Recently I participated in a discussion on the differences
between scholarly articles and artistic interpretations of place. Some believe
that the scholarly interpretation is superior others say that an artistic
interpretation is more effective. This reminds me of a debate going on at a
university I attended on whether emphasis should be placed on scientific
investigations or design theory. To me this has always been a bogus argument.
It is a result of a competitive educational paradigm that places much value on
specialization. The amount of information we need to absorb in any subject
matter today forces us to enter specialized fields of study in order to
progress in any one of them, however it cannot be seen as superior to those
pursuing a more holistic and inclusive path. Buckminster Fuller once wrote: "Science
is an attempt to set in order the facts of experience." Experience of
course acts on all our senses which promote emotions, aesthetic appreciation
and wonder. To encompass all of these in a 'scientific' or 'scholarly work'
that is targeted only to our reasoning prowess is a fallacy. We are complicated
and wondrous beings that perceive at many levels and appreciate all that life
offers through all our senses, so why should we choose preference of the
rational over the rest? In fact in order to fully understand an experience an
inclusive perception is more real than an exclusionary one. For example I can
describe all the shades of the color red or I can view the canvas 'Red' by
Rothko. I get different information from the two experiences, both valid,
except that the scholarly article would have to assume that I have a basic conception
of that color that can only be arrived at by my sensory experience of it,
otherwise when red is written as a word there is no way for my rational mind to
be associated with it. What would the difference between, azure, teal,
aquamarine, indigo be? They are all shades of the color blue, only when I
experience each in relation to the other can my understanding of them come to
be in my rational mind. I can also experience them without ever having to name
them however that is also a handicap, rationalization is part of our
comprehension. What if I were color blind how would this change my experience
and interpretation of the world? Would I be considered less than human? Our
fellow creatures all experience the world slightly different, some can see
clearly in the dark, others can see ultraviolet light, some can detect space
through sonar. Life is more than the sum of its parts. To quote Buckminster
Fuller once again “behavior of whole
systems unpredicted by the behavior of their parts taken separately”;
therefore if we place more value on specialization we will not get an accurate
account of the whole picture.
So why this concern? We are faced with some crucial
decisions in education in the US. Much has been said about the lack of
mathematical and scientific knowledge of our student population. Much of which
I agree with, however in order to achieve higher standards in these subjects
cuts are being made to the creative subjects. This is skirting the real issue,
it is not arts that cause neglect in other fields; in fact one may argue that
having artistic gifts can strengthen scientific observation. Sacrificing the
arts to promote math and science is like cutting one arm to strengthen the
other. In order to resolve the challenges we face we will need both arts and
sciences, one strengthens the other. We are too concerned in this country
defending the ultra-rich at the expense of a holistic education system. There
is no lack of money; the problem lies in its distribution. Unfortunately we
have entered the blaming game, the fault must lie with the parents or teachers
or administration. NO, the fault rests at the top, a more equitable
distribution of wealth will mean that all children will have access to
education; that all schools can be properly equipped and no child goes hungry.
Specialized interests have corrupted the system. To quote Buckminster Fuller once
more: "Specialization breeds biases
that ultimately aggregate as international and ideological discourse, which in
turn leads to war." This war is perpetrated by globalized corporate
interests against the citizens of every country.
To illustrate the argument I have included two works on the
same subject I completed not too long ago. Does one interpretation diminish or
support the other? Is one preferable to the other? Why would we need to make a
choice of one over the other?
This 3D panel is meant to be exhibited at a gallery setting:
This is an article that was feauterd in Erigenia, Journal of the Illinois Native Plant Society:
Sacred Space and
Restoration Ecology
by Domenico D’Alessandro
Short Pioneer Cemetery Prairie in Grundy County was
dedicated as an Illinois Nature Preserve in1988, 131 years after Lemuel Short
was deeded the land in 1857 from Martin and Ursula Luther, the original
homesteaders. In 1894 Warham and Mary Short deeded 100 square rods (0.65 acres)
to the Oak Ridge Cemetery Association. Additional 0.65 acres where deeded from
John Fred Wilneow, the neighbor to the south making, the 1.3 acres total deeded
land that persists to this day.
The nature preserve is not easy to find, the old road
connections have been severed and access now is only from Carper Road through
an unmarked gated trail; the cemetery is about 96 yards in from the road. and
is located about one mile south of the Goose Lake Prairie Preserve. The
cemetery prairie is somewhat degraded although still home to many native
species. The surrounding woodland has many invasive species that have
encroached into the boundaries of the cemetery. This article is not concerned
with the flora composition. An extensive account on the subject is given by
others including John Ebinger. My approach is from a cultural perspective, in
particular recognizing the role of the sacred places such as cemeteries in
restoration ecology.
Short Pioneer Cemetery Prairie was surrounded by strip
mining operations for coal that changed forever the hydrology and topography of
the region. This place and its plants survived because they were on sacred
ground that even the powerful mining companies would not disturb. Restoration
ecologists owe much to such consecrated lands; their cultural place in our
psyche has assured continuity of minimally disturbed ecological communities.
Ironically though it is the neglected sacred places, those without the constant
care needed to maintain carpets of lawn, which have served as refuge to the
native flora.
