My Initial Stimulus

“So long as the human consciousness remains within the hills, canyons, cliffs, and the planets, clouds, and sky, the term landscape, as it has entered the English language, is misleading. ‘A portion of territory the eye can comprehend in a single view’ does not correctly describe the relationship between the human being and his or her

Paul Goldberger, an American architectural critic once quoted, “Urbanism works when it creates the journey as desirable as the destination.”

Through the immersion of one in a variety of physical environments, the manipulation of genre, form and perspective presents a polysemic representation of a diverse range of landscapes, in turn allowing responders to develop complex understandings into the human psyche. Specifically, through the interwoven utilization of complex allusions and personalized outlooks Alain De Botton’s The Art Of Travel shapes humanities greater knowledge of traveling’s impact on the human behavior and perception. Likewise, this notion is extended amongst Kenneth Slessor’s minimalistic, poetic piece North Country in which the composer highlights man’s dichotomous relationship with the physical world, and how ongoing, differentiated experiences cultivate interpersonal growth and develop individualized standpoints towards the wider globe. Consequently, both texts elicit portrayals of innumerable landscapes, which foreground the intricacies of civilization through the construction of a piece that reveals the subjectivity of our human mentalities today.

Distinctively visual images have the ability to convey complex ideas and concepts about environments and people’s connection to places. The use of distinct images can cause individuals to reinforce their own perceptions or confront their value systems to perceive the world in a different way. In the postmodern Australian novella ‘Vertigo’ by Amanda Lohrey, distinctively visual images are used to convey the schism between urban and rural environments and how it impacts the Luke and Anna’s relationship. Additionally, Lohrey uses unique images to highlight Luke and Anna’s grief over their loss son also demonstrating the how the rural environment allows them to deal with their grief. Similarly I have used distinctively visual images in my collage

Landscape, when applied to an urban context, no longer refers to prospects of a pastoral scene but rather becomes a mean of connecting objects and spaces around it, as well as accommodating the dynamic processes and events that move through it. These urban landscapes are not only defined by their form, but by the program that surrounds it, as well as its ability to connect with the user through its underlying function. The snow dump known as the Bayview yards, is an example of such urban landscape. Bayview Yards is a 16 acre piece of land that is currently home to a derelict city workshop and a massive area designated for a snow dump. Through the site’s history and function a new opportunity comes forward to redefine the landscape, extenuating

The world has been evolving as quickly as the population has grown. As the years progressed, the habitual lifestyle has transformed from spread out house and land living to city and suburban occupation. Along with the living style, cities have progressed from just roads and buildings to multifunctional spaces with copious possibilities. Federation Square in the ‘heart of the city’ is an example of how a space in the city vastly contributes to the visual culture of Melbourne. Times Square in New York also displays how what was previously an intersection of roads, has been transformed into a visual landmark. Melbourne city had always lacked a functional public space ever since its birth.

I’m from Mankato, Minnesota and grew up watching the entire landscape of the city grow and change. The area in downtown Mankato has a very interesting landscape and has undergone transformational change. I have found it very valuable and interesting to look at the landscape and try to decipher it. I have figured out that in order to properly understand this landscape, I must be aware and critical of its contents. To paint a more specific picture, I will spend some time describing the areas of downtown Mankato. It is also very important to think about the axioms for reading the landscape and the things these axioms work to get us to look for when we’re analyzing the landscape. Once these things are done are we? Of course not! This is when the

Sculptor Nancy Holt defined three forms of collaboration, that artist who work on site specific location must consider. These three form of collaboration between architecture and art which include,”… ‘conceptual’ …working autonomously, to create complementary works… ‘correlative,’…greater interaction … two professionals inform the works of each other… ‘cooperative’…a working team of architects, sculptors, landscape architects, fabricators, engineers, and community workers…” (Marter, 315). Many artists have recently accepted the challenges of blighted urban areas by creating "situations" rather than monolithic abstractions. Such artists as Mary Miss…[and]…Nancy Holt, … and others were determined to raise the social consciousness of architects and to forge a new relationship between public site and viewer (Marter, 315). A perfect example of Holt’s third form of collaboration is her work Dark Star Park. This site specific piece sits on, “two-thirds of an acre, consists of five spheres, two pools, four steel poles, a stairway, a large tunnel (for passage), and a smaller tunnel for viewing only” ( Mater, 316). This work is a stark contrast to Holt’s piece, Sun Tunnels, which was set in the Utah desert. “These consist of for big concrete tubes, each almost six meters long and three meters wide, positioned to form two

