““Sustainability is about the status quo, about keeping things in balance,” she says. “It’s not about repairing and making good; it’s not an active thing.””
All posts by kclayto5
Clayton-Blog Post #2: Parks: The Ideal Venue to Create a Relationship Among Nature, Community, and Culture?
I felt incredibly excited and impassioned after reading and reporting, The Field Guide for Park and Creative Placemaking by Matthew Clarke because the field guide addressed the power of curating a natural space and cultivating community engagement with a public, natural environment through strategic programming and the addition of art. Within my own research on the evolving idea of natural culture, assembling my constellation of interests into viable research options and career goals has been difficult. Reading an article that categorized parks as cultural assets allowed me to view my career and interests in a new and existing venue. The field guide offered an incredible tool with an easy to absorb format and presentation style. Through expanding the understanding of parks to larger parks such as national parks and UNESCO World Heritage Sites and landscapes (as outlined by the first step in the process of creative placemaking: define a community based in geography), I am wondering in creating an idea of natural culture, what is the change people would like to see in their understanding and relationship with the environment (the second step in the process of creative placemaking: articulating the desired change). Of course, I have my own ideas about how to create a genuine connection with nature, but I am wondering how to create an adaptable program that facilitates an authentic connection with nature? I am also wondering if a specific artistic medium is ideal for facilitating this connection that allows for a greater reverence of natural spaces? Also, does each community desire a different connection to nature? If linking community and culture creates a deeper bond, as outlined in the field guide, how does one link culture and nature in a variety of communities, are parks the answer? Please comment and explore the possible answers to the aforementioned questions.
If anyone is interested, additional research that I have conducted on this topic include resources such as The Natural Principle by Richard Louv which explores nature deficiency disorder, Ecology Without Nature by Timothy Morton, The Colors of Nature edited by Alison H. Deming and Lauret E. Savoy, and The Social Creation of Nature by Neil Everden.
Clayton-Blog Post #1: Nature/Community/Culture
In my understanding of community cultural development, there is comprehension of the process of formulating culture in relation to a specific environment as the result of interaction and interpretation of elements within and affecting the community’s inhabitants. It is through this interaction that a symbolic understanding of natural elements and the resonance of humans within the community create a cohesive understanding of community cultural identity. This cohesive cultural identity is often directly reflected and easily absorbable through arts generated by the community and community arts institutions.
My current understanding of community cultural development aids in the class lectures I conduct for the Don’t Touch My Hair exhibition in that I am better able to relay the exhibition as a reflection of university culture through the individual stories displayed on the museum walls. An understanding that the exhibition is reflective of student culture has created a greater sense of connectivity for those attending the lectures as well as viewers in that the exhibition as a whole translates individual identities through the common core topic of hair while also presenting multiple perspectives at the University of Oregon that demonstrate the diversity of cultural translations of a hair as a natural material.
My future work, can be greatly influenced by an understanding of community cultural development in that the links between the evolution of natural elements into cultural objects will allow me to develop an understanding of how to create an authentic understanding of culture through nature in art.
As discussed in class, additional questions and concerns include how to translate cryptic elements of culture for visibility and understanding as well as how to generate a sense of natural culture that upholds the essence of nature through cultural translation?