Produce a creative visual (or multisensory) response to one of the course texts and an issue in sustainable development engaged by the text. Select the text to which you respond and present your response to the class on the assigned days. The response could be something you find that was created by someone else, such as a photograph or a sculpture, or it could be something you create, such as a drawing. The response must be accompanied by a brief written explanation (1 page) of the points of contact between the text and the particular artistic representation.
SD 3800 Voices in Sustainable Development 
Patrick Ross
SD 3800 Dr. Anatoli 11/14/19
DDT Fogging Truck Retro Pastel Re-Coloration
I created a recoloring of a 50’s era DDT fogging truck that was photographed treating a Floridian suburban neighborhood with the chemical made infamous through our course reading Silent Spring by: Rachel Carson. I found the original photo on Pinterest (URL:https://www.pinterest.com/pin/11259067796993368/). I chose to recolor the photo using pastel shades of basic colors such as red, green, and yellow as to harken back Carsons time in the 1950’s. By flipping through 50’s era advertisements I realized that this color palette was very popular from vintage advertisements in that time period. Key inspiration for this work comes from the cartooning style of the Fallout series from Bethesda games. Bethesda’s post-apocalyptic style pairs nicely with threats that are brought to light by Rachel Carson. Her work was particularly impactful to me as it emphasized the importance of standing up for the environment, the commons and general good. Even when hundreds of people, large corporations and even the government told her she was wrong and worked tirelessly to prevent her from reaching the public with her knowledge of the danger of DDT Rachel Carson did not stop. Her journey to justice was not quick or easy yet she persisted. I believe this message is important to my generation as we will face far more of consequences of climate change than the generation before us. Unfortunately it will be on us to make sure the solutions of our anthropogenic climate change make it to fruition. Standing in between us and that realization are many of same flaming hurdles that Carson jumped over.
Thoreau’s Cabin and Walden Pond
For my creative response, I chose to recreate Thoreau’s cabin from the book “Walden.” For the recreation, I chose to build the cabin out of pencils as Thoreau was an avid writer. The cabin scene takes place in the wintertime with bright white snow surrounding the cabin. A lot of writing was done in the wintertime, and we see this in chapters called “Winter Animals” and “The Pond in Winter.” Thoreau writes accounts of the things he observes in the cold winter months, “The snow lying deep on the earth dotted with young pines, and the very slope of the hill on which my house is placed” (Thoreau, 282). Winter was a special time for Thoreau, as it allowed for deep introspection and awareness. In the chapter, “The Pond in Winter” he writes, “His life itself passes deeper in Nature than the studies of the naturalist penetrate; himself a subject for the naturalist” (Thoreau, 283). If you take a deeper look inside of the cabin there is a small single bed, a fireplace, a table, and 3 three chairs. The reason for having exactly 3 chairs comes directly from the book in which Thoreau writes “I had three chairs in my house; one for solitude, two for friendship, three for society” (Thoreau, 140). I felt it was important to include furniture inside of the cabin to emphasize the simplicity of his way of life because this is a key to happiness according to Thoreau. He says, “for a man is rich in proportion to the number of things which he can afford to let alone” (Thoreau, 82). Lastly, there is a small pond represented by small blue gems next to the cabin. The pond is what the book is named after and a key component of his writing. Overall, I think this book is important to the teachings of Sustainable Development because it pushes us to think outside of our norm and question the normalcy of consumerism and high mass production. “Walden” also pushes readers to find a closer relationship and connectedness to nature as a whole in our own way.
Perception is the state of being or process of becoming aware of, or understanding, something through the senses. Perception of landscape is the theme or root of the photographs I am using to represent Leslie Marmon Silkos’ Ceremony and Bill Neidjies’ Gagudju Man. Both Ceremony and Gagudju Man have in common is the creation and development of new perceptions of self and perceptions of interaction with the natural world. Knowing the strengths and weaknesses of our senses is particularly important to spiritual development, a key step in the greater process of sustainable development.
