I talked about this a little bit in my blog post about Koyaanisqatsi, but I think the Kiosk deserves a post of its own. Lori and I have been working on designing a Sustainability Kiosk for the Sustainability Module for the Connected Communities Program. Many members of this class are also involved in this project.

In Professor Smith’s blog post he asked, “Can art save the world?” I still don’t know the answer to this but I think its a very good question of if all the media made about environmental issues and climate change issues is really doing more harm than good. Al Gore flies around on his private jet talking about global warming, but how many more fossil fuels is he distributing by getting his message out about not using fossil fuels? It’s difficult to say.

In building our Kiosk, Lori and I tried to be as sustainable as possible. Lori got the branches from the tree her family was cutting down in her yard at home. My task was to find a base for the Kiosk and I thought I would be able to find one at my farm at home. I wasn’t able to find anything that worked at home but when I went to Walmart when I got back there was a box that would be perfect from Walmart for just $6.74. Who could pass up the perfect base for $6.74? I sure wasn’t going to.

By buying that box at Walmart however, I did my sustainability module an injustice. That box was produced in an unsustainable manner and probably shipped from thousands of miles away. I could have gotten or made the same box myself, but it would have cost about 4 or 5 times as much. The conclusion? people are not going to be sustainable until it is convenient to to be sustainable.

This film had a powerful message about human society and its impact on the Earth’s landscape. It used different images to compare what an uninhabited Earth looks like compared to an inhabited planet. The film consists primarily of slow motion and time-lapse footage of cities and many natural landscapes across the United States. There was a lack of narration and powerful music was played through out it. I am unsure how I felt about the lack of speech in the film. The music had a very large influence about how the viewer felt while watching the movie. At certain times I felt bored because I think the images duration were too long and I wanted to jump to the next scene. I think the time period of when the film was made was also a very important factor to consider when evaluating the effectiveness of its message to the viewer. It was made in the early 1980s in a time when everyone thought they were going to die in a nuclear explosion so it felt very real.

The filmmaker Godfrey Reggio said that the Qatsi films are intended to simply create an experience and that “it is up [to] the viewer to take for himself/herself what it is that [the film] means.” He also said that “these films have never been about the effect of technology, of industry on people. It’s been that everyone: politics, education, things of the financial structure, the nation state structure, language, the culture, religion, all of that exists within the host of technology. So it’s not the effect of, it’s that everything exists within [technology]. It’s not that we use technology, we live technology. Technology has become as ubiquitous as the air we breathe.” I really like that Reggio wanted everyone to take away whatever they wanted from the film. It allows the viewer to think their own opinions on the film even though Reggio is clearly trying to change people’s opinions of society. He shows no happy people singing at a birthday party, but rather the bad side of society like collapsing buildings and factories being torn down.

I have pondered the question “can art save the world?” many times. I think its important to consider the carbon footprint of every action we make and review the impact it makes. For example, in the EVST Capstone class we are building a Kiosk which is basically just an artistic tree that is supposed to represent how people have no idea where their resources come from. It is a tree covered in newspaper with little branches sticking out. It is a piece of art but most of the supplies to build it came from Walmart. By shopping at a store that is as unsustainable as Walmart to build our art, is our message really valid? This is what I wondered about while watching Koyaanisqatsi. These film makers traveled all over the world to film this film, being flown all over the world to continuously distribute more and more fossil fuels into the sky. The film was not filmed in such a way that is sustainable, so is its message still valid? I am still unsure if I am willing to say art can save the world, but maybe it can change people’s minds.

I was wondering about the environmental impact of investing in an artificial christmas tree versus cutting one down every year. This New York Times article says that buying the real thing still has less of an environmental impact. The carbon footprint of a fake tree is much larger than all the trees you cut down over 10 years would ever have.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/18/business/energy-environment/18tree.html?_r=0

“We seek the purity of our absence, but everywhere we find our own fingerprints. It is ultimately our own bodies and our labor that blur the boundaries between the artificial and the natural. Even now we can tamper with the genetic stuff of our own and other creatures’ bodies, altering the design of species. We cannot come to terms with nature without coming to terms with our own work, our own bodies, our own bodily labor.” (173)

“What most deeply engaged these first white men with nature, what they wrote about most vividly, was work: backbreaking, enervating, heavy work. The Labor of the body revealed that nature was cold, muddy, sharp, tenacious, slippery. Many more of their adjectives also described immediate, tangible contact between the body and the nonhuman world.” (177)

“It is precisely this recognition of how work provides a knowledge of, and a connection to, nature that separates a minority of environmentalists, particularly  those sympathetic to Wendell Berry, from the dominant environmentalist denigration of work.” (178)

While watching the movie there was a constant theme of bringing up how they wanted to drill for oil in the caribou’s calving grounds. I think this was an important political statement, but the George Bush figurine was a little too much. By satirizing the moving and President Bush, you completely deter Bush supporters from supporting your cause. If this element had been eliminated it may have been a more effective statement. That being said, no good movie is ever completely unbiased.

