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.