I have selected photographs that I have taken in multiple landscapes. Further explanation of each photograph yields multiple perspectives that can be drawn out from them.
The first photograph is of a rock formation in Joshua Tree National Park in California. While it appears odd, it may not be easy to immediately explain why it looks unnatural. The reason why is because it is presented as upside down at first. Flipping it makes the image look understandable, but one could almost believe in the photos’ reality when upside down.
The next set of images is in Monteverde, Costa Rica. The first image is a strange, wooden web-like structure; the following image reveals that it’s of the inside of a large ficus tree, looking up. Also, although the image is low quality, it is easy to miss the person climbing down the outside of the ficus tree.
The following image is from the Rucu Pichincha volcano in Quito, Ecuador. It is a simple representation of depth of field, and of focus. It is also notable because it might redefine what the landscape of a volcano might look like, and hiking up to the point where the picture was taken was difficult due to an elevation of approximately 4,500m (14,500ft).
The next photograph is of a Yellow Galápagos Fly Catcher, perched on top of a strange, fuzzy black lump on the beach. The fuzzy black lump is a dead juvenile Galápagos Sea Lion. A common immediate reaction to this image is to feel slightly sad and confused at this, but the following picture shows a different perspective – that the young Sea Lions’ death is part of a greater cycle of life, attracting flies that feed on the carcass, then the Fly Catcher that feeds on the flies.
Next, images of the surreal, but desolate landscape of Isabela Island are shown first. Following images also show the profound greenery and vibrant life that can be seen in the tidepools juxtaposed to the lava landscape. Also, when walking on the lava, the pieces makes a sound similar to stacking china plates on each other.
The last photograph is focused on a mangrove tree, through a rock with a hole in it. If it wasn’t for the naturalist pointing it out, I wouldn’t have seen this photograph opportunity to capture the image. So, what does all this have to do with Ceremony and Gagadju Man? Not only do the landscapes of Joshua Tree, Costa Rica, and Ecuador all have rich indigenous history, but the act of story-telling or explaining the greater context of these photos, these landscapes, provides the beginning to new perspectives of landscape, which is the central theme of both works.
I decided to do a sketch of cattle to symbolize a few different themes that I noticed in Silko’s Ceremony. The impacts of drought influenced how they went about purchasing the cattle and allowed them to buy them at a cheaper price because of health, and for their ability to survive in the harsh, dry climate. The delivery of the cattle came to my attention here, “They unloaded the cows one by one, looking them over carefully. The cattle seemed thinner than the week before in Magdalena, but as Josiah said, you couldn’t expect Ulibarri to feed someone else’s stock.” (Silko, 71). The knowledge of buying Mexican cattle was made possible from Josiah meeting his girlfriend the Night Swan, which shows how change in their culture impacts their decision making at first hand. I found more evidence of this on the next page, “able to withstand hard winters and many dry years. That was his plan.” (Silko, 74).
These cattle were built to last which seemed very reasonable with the lack of water. The genes of the cattle played a major role in making these cows alot more valuable to everyone involved. To relate this to Sustainable Development, Although the cattle had to be transported, adapting to the changing climate in my eyes show a hint of making smarter decisions about purchasing goods. I decided to color my colored sketch of the cows a variety of colors to represent change. This also had me thinking about the variety of colors that exist in nature Because the plan of Josiah to breed a strong herd is successful, I think of the relationship between the tribe and the herd shows respect to the land and the culture of the people. Tayo’s recovery from the hospital and his understanding of his own culture were strongly influenced by cattle in this story.