In his landmark book, The Sacred & The Profane, 1957,
Mircea Eliade distinguishes two spaces: the sacred is the structured,
significant place that anchors life’s orientation while the profane is the
amorphous, inconstant, chaotic place, one in which humans feel powerless. In
lieu of scientific knowledge our distant ancestors interpreted natural
occurrences in anthropomorphic ways as the realm and power of gods on whose
mercy we depend. Sacred places were chosen based on the characteristics of a
particular god (genius loci). Since most major gods were associated with the
sky or heavens, sacred places tended to be located on higher ground. These were
the places where humankind could approach and befriend the gods to appease
their temperament and thus gain favorable outcomes. Burial grounds became
powerful sacred spaces, as thresholds to the realm of the gods; here human
souls leave this world to be in one shared with the gods themselves, away from
everyday toils and finite life. If any harm be done to these places the whole
community would suffer from the ancestors’ wrath and that of the gods to whom
the space was consecrated. To consecrate a space a religious ritual needed to
be performed and a marker such as a temple built to house a god that would
oversee the territory. The records do not give a reason for selecting the
location for Short Cemetery; however it is described as “an upland site” in the
dedication proposal, which fits within the traditional high ground selective
process.
When Europeans began to settle the New World the
consecration marker was typically the Christian religious symbol of the cross.
For them, the New World was unknown territory, often considered hostile or at
best pagan, although some accounts record its natural beauty as a found Eden.
The religious marker signified consecration, ownership in the name of a higher
being and thus rid of maleficent spirits. Away from their ancestral land,
Europeans’ consecration of religious space would assure continuity with a home
left behind. The simple act of declaration replaced the genius loci of the
ancient civilizations; an opportunistic means, given the lack of intimate
knowledge they had of the New World. The nostalgic desire to transpose a
homeland onto the new landscape undermined the existing community. The
consequences of settlement to the native peoples and their association with the
land are reprehensible, but nonetheless in line with the traditions of creating
order out of the perceived chaotic (pagan) land. It is a strange turn of events
that those very places that represented Manifest Destiny, such as the railroads
and the consecrated appropriated land for cemeteries, be the very places of
refuge for the native flora. In fact a reversal of roles has occurred, where
the pagan entities of a European perceived wilderness, drastically curtailed,
have found sanctuary in the neglected spaces of their nemesis and in time
became the hope of ecological regeneration.
Archaeological works in the twentieth century have amply
demonstrated that the pre-Columbian Americas were home to highly evolved,
ancient civilizations that rivaled those of the Old World. The territory was
heavily populated throughout and the wilderness the Europeans perceived was in
effect an anthropogenic landscape. By the time face to face contact was made
with aboriginal societies the waves of diseases brought over by the Europeans
had decimated the population, thus accounting for the erroneous perception of
poor and primitive inhabitants. (Mann)
Dr. Robert Betz recognized the importance of pioneer
cemeteries, inventorying 824 of them in 64 Illinois and Indiana counties. He
founded the Illinois Cemetery Association with a membership of one to advocate
the protection of these sites. He also reintroduced fire ecology as a
management tool in prairie restoration at a time when fire was still considered
a great threat. (Bowles and DeMarco, 2007) It was the start of the road back to
the anthropogenic landscape of pre-Columbian America.
In 1988 when Short Pioneer Cemetery Prairie was designated
as a nature preserve the sacred status did not change. It transformed from a
religious consecrated space with remnant scientific interest to a science-based
consecrated space with remnant religious interest.
Nature preserves serve other purposes, in addition to
sustaining ecological communities, which trigger emotional connections for
people. The anthropomorphic portrayal of natural phenomena is not limited to
religious beliefs. The interpretation may also be part of local community
folklore and even express a sense of community humor. In 1998 I was given the
task to create an ecological restoration plan for my home town in Italy. I
decided that part of the restoration would include what I termed mythological
landscapes. These were natural features that inspired local folkloric tales as
late as the early 20th century when a rock outcropping was named: ‘The Pope’s
Eyeglasses’ referring to the similarity in shape to the glasses worn by Pius
XII, who had become a sacred hero to many. My task proved harder than
anticipated for most of the inhabitants, with the exception of a few elders,
had forgotten these tales handed down through oral recounting. Few were still
farming and even less practicing animal husbandry. The majority were working in
urban centers, visiting the town periodically. The farmers rode in
air-conditioned, stereo-equipped tractors with enormous shock absorbers to
provide a smooth ride. The wind, the sun, the odors of the soil and the land formations
no longer played a role in this experience; whereas the folk tales were created
by my ancestors walking on the ground, noticing the form of rocks, the gurgling
of springs and the sound of the wind moving through a mountain pass. Their
bloodline solely connected to this place, building on generations dating back
to antiquity. This I realized was a lost world and the only remnants were the
names bestowed on particular features in the landscape. However naming the
landscape insured some protection. Even though the original motives had been
forgotten, a respect lingered and it was in these locations where environmental
disturbance was minimal. In my restoration plan I proposed sculptural
storyboards to be placed at specified locations linked by a heritage path so
that the tales and associated cultural connections would be preserved with the
physical formations that inspired them.
In 2009 a talk given by Ed Collins at the Wild Things
Stewardship Conference held at the University of Illinois at Chicago, brought
me back to this work. Ed presented a series of personal encounters with the
landscape as experienced by restoration volunteers and himself. These were
heartfelt, visceral episodes; not experiences as when visiting a national park
for a short stay. These were based on personalized intimate knowledge of the
landscape that comes with continuous contact over time. What I had proclaimed a
lost world had reincarnated itself. The contemporary local nature preserves are
a way to reconnect to a primal relationship to the land for those that wish to
do so; to recognize and perform our role as stewards, and this too is of value
and somewhat transcendent.
Bibliography:
1491- New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus,
Charles C. Mann, Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 2005.
The Sacred and the Profane – The nature of Religion, Mircea
Eliade, Harcourt Brace & Company, 1959.
Notes from talks given by Marlin Bowles and Marcy DeMauro at
the Dr. Betz Memorial Symposium, Fermilab, July 7, 2007.
Vascular Flora of Short Pioneer Cemetery Prairie Nature
Preserve, Grundy County, Illinois: composition ad changes since 1977’ - Loy
Phillippe, Paul Marcum, Daniel Busemeyer and John Ebinger.
