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Our cabinet of curiosity represents the contrast between city life and nature; the aspects of our world that were created versus those that were already there. Both usually go hand in hand, they lead to one another. We find curiosity when drawing parallels between the environment that was made for us and the environment that we altered. We focus on the pond located at Brooklyn College for our cabinet, because it represents nature that arose from a man-made project. The original landscape was not made up of animals and water, but most likely dirt that was then covered with pavement. When created, the pond became a home for living organisms that were left to thrive in their new community. What was originally manufactured then became a natural environment.

In our cabinet, we have curated images that demonstrate this curious link between man-made and nature. We started off with the turtle that was placed there to develop. We then transition to the koi fish, another animal that would not naturally reside there if not for the installation of the pond, but was left there to reproduce. Next, the tree and flowers were, presumably, planted by a human, and began to grow and flourish similarly to the animals that were left in the pond. The final image represents the truth behind the nature we perceive. The only possible way nature can flourish in this concrete jungle is a direct product of mans intervention. This then begs the question, is the life we will to create natural or simply artificial?

Authors:

Dave Dodson, John-Abraam Ibrahim, Rianna Segal, Rachel Wolf