For my creative response, I decided to focus on the themes in the Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler. I enjoyed reading this book because of its storyline of a post-apocalyptic world and the journey Lauren takes was really interesting to me. I thought the book was oddly realistic and even a bit scary at times. To me, the Parable of the Sower serves as a warning to humankind today. For my project, I created a collage made of hundreds of little pieces of old magazines. The collage was made into an image of two very different dimensions of the future. The left side is full of bright colors like blue, green, yellow, orange, and white. This side represents a future where sustainability is at the forefront of society. Renewables like wind and solar energy are used to power the majority of the world’s buildings and infrastructure. Natural bodies of water are slowly beginning to flow again. The world’s rainforests are thriving once again. Ecosystems and habitats are flourishing with plants and animals. Consumption rates are low. Wealth is much more spread out among citizens and countries. Trains and electric cars are the primary modes of transportation. By no means is this side perfect, but it does represent a future that is sustainable and where all living things can thrive. By using bright colors, I tried to symbolize the colors of a lively planet. The shades of blue represent clear, unpolluted skies, and clean, plastic-free oceans. The shades of green represent blossoming forests and green landscapes. The yellow and orange represent glistening sunshine. These are all colors that bring happiness. My idea behind the left side of the project was that it could symbolize the future society may have if we get our act together and tackle the climate crisis now.
On the contrary, the right side symbolizes the exact opposite. The right side represents a post-apocalyptic future. This section of the collage is filled with several shades of dark colors, including black, brown, gray, as well as deep blues, purples, and greens. In this future, society is collapsing. The climate has drastically changed. Droughts last for years and years. Extreme weather events are very common. Water is scarce and expensive. Rivers are dried up. The majority of species have gone extinct. Fires burn millions of acres around the world. Conflict and violence are at an all-time high. And on and on. This reality seems a lot like Lauren’s life and what she has to deal with on a daily basis. The dark colors I chose for the right side are supposed to symbolize death, depression, suffering, and hardship. All these effects come from the collapse of society and the environment.
To relate my project to the Parable of Sower, I focused on Lauren’s new religion, Earthseed. Instead of focusing on traditional religious practices like rules or principles, Lauren does the opposite. A significant theme of the book is the recognition of the importance of change. Lauren makes it clear that it is important to recognize where we are now, and where we could go. This ideology relates to my creative project because we must understand the state of emergency we are in. But it is equally important to understand the potentially bright, sustainable future we could have. Lauren consistently emphasizes her belief that God is change. “Any Change may bear seeds of benefit. Seek them out. Any change may bear seeds of harm. Beware. God is infinitely malleable. God is change” (p. 116). I think this quote shows that the point of Earthseed is that we must learn to adapt and adjust to whichever path we end go down. We can’t change the past; we can only look ahead to change the future. Change is constantly happening, whether we realize it or not. Either path we go down in the future is a change compared to what we have now. Seeds of change is another key theme in the book. When Lauren talks about change, she’s talking about spiritual and social evolution. The point isn’t to follow specific rules, it is to participate in and contribute to the changes taking place. The best way to follow Earthseed is to change the world for the better. We must plant seeds of change now to ensure a brighter, sustainable, and livable future. From my perspective, our society is currently in the middle of these two sides. I believe that we now have a choice on which path we will go down. We can either come together and make the appropriate decisions to move towards a sustainable future, or we can continue to do what we are currently doing and ruin our climate, environment, and society. Either way, change is inevitable.
For my artistic presentation I decided to write a song focusing on the readings and discussions we had on Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring. For the first verse, I focus on the ecological impacts that the spraying of pesticide had. “How much can we swallow/ until the swallow croaks and falls down, dead./ In our backyards//” These lyrics focus on how the killing of species (swallows are a species of bird that was affected by DDT) and ecological collapse is taking place due to the vicious sprayings of DDT and other pesticides, herbicides, etc.. The lyric “in our backyard” is referencing to the fact that most of the ecological disasters caused by American capitalism and corporations are “not in our backyard,” so to speak, but rather the effects take place in other impoverished countries. It takes place in America as well in lower-class and commonly black neighborhoods, but not for the wealthy elite. However, since these sprayings were taking place all over and even in well-to-do, white suburbs, it was affecting all kinds of neighborhoods and public spaces across America. Therefore, the ecological destruction was in everyone’s “backyards.” The lyrics “I woke up this morning to silence/ will we regret our sheer violence?” specifically targets the letter that Carson read by friend Olga Huckins describing the mass loss of bird species where she lived. This is also a direct tie to the title of the book.