The narrators also talk a lot about how they feel like they are intruding on this natural space. They go to great lengths to leave the caribou undisturbed. This causes me to question what does this young couple see humans role in nature as? Do they think people should visit this place? Do they think that no one should ever come here?

I did not believe the people at Hawk Mountain when they said that Golden Eagles could take down entire deer, but this movie proves that wrong. The Golden Eagle wounds the calf, and then presumably goes back to eat him later.

I liked the circular effect of the documentary. It shows you their struggle of reentering society, an adjusting to the noises of city life. You can really feel Leanne’s emotion in her final plea to save the caribou.

“The earth is an agent of regeneration. Death is transformed into life through a reunification of the corn mother’s body with the earth. Even death therefore results in a higher good” (133).

“We did not think of the great open plains, the beautiful rolling hills, and winding streams with tangled growth as ‘wild.’ Only the white man was nature a wilderness and only to him was the land ‘infested’ with ‘wild animals and ‘savage’ people. To us it was tame, Earth was bountiful..” (145)- Chief Luther Standing Bear

“In the Western tradition it is fallen nature in opposition to which male science and technology are directed. The good state that keeps unruly nature in check is invented, engineered, and operated by men. The good economy that organizes the labor needed to restore the garden is likewise a male-directed project”. (137)

Hawk Mountain Conservatory and Cabela’s have very different views of what nature is. An evaluation of the two could not be a better comparison of the different cultures of nature. Hawk Mountain is a bird sanctuary that currently hosts thousands of visitors each fall. It is a popular tourist destination where people come from all different places to view the unique raptor migration. Cabela’s is at the completely different end of the nature spectrum, it is a created “nature” that promotes consumerism of products for hunting, fishing, and other outdoor recreational activities. The cultures of nature that are featured in both Hawk Mountain and Cabela’s challenge us to define and reshape our own relationship with nature and the outdoors.

When you first walk into the Hawk Mountain Visitor Store you see a plethora of interactive maps and modules that appeal to youth. They are not very extravagant but appeal to younger generations who are entranced by the lights and buttons you are able to press. As you travel deeper into the store you see a simple glass counter display cabinet that hosts a plethora of brochures and other little knick-knacks in stained woven baskets. Opposite to that there is a shelving unit that holds a coffee thermos with a donation jar requesting a twenty-five cent donation per shot of Java. The wall is lined with packages of coffee for sale, as well as GORP and other snacks. As you travel deeper into the small store there is a rack of wilderness puppets and songbirds that chirp when you pick them up. There is a wall of sweatshirts, t-shirts, and vests with that have the hawk mountain conservatory logo stitched into the left breast. In the back corner there is a display of hats and socks with patterns of chipmunks and eagles. The central display is made up of books. The literature is mostly centered about the conservation of birds but also “how-to” books for bringing nature home. The backside of the store is sitting area for people to watch birds as the feed on the feeders that are hung in the trees. Identification posters are hung above the windows for people who choose to sit there and watch the birds.

Nature according to the Hawk Mountain store is made up of education, conservation, and a touch of consumerism. They are selling a version of nature that is something to be preserved and admired. The historical part the visitor center is unique because it is completely devoted to the birds that migrate over Hawk Mountain. There is a human story to this site, but it is pretty much left out of the story so that the concentration is on conservation.

The top of Hawk Mountain it is quite the site. The landscape is rural, with little of pockets of villages and towns that look very small. The trees have all lost their leaves at this point and the only green left is that from the pines that don’t lose their needles. At least 50 people, including us, have gathered at its rocky face. The air is frigid, but people are bundled and sit still quietly while they observe. When we first come there are no birds around and I begin to get restless with the cold. Dr. Laurie Goodrich, the Senior Conservation Biologist, our host explains to us the different locations where people are calling out bird sightings. Just as she begins to explain, an older gentleman on top of the hill calls out “over head” and a raptor flies south, 300 feet or so above us. Everyone’s head tilts up in unison, desperate to see the beautiful creature float on by. The larger birds are more graceful, very rarely flapping their wings to stay in the air. Laurie explains to us that the birds are in essence surfing the air like humans would surf in the ocean. The wind current pushes them south with little energy exerted from the bird. It is a beautiful and majestic site, even from far away. In the distance you can see glider planes that flip in the air. They use this ridge the same way the birds do to stay a float in the sky.

After sitting on top of this mountain for a few hours, it becomes clear why this location is referred to as the “Crossroads of Naturalists.” I have no idea where any of these people are from, what they do for a living, or how they came to discover Hawk Mountain. I do know that they are all here to observe the wonder and magic of the raptors. Their definition of nature is set by the birds, by beauty, by conservation, and observation.

