Hi!
I wanted to share a video of my creative project showcasing the connection between Nature and Culture. (I presented it for my Nature and Culture class) Enjoy!
A link to the video: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6916495314979807232/
For an in-depth explanation: see below:
In the first class we drew mind maps of the words “nature” and “culture,” and in the second class we started exploring different ways people viewed the relationship between the two. One activity where we examined our personal views, inspired my project. For me, nature and culture are connected and I wanted to show this idea, as well as explore it further.
The physical result was a sculpture called “The Built Story” that comes in three parts. The first piece is a partially open box with a painting on top that contains images of human and natural structures. Inside the box are the same colors as the painting, but all the lines are removed. It shows how everything is connected behind the scenes. The second piece is a cardboard and stick structure standing on top of a mirror. It represents humans distorted view of nature and culture because cardboard and sticks are made of the same material but we see them differently. The third piece is a hanging piece that once again represents how interwoven nature is with culture. If you pulled one string, you would make all the others move.
Making this art piece showed me nature and culture working in unity with each other. The fact that I was making art had to do with historical reasons, existing in a culture where art was valued. The fact that I even existed to make the art had to do with nature and the human nature to represent concepts in ways that can be seen and heard.
In the process of building my art, it really clicked for me that nature and culture themselves cannot be seen. And, to make the fact that they were invisible, visible, I left cut outs of quotes in my third structure. The quotes were for viewers to take with the explanation that “the feeling of not knowing what the quote means, whether in the book or to you, that’s the real relationship between nature and culture, one we cannot see.”
I am proud of my project and there is room in it for different meanings to be found. This arises from all the details and out-of-context quotes that are permanently a part of the project. The permanent quotes connect with their respective places in the story but, it is not clear exactly how. This is purposeful as another allusion to the relationship between nature and culture.