The chorus references more so a discussion that took place in class on Silent Spring about the theme of being aware of one’s natural surroundings in order to notice the changes taking place and perhaps trying to find the source of change. “There’s so much more, you just have to see./ Will you be there when the ginkgo tree/ loses its last leaf?/ Will you be there?” This lyric is not meant to be taken literally, per-say, but rather will one be mentally present to notice gradual change, but even more so will one be aware enough to even notice rapid changes such as the fall of ginkgo leaves, which all fall at once? These lyrics also depict an ecological change and a sort of death that one may experience in their lifetime due to human interference.
The second verse has more of an eco-feminist perspective where I remembered how women or people with reproductive systems and female mammals/birds were affected more tragically than males. “Mothers milk, mothers milk… I fear for my children what will become of them” is a direct reference to traces of DDT being found in breast milk and birth defects that took place. Also, Carson talks about how female birds’ reproductive systems were compromised and produced less offspring. “Where was my consent? / when was I asked what I wanted?” This is aiming towards the stories of people not being asked for consent before their lands were sprayed or they were sprayed despite some protests. Since women are disproportionately affected by a lot of pollution and exploitation, I felt like comparing it to the trend of women being exploited and used daily in multiple ways without their consent (particularly) by men and the vast majority of men who are in power. “How many parts per million until it all caves in?” discusses the traces that are found in people’s bodies after sprayings or eating food that has been contaminated and asking the question: how much can we really take before our systems, not only bodily but culturally, collapse?
The bridge then goes on to warn all living things about the “anthropocene” and the dangers it has. Birds, a relative of dinosaurs, survived the K-T extinction and yet the human species is killing them off rapidly through pesticide use and our contributions to the process of climate change.
For my creative response I decided to create a visual representation on my opinion and interpretation of Rachel Carson’s, Silent Spring. One of the main aspects in my piece is the World War II plane spraying DDT (Which I tried to make the letters apparent in the spray coming from the plane) on a community that is unknowing of the threat that is coming at them from the sky. The reason I chose a World War II plane to symbolize the plane spraying all of the DDT is because that is when many pesticides and insecticides were developed. Scientists created these chemicals in hopes that it would aid in chemical warfare and without the intent to use them in a beneficial way, but because they aided in killing nuisance insects, they deemed it safe to use in and around the public. People unknowingly made themselves, their children and every form of wildlife susceptible to this chemical because of the simple want to get rid of unwanted insects and to increase crop yields. I tried to incorporate bombs into the DDT smoke to create the illusion that the community was not being sprayed but chemically bombed by DDT. This pesticide is something that affects every living life in multitudes of different ways and humans are just as susceptible. In one of Carson’s quotes she states, “The fact that every meal we eat carries its load of chlorinated hydrocarbons is the inevitable consequence of the almost universal spraying or dusting of agricultural crops with these poisons” (Pg. 163). With knowing it or not DDT is a chemical that works itself into everything living thing and magnifies as the biological life cycle continues. Without Rachel Carson’s resilience and perseverance in bringing this issue to light, the ramifications of DDT spraying could have been far far worse.
This painting is a response to Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler. It depicts a human hand being affected by change. I see it as a representation of the idea that change can be something that results in good or evil actions. Change is guiding the hand, causing it to move and take action. Here’s a quote from Parable of the Sower that illustrates this:
p.220 “But there’s hope in understanding the nature of God—not punishing or jealous, but infinitely malleable. There’s comfort in realizing that everyone and everything yields to God. There’s power in knowing that God can be focused, diverted, shaped by anyone at all.”
But I guess this painting might be blasphemous in the eyes of Lauren since she writes that you should not depict change because it, God, is present in everything.
p.315
“Create no images of God.
