How Much You Need the Natural World

Levester Williams
Reed Esslinger-Payet, GSI
Art-Des. 250:Section 5

Being immersed in technology in my everyday life, I have been almost deprived of my primordial “natural” sense to appreciate the natural world. However, I am fully aware that nature is the source of the Earth’s life. Not only do I need nature, I must protect the natural world since the condition of our environment beholds what issues that our future (and present) generation will have to resolve. According to Diamond, societies, such as Maya, Rome, Greece, etc., were “inadvertently destroying environmental resources on which their societies depended” (3-6); therefore, environmental abuse was one of the factors in the collapse of these societies (Diamond 6-7). Not to recognize the importance of nature and its role on all life causes costly consequence for everything, since environmental issues will stay unresolved.
Consequently, if people cannot distinguish the natural world from the man-made world (or technological world), environmental issues will stay unheeded:
The world is too much with us; late and soon,
Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers:
Little we see in Nature that is ours;
We have given our hearts away a sordid boon! (“The World”)
This excerpt from William Wordsmith’s poem, “The World Is Too Much with Us,” portrays the common detachment that now is instilled in our societies about the natural world—even I possess this detachment. During the day, I barely stop and ruminate about the beauty around me in natural world since the man-made world has its edifices lingering and towering above nature--as if to claim itself as the victor between the two worlds. I consume and consume without any concern about nature. Corporations have branded its logo onto the brain cells of my mind. It is difficult to operate without pondering what I will buy this day or what brand will I represent today—listening only to the commercials from the man-made world and not my natural sense to conserve the environment. (Picture above is the Huron River in Nicholas Arboreum taken by me)
Leopold “[know] a painting so evanescent that it is seldom viewed at all…It is a river” (Leopold 51). A river that I ignore yet I drink from its bank. A river that supplies life to the environment around me yet I abuse it. However, I know that I need nature.


Works Cited
Diamond, Jared M. Collapse How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed. New York: Viking, 2005. Print.
Leopold, Aldo. Sand County Almanac, and Sketches Here and There. New York: Oxford UP, 1987. Print.
"The World is Too Much With Us -." Poets.org - Poetry, Poems, Bios & More. Web. 19 Sept. 2009. .

Weekly Response 2: You & Nature

(Green Roof. Vancouver, British Columbia)

Please consider how much you need the natural world.

I’m leaving this purposely open and ambiguous so that you each come up with your own definition of “need”/ “natural world” etc. and furthermore to define for WHAT you need/ don’t need the natural world. The first line in the foreward to a Sand Co. Almanac touches on this concept: “There are some who can live without wild things, and some who cannot” (vii, Leopold). Reflect on who is “telling you” that nature/the environment are important or not important to you and why.

Hopefully some of the skills/revelations from your observation paper will relate to this response and vica versa...-R

First Weekly Statement

Meghan Kelly

Section 5

In the article “Beyond Hope” by Derrick Jensen, the issues of hope and optimism are brought up about how we can see passed the doom of environmental issues. Hope is something that Jensen believes is “what keeps us chained to the system” (Jensen). Hope can make people want to change, but hope cannot have any promising solutions. In the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, hope is “to cherish a desire with anticipation.” We all desire that species never go extinct, but eventually certain species will not survive. Optimism, on the other hand would be the best way to view our situation. According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, optimism is “an inclination to put the most favorable construction upon actions and events or to anticipate the best possible outcome.” If someone is optimistic, then they will work to make great things happen. I believe that Jensen wants people to be optimistic because he believes that people can come up with solutions to help the world and all living things. If we simply hope that things go better, nothing will happen, to come up with positive changes, optimism is needed.

I think that optimism is very important in life. If I am optimistic about my schoolwork, I will work hard to get a grade I deserve. I can always hope for an A, but unless I put forth the effort in getting an A, I will not obtain it. If I work hard and am optimistic, I may think I deserve an A, and will probably earn that grade. Thinking about my creative work, I cannot be hopeful. I cannot simply hope that a drawing looks like the person I am drawing, I can be optimistic that my drawing will look very similar to the person being drawn, and it will turn out well. Thus, if I am pessimistic, the drawing will turn out nothing like I wanted it to.

In class, Professor Joe Trumpey had us all fill out a questionnaire. Some of the questions he asked us were about plants, and to name ten species of native plants from our hometown. When I saw that question, I hoped I knew them. I could not list ten, and then began to feel guilty that I do not know enough about my home and the world. When Professor Trumpey went over the results of that question, he told us not to feel guilty. Jensen talks about giving up on hope in his article, and mentions that most people do not care enough about the world and environment. I believe that this course is to make us optimistic about the world, and to use our creative minds to come up with some solutions regarding the environment. After realizing that Professor Trumpey wants us to think, because if we think about issues, and come up with many possible solutions, then we are creating change. One of our assignments was to fill out a carbon footprint. If we realize that doing little things can help the environment, and do them, then we are no longer hoping that the environment is having some sort of benefit from us, but we are optimistic that these small changes are actually helping out the environment, then we are on the right track.

Works Cited:

“Beyond Hope” by Derrick Jensen

Merriam-Webster Dictionary

Beyond Hope

Levester Williams

Reed Esslinger-Payet,GSI

Art-Des 250: Section 5

It seems as if Jensen views hope as a destructive tool, a bane to action. According to him, to have hope is to rely on someone else to discover the solution to the environmental issues and for one not to take responsibilities: “To hope for some result means you have given up any agency concerning it” (Jensen). There is a distinct demarcation between hope and helplessness. Hope does not denote or connote “helplessness.” Someone may hope that someone else will come and aid him, but hope is the longing of something to come true not the longing for someone to aid someone else. When one is in the state of helplessness, then one will only be dependent upon someone else to help. Contrastingly, hope is the catalyst that encourages work to be done.