Throughout literature, textual form manipulates audience understanding of the representation of landscapes through the exposure to deeply explored ideas; two literary works which have substantially shaped audience's understanding of the representation of landscape are Alain De Botton's 2003 literary non-fiction The Art of Travel (hereafter Travel) and Jules Verne's 1864 science fiction novel Journey to the Centre of the Earth (hereafter Journey). More specifically, De Botton's travel writing, as well as Jules Verne's adventure novel, has established and reinforced the restorative quality of natural landscapes through a provocation of the feeling of the sublime as well as curiosity within individuals. Whether real, remembered or imagined,

Space has a role in defining place in a variety of ways and the people or entities who inhabit that space. Within these spaces we can see changes by human beings and the natural world, for good or bad intentions which depends on perspective. Place can be shaped by a variety of factors: historic events, economic implications, physical changes to the landscape and cultural influences. Brixton is one of the most complex places within the Greater London area that has changed significantly over a period of a century. With a long standing history of changes by internal and external forces, Brixton looks very different from what longstanding denizens remember. As it has gone through economic, socio-cultural and ethnic change as an inner city area. The purpose of this essay is to discuss the changes and factors that make Brixton a complex place or landscape.

Whether we have artistic talent or not, Alain de Botton encourages us to draw places. De Botton thinks this is a good idea because the power of art gives way to the interpretation and understanding of the artist – you. Drawing places forces us to really look and be aware of our surroundings. While sometimes, being moulded by pre-existing portrayals of your place – and yet, allows you to greater appreciate your place or art. You may even find yourself focusing on aspects of your place, of which, you may have initially overlooked – had you not drawn your place.

For example, people won’t be able to take a close look at a beautiful flower, interact with interesting animals, or catch those colorful insects that people may have never seen before. This type of relationship is slowly disappearing and it is causing the landscape to transform into something different such as a geographical space. Images blur when people travel in high velocities and this is the same for the landscape. The meaning of landscape has changed as people no longer appreciates the beauty of the landscape. The landscape has become “systematized” which means that the experiences of traveling have become the same no matter where people are traveling to. For example, using present-day transportation such as an airplane, the feeling, experiences, or the “landscape” is the same when people travel from Los Angeles to Los Vegas or Los Angeles to San Francisco. This change in the meaning of landscape is even more obvious today as unlike trains where people can still somewhat have an overall conception of what the landscape is like, people don’t look out of the airplane’s tiny windows but instead, focus on their books, music, and electronic devices such as

I have had the opportunity to travel to foreign countries such as Iran, England, and Turkey. I feel this has allowed me to garner first hand experience with a vast array of landscapes and defining features of each area. Fluency in Farsi deepened my understanding of how cultural and political traits manipulate varying forms of landscapes. My passion for diverse forms of art media has developed

For this paper I have selected two landscapes; the first painting is Evening: Landscape with an Aqueduct by Theodore Gericault from the 19th century, which showcases a fairly bright and colorful presentation of a landscape. The landscape depicts ruins from the Italian countryside and is part of a set of four paintings depicting different times of day. I chose this particular landscape because I enjoyed the feelings of hope and optimism that the painting inspires out of the viewer. My second piece is View of Toledo by El Greco from the 16th century, which is much darker and is composed of a only a few colors. The painting is one of two surviving landscapes from the Greek artist and depicts the city of Toledo along with the surrounding grassy

The urban environment that I live in is my nature. My nature is filled with birds, cats, grass, and flowers. It may not be as abundant with mother nature’s resources compared to most places, but it still provides me with an experience of nature. Nature is not limited to just what we see anymore. However, you must use your senses to truly achieve the full experience of nature. In nature, you must smell the wonderful odors from the flowers, you should use your sight and observe the natural beauty of the ever-changing sky, touch the rough and jagged bark of the trees, and hear the spectacular songs of the birds that fly above you.