Accept the images
That God has provided.
They are everywhere, in everything.
God is Change—“…
Another aspect or side of the painting I can see is the stubbornness of human kind; all this change is happening beneath the hand and while I do see a side of it where the hand is being guided, I can also see a lack of movement, a resistance to change. Change is inevitable, it allows for things to continue growing, for a balance to be maintained but we are often in denial about its existence and we want to remain in place even as everything around us and ourselves is changing. We don’t want to accept reality.
p.219 “Earthseed deals with ongoing reality, not with supernatural authority figures. Worship is no good without action. With action, it’s only useful if it steadies you, focuses your efforts, eases your mind.”
I think that traditional understandings of God that I am familiar with allow people to release responsibility for their actions, to say “This is God’s plan for me” and justify the way that things are by saying that we exist in this way because God made it so. But by identifying God as Change, as something that simply exists, as something that we either get on board with or get left behind by, we retain responsibility for the way that things are. We can say “I live this way and society exists in this way because of choices and actions made by people that caused some sort of change, for better or for worse.”
So I can see another interpretation where the hand isn’t moving or accepting change, it is resisting it even as it happens all around it.
Rachel Carson’s, Silent Spring, inspired my creative response. Throughout reading and reflecting on the book, I kept thinking about how many different chemicals we are still exposed to. Not just from the pesticides and insecticides in our food but also all the household products we keep like makeup, personal hygiene products, and cleaning products, things that we encounter almost daily and are used intimately with our bodies. For my creative response I decided to research two common household products: deodorant and shampoo. I wanted to learn more about the ingredients, why they are used, and if there was any controversy around them. I also decided to look at the history behind these products because Rachel Carson mentions how time is an essential ingredient. Considering the introduction of new, synthetic chemicals, that are made specifically for human bodies, I think the consideration of time becomes very important. What I found was that deodorant and shampoo as we know it today is relatively new, having been invented and perfected throughout the 1950’s, 60’s, and 70’s. Following with that, the controversy around these ingredients are relatively new as well, with limited studies on them. I compiled all this information onto two posters and included an at-home recipe to make your own shampoo and deodorant. My inspiration behind attempting natural versions of the products is partly due to the ideas in Walden, that promote simplicity and self-reliance. I will say that the deodorant was largely a failure as it melts when it’s out of the fridge. Some of my research findings were a bit of a concern to me. I found that some ingredients are banned in Europe but are still allowed in the US. I also found that one ingredient, Triclosan, has been banned from anti-bacterial hand soap for its toxicity, but is still allowed in deodorant and shampoo. Overall, when I finished this project I had more questions than answers, but still learned something new.
I was inspired by the events that Rachel Carson documented in her book “Silent Spring”. I chose to give a demonstration of the circumstances that existed before, during, and after the spraying of DDT. In the 1930’s, Dutch elm disease was introduced to the United States from Europe from the importation of elm burl logs. Dutch elm disease caused the branches of elm trees to wilt and die. In order to prevent the dying of more trees, they began spraying DDT on the trees on the campus of Michigan State University. In 1954, during the first spray, everything went according to plan and the trees began to thrive again. However, they noticed that the robins on campus were quickly dying off. This is because the robins would feed on earthworms in the area, and the earthworms contained toxins in them from eating the leaf litter from the poisonous trees. I found this case very interesting but also very disturbing at the thought of so many birds dying off completely in an area as the result of human incompetence. I chose to give a demonstration to show how much humans can alter an ecosystem in such a short amount of time. A demonstration also shows how dynamic and changing Earth’s systems are and how difficult it can be to adapt to rapid unforeseen changes. I constructed my demonstration out of cardboard, construction paper, and natural elements. I wanted it to be simplistic but also somewhat appealing and clear enough to tell Rachel Carson’s story. This event stood out to me because it also reveals how interconnected a whole ecosystem is and explains the process of biomagnification of toxins. As the now poisonous leaves fell from the elm trees, the earthworms that consumed them became carriers of the poison as well. Those who survived went on to become food for the robins, and as the toxin accumulates through the food chain, more robins died off than earthworms. The story of DDT is a tragic tale and a lesson learned for humanity to be cautious with what chemicals they introduce into nature.