Cabela’s has a completely different way of defining nature. It a destination for people seeking taxidermy, gun licenses, outdoor apparel and so much more. When you first walk into Cabela’s you are astonished by the size of the store. It rivals the size of a football stadium of a small college. It is designed to have cozy cabin feel, paneled with wooden beams and painted with earthy tones. Everywhere you look there is another stuffed animal that was murdered for no other reason than to be a trophy on a wall. Each section of the store is broken down into different categories, there are also different sections of taxidermy. There is a polar scene, a safari scene, an American wilderness scene, a pond scene that included live fish, as well as an aquarium that featured live fish. The consumer sections include general apparel for the outdoors, a fishing section, home and cabin furnishings, a food court, a camping section, and of course the gun outlet. At Cabela’s, nature is defined through consumerism.

Consumerism, however, has competing narratives in the Cabela’s story. First you have the people who are there purchasing shotguns. These people have absolutely no connection to nature. Shotguns are not used for hunting; they are used for “protection” and for killing people. They have no place being in an “outdoors store” but if there is a demand by consumers, the sellers will sell. On the other side of the spectrum you have the camping section, for people who feel like they need to be in nature to experience it. It is full of hiking backpacks, tents, lanterns and other camping items.

Another way people experience nature is through the taxidermy. The animals are not alive, but they are lifelike and people come to see them. This is part of what makes Cabela’s into such destination for families to come here. I witnessed a little girl ask her father about a stuffed fawn in the “Deer Country” and he responded “Yes, that’s Bambi!” This was particularly disturbing to me because this little girls experience with nature appears like it has only ever been through a cartoon movie and a taxidermy hall of fame full of stuffed dead deer. The Taxidermy was also interactive at the central display where you could push the touch screen and hear different noises the animals made, pictures of them, and videos.

The signage in Cabela’s made for many different contradictory views of nature. In the Deer Country section above the exit there is sign that says, “Ensure the Beauty of the Outdoors- Support Wildlife Conservation.” They have this sign placed over the exit of a room filled with over 200 dead dear who are only seen as important because of how many “points” they have on their antlers. You don’t see any does hanging above anyone’s mantel because they are not considered a trophy. That exhibit does not support conservation- it supports a selfish human practice to elevate our self-esteem.

Other signs featured in Cabela’s said “Its in Your Respect for Tomorrow. Its in Your Nature.” There are many ways to interpret this sign, and it is also pretty contradictory. The first sentence implies that one should practice conservation, but the other that it’s in your nature to hunt or fish. This sign is up for interpretation, much like most of the items in Cabela’s.

Cabela’s version of nature is different for every person who walks into it. I wouldn’t be so quick to judge the people who walk into that store and say that they are hunting or killing obsessed, but rather than they view nature in a very different way than the people at Hawk Mountain viewed nature. Your interpretation of Cabela’s is based a lot on what culture of nature you grew up with. If you grew up in a household where hunting was praised, it is a seen as a mecca for all things hunting. On the other hand, if you grew up in a place where there was no guns or hunting, going into the gun section might frighten you.

One similarity I viewed at both Hawk Mountain and Cabela’s was that everyone was for the most part white and of middle to upper class. I don’t know if that is a result of the region of Pennsylvania where these two destinations are located, or is it that experiencing nature is reserved for white upper-middle class Americans. I have been to many national parks up and down the east coast, and it is very rare to see people of color interacting with nature. I would be interested to see the different demographics of people who go to national parks and people who shop at places like Cabela’s.

However at Cabela’s gender distinctions were obvious, while at Hawk Mountain there was none. Each individual section, such as fishing, hunting, and home goods had its own minimal section that was supposed to appeal to women or girls. The fishing section had pink rods, the hunting section had pink guns and pink camouflage blankets. In the home section the gender distinctions were more obvious with signs featured that said “I let her shop so I can hunt” and pink camouflage bedding for little girls.

Hawk Mountain and Cabela’s offer two different cultural interpretations of nature. Hawk Mountain promotes conservation while Cabela’s is based off of consumerism. It would be wrong to say that Hawk Mountain is only about conservation, when they are clearly making a profit off of their gift store. Cabela’s is not purely a consumer destination because it promotes conservation in its signage and outdoor recreation. The comparison of the two offers an interesting spectrum of how one can view nature- conservation, consumerism, or someplace in between.

The article about the White Nose Syndrome (WNS) brings up a good point about the introduction of diseases via human trade or travel from Europe. The bats are dying from the WNS disease that compromises their ability to store fat during hibernation seasons. This disease did not originate in the US, but is having a huge effect on bats in North America.

In class we have talked a lot about invasive plants, but not as much on invasive diseases. Ever since settlers came to the Americas they have brought diseases with them such as small pox. These diseases were deadly to the Native Americans who had no ability to fight off these infectious diseases because their immune systems had never been exposed to these kinds of pathogens.

International trade has always been seen as a good thing between friendly nations, but it can have deadly consequences. When things are shipped to the US or other countries, they not only bring their goods, but also their diseases, insects, and seeds.

This video gives a pretty good synopsis on the impact of invasive species if you’re not as familiar on the subject. It also talks about what implications climate change will have on invasive species, check it out!