His definitions of hope are only arbitrary since hope has produce work. “Faith without works is dead” (James).To have faith, one must have hope that their efforts will not be in vain to change a situation. When you cannot believe in a change, then why exert any effort in something that will not change? This is ludicrous and quite vain. To have hope without putting forth work is false since one recognizes during that situation that one’s efforts create progress. To categorize all hope as false, in which Jensen did, shows how he is mistakenly not realizing the differences between hope and helplessness.

“The trouble with most people is that they think with their hopes or fears or wishes rather than with their minds” (qtd. in Hornes). In the context of environmental issues, this statement is true. Of course, environmental issues will always beleaguer the world; therefore, environmentalists will not efface all the issues if not any. However, with the efforts of others, a difference will be made. As mentioned by Professor Trumpey, the world operates under a “utility of scale.” We as individuals think of our actions as being separate from rest of the world when it comes to environmental issues. For example, if a factory is dumping their waste into a river, one could say that he didn’t have any connection with the factory’s decision. Yet, he does since he might buy their products. Or he thinks he is not adding much carbon to the atmosphere not fully recognizing that his decision to drive a car is contributing to gases being released by cars.

Basically, our decisions of how we handle our environment agglomerate a scale of effects. We as artists have the power of creativity (Trumpey). Worrying alone about our environment will not change it. With my knowledge in our academic work and creativity, I must be conscious of my everyday decisions. With applied knowledge comes power. Now, I must make a conscious effort to practice “green” as much as possible in artworks or to use alternative materials if negotiable.

Works Cited

Horne, Jed. "FEAR: False Evidence Appearing Real." The Left Coaster. 7 Aug. 2004. Web. 18 Sept. 2009. .

James. New King James Version. Web. 18 Sept. 2009. .

Jensen, Derrick. "Beyond Hope." Orion. Web. 18 Sept. 2009. .

Trumpey, Joe. Stamps Auditorium, Ann Arbor. 16 Sept. 2009. Lecture.

Lily Porter

ADP 3

9/16/09

Section 5

 

 

        Derrick Jensen expresses in his article “Beyond Hope” how our society needs optimism but cannot survive the numerous environmental concerns if we have a hopeful attitude.  At first, this seems extremely contradictory, however with his thorough explanations, the reader begins to see how his passionate opposition to hope may be sensible. 

        Of course we are constantly encouraged by our parents, teachers, religious leaders, the media, and the government to have hope.  They urge us to not be discouraged, because hope will get us through anything.  Well Jensen disagrees.  His argument conveys the idea that with hope comes the dependence on other people or things to accomplish the deeds that need to be completed in order for our environment to be taken care of.  If everyone has hope, and relies on others to save the environment, nothing will improve and we will be living in an increasingly dangerous world.  He says that with hope “you are essentially powerless” because you are expecting everything to be settled for you (Jensen).

        Jensen definitely desires to strike a chord in his readers and make us think twice about what society instills in us from a young age, and how we take it all in without a second guess.  His strong convictions and attitude persuade us to not only question our outlook on environmental concerns and ways to solve them, but also to question all we have been taught and anything we take for granted.  This is a wonderful (and probably not coincidental) piece of advice not only for me as a young academic student, but more importantly as an artist.  Art is always more influential when it has context in today’s world.  If I make art that challenges widely accepted views of society that I disagree with, not only will I be standing up for something I believe in, but I will be doing my job as a creative thinker to dare and encourage others to do the same (Jensen). 

        As Professor Trumpey’s model showed on Monday, our actions go about in a circular cycle, not a linear.  The model illustrates that individuals make/have stuff which affects the world, and the world influences and impacts the individual.  Our work is constantly influenced by our environment and experiences.  In turn, whatever we make as artists or designers can potentially affect our peers, our community, or even the world.  That is incredible.  One artist can (and many have) change people’s views on certain issues, encourage people to become active and promote their beliefs (Trumpey).

        Trumpey also made the point that unlike engineers and doctors, there are “no rules for artists and designers, [so] think outside the box!” (Trumpey) We do not have formulas or equations to get wonderful, conceptual or beautiful artwork (although at times that seems like it would be much easier), but it gives us the liberty to do… whatever the hell we want to.  We have the artistic license to create pieces and designs that can influence ideas and help make our environment a more sustainable place.  We have the option and the encouragement to not follow the rules, but to get creative in our problem solving concepts.  Everyone wants to be the rule breaker, and we have that choice.  So let’s break some rules, stop hoping and start creating.

 

Jensen, Derrick. "Beyond Hope." Orion Magazine May 2006: n. pag. Web.

10 Sep 2009. .

 

Trumpey, Joseph. Art Design Perspective 3: Technology and the

Environment. School of Art and Design. Stamps Auditorium,

Ann Arbor, MI. 14 Sep 2009. Lecture.

Welcome to our blog!

Hello all,

Here is the cyber-space where you will be posting your weekly responses.

The IDEA is:

1) the opportunity to continue *intelligent* discussion (of the topics you encounter in lecture as well as our weekly discussion sessions)

2)to TYPE loudly (for those of you who are timid in group, or for those simply need some gestation time to make sense of it all)

and ultimately,

3) to provide a means to access visual culture/ the "ART WORLD" via links that you all might include in your blog posts.

To post: click on "post a comment," copy and paste your 1-page word document, and submit.

Be sure to include something like "Response #1" in the title of your post.

If you have any questions or concerns let me know.

See you all soon:)

Reed