“There was a strange stillness. The birds, for example – where had they gone? Many people spoke of them, puzzled and disturbed. The feeding stations in the backyards were deserted. The few birds seen anywhere were moribund; they trembled violently and could not fly. It was a spring without voices. On the mornings that had once throbbed with the dawn chorus of robins, catbirds, doves, jays, wrens, and scores of other bird voices there was now no sound; only silence lay over the fields and woods and marsh.”
In chapter eight of Silent Spring, author Rachel Carson writes of the disappearance of songbirds in the wintertime. There seemed to be a correlation between a massive spraying program of pesticides for an ant problem and “blank spots weirdly empty of virtually all bird life.” She continues the chapter sharing the story of the robin. In efforts to save the American elm and control the fungus disease that threatened its help, chemical sprays became a “routine procedure.” The spraying devastated the robin population; the robins dying of insecticidal poisoning through their digestion of earthworms.
Through observations of sound and sight, people noticed that human activity was affecting typical wildlife patterns. The loss of birdsong in the springtime became a catalyst for investigation into the effects of pesticides and herbicides on natural life, and largely inspired the writing of this book. Birds are symbolic for a greater theme in this novel: the myopic vision of society that ignores the ecology of life. So, I chose to represent them in my creative project: I cross stitched a bird. This was a very long process (taking me about 20 hours in total) but was simultaneous mindful and mindless work.
And The World Is Yelling
A police ‘s siren out there, a dog’s cry
A world that always stays on
A dry yard, a neighbor that doesn’t say hi
An afternoon dies and I don’t say OM.
A sad afternoon, and the world is yelling
A scream, A Fuck You, A God Dammit
I try to get solace planting in my yard
But I see drug dealing and people getting mad
Growth National Happiness? The Middle Path?
A sad afternoon, and the world is yelling
Wildfires, superfloods, hurricanes, sea level rise
How much worst it will get? Cutting edge science
Implications to powerful interests… When can I
Find myself neighbor to the birds in the wild?
A sad afternoon, and the world is yelling
Technology with a Human Face based in our needs
Intermediate technologies don’t have much to do with 5G
Will 5G be for the betterment of people or
Towards excessive production and capitalism?
A sad afternoon, and the world is yelling…
In Thoreau’s book Walden, He talks about a seed growing beneath the soil, as well as above. He describes the roots in the ground as life’s necessities, and the growing upwards of our own desires once we are provided with essentials such as clothing, food, and shelter. He describes on page 15, “When he has obtained those things which are necessary to live, there is another alternative than to obtain the superfluities; and that is, to adventure on life now, his vacation from humbler toil having commenced. The soil, it appears, is suited to the seed, for it has sent its radicle downward, and it may now send its shoot upward also with confidence. Why has man rooted himself thus firmly in the earth, but that he may rise in the same proportion into the heavens above?” My painting depicts three stages of this seed growth compared to the way human beings live. The first seed depicts small roots coming from it, only in the ground. This first seed represents those in poverty, who can only focus on their sustenance daily and do not have time to spend money on things they do not need for they can barely survive. The second seed shows fully grown roots in the soil, but a small sprout towards the sky. This seed represents Thoreau’s idea of voluntary poverty, where necessities are met, but the person does not spend money or time on superficial things. They have enough to sustain themselves and are happy with bare essentials and a few nice things. The third seed shows roots in the soil, as well as a peach tree growing towards the sky. This represents the average American that feeds into consumerism society, decorating their houses and themselves with the finest clothes and decorations because they have their necessities and continue to want more. I decided to depict trees because Thoreau draws the connection himself, and I wanted to depict the difference between poor and rich through nature. Obviously, the first seed compared to the third you can see a tremendous difference. This difference can also be seen through income if they were compared. The idea of voluntary poverty that Thoreau proposes could be a great way to solve our climate crisis as unnecessary consumerism has seeped into Americans’ way of life, while many people in the world still don’t have access to the necessities to sustain themselves.
