“Men come and go, cities rise and fall, whole civilizations appear and disappear – the earth remains, slightly modified” (219).
This line from Ed Abbey’s, Down the River, references the curse of man and how our own hubris will be our downfall. When we looked at the Thomas Cole’s series of paintings ‘The Course of Civilization’ is was reminded of this quote.
One of the other paintings we looked at was called ‘Manifest Destiny’, which happens to be the name of another painting by Alexis Rockman. The painting, shown below and also named Manifest Destiny, shows an underground city that is being reclaimed by the ocean and ocean life. We traditionally think of Manifest Destiny in terms of American Expansionists in the 19th century, but in this case we have the Earth and Ocean, reclaiming what mankind took before civilization fell.
The painting is full of symbolism other themes worthy of discussion. There is actually a full size print on display in the Nurture Nature Center in Easton.
This would be a great contribution and continuation to last week’s discussion on Manifest Destiny, but it would modernize the discussion. So, do you think Abbey’s quote and the Cole Series could actually occur? Are we capable of reaching a carrying capacity in population or does an event like an ice age force us off this earth?
Tory, I love your use of this image! After looking at all the images in class and this one, it is so interesting to consider how things like the manifest destiny and the wilderness as images morph over time. I think it would be really cool if we looked at this image in class and discussed how this modern piece compares to some of the older ones and what modern pieces like this mean.