepts. I am planning to create a series of photos displaying abstract visual representations of natural ecological occurrences that incorporate transparent materials and intangibles such as light, shadow, and reflections. The abstract qualities of the series will inspire the viewer to question the sources of the images and encourage them to contemplate upon them. These images will not be created but found, as they portray illustrated moments of time where natural objects are being manipulated by nature. With this series, I hope to entice the viewer to look more closely at small delicate moments in nature and time in daily life, pique their curiosities of the natural world, and provide wonder to natural happenings that tend to be overlooked or taken for granted in our busy technologically infused schedules.

West Oakland. 8 x 10 inches. Photography. 2004.

I’ve been taking close up images of natural objects for some time now. Looking at my photo archives, I see it was in 2004 when I became intrigued by an icy pattern on my bathroom window. What we know as “Jack Frost” had turned into a photo shoot with a mysterious construction of shapes, lines and gentle variations of icy hues. I recognized that with one stroke of sun, this small intricate detailing of icy lace could disappear into a wet window and took it upon myself to capture my first natural happening. Within a few years, I began exploring additional small natural moments I discovered in water, light and reflections. Some not so apparently found in day-to-day life, but inspirational to my new developing series. 

Cannonball. 8 x 10 inches. Photography. 2007.

This was around the same time that I created my wind chimes outside the art studios at my undergraduate campus. Small metal tubes emanating a light hum carefully situated, almost hidden, among chosen branches in the beginning tree line were to call to the viewer to be open to question their source, create a mystery and encourage the viewer into exploring the trees and branches. Primarily, it was to encourage the viewer to use their senses and connect with the outdoors. It held a similar purpose to the abstract images I began collecting through my photography, where they were to lead a viewer to desire to know more. I hoped wonderment and questions would then lead to an appreciation of the beauty found within nature.

Cube. 8 x 10 inches. Photography. 2010.

Ten years later, I have come across a book that showcases artists that do just this, giving my previous work new purpose and meaning. As described in Weintraub’s To Life! (2012), Allan Kaprow, Hans Haacke, Educardo Kac and Red Earth have created instances where one can derive an appreciation for moments of nature through careful design, direction and installation while these systems act/react and change through manipulation. Allan Kaprow’s “Performing a River” enticed participants to savor the guardianship of transporting a wet rock. Atypical considerations of humidity, distance and how the rock was placed in one’s hand were at play during this performance (Weintraub, 2012, p. 87-92). Hans Haacke’s “Condensation Cube” delighted viewers in producing a natural system that displayed water droplets in an unusual and unfamiliar scenario. He successfully captured and produced a layer of condensation for observation purposes, wherein it is most of the time undesirably collected inside a car window, on a bathroom mirror before its necessary use for our daily preparation, or on the side of a drinking glass resting on top of a wooden table (Weintraub, 2012, p. 69-73). Eduardo Kac’s “Painting with Life” framed living microbes and created situations that encouraged them to compose abstract compositions; and, Red Earth’s “Enclosure” provided a surreal, yet nature-orientated, experience to bring out a response to landscape and site (Weintraub, 2012, p. 221-225, 253-258). All four eco artists created instances where atypically we do not see or experience this moment happening in nature. They brought things into our light. Their art reminds us of nature by awakening our senses.

I found it interesting that we have to be reminded of the beauty nature provides. I now know that I took it for granted that I grew up within it, appreciating it, watching my parents appreciating it. Some do not have a backyard, neighboring woods or encouraging experiences. Which is why I wasn’t all too surprised to learn about nature deficit disorder. I first came across this term while reading about Red Earth in To Life. While this eco art duo strived to “help curb the pandemic of ‘nature-deficit disorders’” through their performance, I began to feel like I too could help support this cause through my art (Weintraub, 2012, p. 257).

Still. 8 x 10 inches. Photography. 2011.

I found that Richard Louv, a journalist and author of books that discuss the connections between family, nature and community, coined “Nature-Deficit Disorder” and describes it as a moving away from nature and towards technology. In his book “Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder,” Louv (2005) argues for a movement to bring nature back into children’s lives and why it’s advantageous to do so. Louv further explains in an NPR interview that the unstructured connections made with nature tap into all the senses, promote discovery and, most importantly, build compassion (Inskeep & Louv, 2005).

I later found startling, yet not surprising, statements in another article by Louv titled “Back to Nature: Understanding Nature Deficit Disorder.” It describes that while we shift our focus onto screens, we unfortunately spend a majority of our time trying to block out our senses. Here, it also says that nature deficit disorder isn’t necessarily a disorder of children or adults but of a society and community (Louv, 2013).

Yellow and Blue. 8 x 10 inches. Photography. 2012.

In addition to creating a series, I began thinking about how I could present this concept of abstract visual representations to a younger audience in a lesson format. I know students of all ages would appreciate interpreting examples of nature in abstract form; as it would simulate a mystery, a game, and perhaps a challenge to figure out what was being represented. I asked a colleague about how I would apply this concept to a lesson. This fellow art teacher was thrilled to connect it to a recent workshop she attended that did just this. Deborah had said that engaging the students in a scientific study of found natural materials using small eye scopes (Eye Loupe 5x Magnification, to be specific) will provide a stimulating observational challenge in identifying textures, lines, shapes that were not so apparent to them before. Students would then select one interesting object to carefully observe and illustrate in a small sketch and then enlarge it into a painting (D. Parkansky, personal communication, March 28, 2014). The mystery and wonderment would come to its fruition when all students can observe and contemplate over their peers’ subject matter.

While I found that the four influential eco artists and the nature deficit disorder inspired me to develop a photographic series, I feel that it is most important to recognize and establish the message I am attempting to communicate. I want the viewer, society, and children to slow down, look and appreciate what is so often overlooked, unseen and/or unrecognized. The abstract qualities of the images captured will encourage the wonderment and fascination of the subject or object’s origin. Images included in the series may be rotated in display, but the subject will not be manipulated or created for my photography purposes. I will strive to capture a pureness to the natural happenings, moments and occurrences in daily life in order to solicit a “natural” connection. Furthermore, I will encourage interpretation, self-discovery and personalized conclusions, in order to promote active learning and compassion. This is not intended to serve as a substitute for nature, but to inspire and provoke a curiosity that leads one outdoors with open eyes and turned on, or “tuned in”, senses.

* * * *

A Moment (in nature) #1. 8 x 10 inches. Photography. 2014.

My first of this series is called “A Moment (in nature) #1.” Purposefully ambiguous. Ponder for a few moments. Enjoy its abstract qualities. It could be viewed solely as an abstract piece or you can figure out what it is. Either way, enjoy.

~Jen

References:

Inskeep, S. (Interviewer) & Louv, R. (Interviewee). (2005). Saving kids from ‘nature deficit disorder’ [Interview transcript]. Retrieved from NPR Web site: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4665933

Louv, R. (2005). Last child in the woods: Saving our children from nature-deficit disorder. New York: Algonguin Books of Chapel Hill.

Louv, R. (July 16, 2013). Back to nature: Understanding nature deficit disorder. Network Ireland, 86. Retrieved from http://networkmagazine.ie/articles/back-nature-understanding-nature-deficit-disorder

Weintraub, L. (2012). To Life!: Eco art in pursuit of a sustainable planet. Los Angeles: University of California Press.