For my creative response, I made an animation depicting themes from The Parable of the Sower. The entire animation is very simplistic, and flows from one animated entity into the next, composed of the same matter. the walking figure in the beginning can either represent the typical masculine image of God being disintegrated, or of a person, particularly, Lauren, experiencing change. these pieces then form the eyes of Lauren. Since sight is often the main trigger for her hyperempathy, I decided to put the rest of the animation in her eyes. Lauren witnesses her home burning, but after closing her eyes, the scene changes to the beach, which in turn also fades away. I hope I was able to use this animation to successfully convey the idea that change is inevitable, and it can be terrifying, as well as a saving grace.
For my creative response, I embroidered an embroidery hoop, with a design that reflects the story telling qualities and culture of the Laguna Pueblo people from the novel Ceremony by Leslie Mormon Silko. My embroidery specifically illustrates my personal imagery of the relationship of T’seh and Tayo in Ceremony, as I was very inspired by their interconnected journey to Tayo’s eventual embrace of his Native American culture and the role that T’seh played in this spiritual transformation. This piece depicts the physical conceptualization of what I imagined T’seh to look like, in addition to the stitching of the lost cattle that T’seh returned to Tayo and cared for. Some of the cattle ultimately turned out to look like pigs but this is the first time I’ve attempted embroidery. I drew inspiration from the patterns and shapes used in the indigenous pottery style of the Laguna Pueblo, in the crown I stitched onto T’seh’s head. While a description of this pottery was not included in the actual novel, I thought it was it would be creatively beneficial, as well as enriching to the cultural significance of my piece, to incorporate the artistic style of the Native American tribe of that Tayo came from. During the summer that Tayo and T’seh spent together, they collect all but one of T’seh’s plants, while never taking too much in respect for their surrounding environment, symbolizing Tayo’s ceremonial transition back into his culture. To display this, I stitched shapes of flowers and plants above the depiction of T’seh, Tayo and the cattle. At one point I admittedly spilled some coffee on the embroidery hoop, but this opened up a window for me to get more creative with my piece, so I then used paint to depict the land in which the plants were grown, as well as paint T’seh’s dress yellow, as it was described in the book.
For my creative response, I chose to paint a picture that represents the book Walden by Thoreau. I wanted to paint something that I pictured as a good cover for the book and something that would represent the whole book. When I think of the book Walden, I automatically picture Thoreau walking through the woods peacefully and not in a hurry. I also think about Thoreau’s techniques of self, and what he practiced while at Walden, such as hoeing beans, eating with care, keeping awake, listening, dwelling in time, reading and walking. Through lived experiences and practices we can cultivate ourselves in a way that draws our attention back to ourselves which in turn helps us to also pay attention to the nonhuman world. We need to cultivate ourselves in a way that we are alert to all our senses and surroundings, Thoreau says “No method nor discipline can supersede the necessity of being forever alert” (Thoreau, pg.111). Thoreau advises us to be alert to all that can be observed, even when we are doing things as simple as taking a walk or eating a meal. He constantly expresses the sympathy he has for nature and the pleasure he finds in it. In his chapter “Solitude” he talks about how he returned from a walk to find that some visitors had stopped by. This gets him to thinking about his distance from other people, and highlights the possibility of loneliness and the space between men. He has an intimate connection to nature and points out that if we can attain a greater closeness to nature we don’t need the physical proximity of others. Finding company in nature and in ourselves is the kind of company that will last and not be a distraction. It’s not about separating ourselves from others but separating ourselves from things that don’t allow us to be free and to be one with nature.
As a feature this semester, we started a few classes with music and popular media from native communities. I was inspired by that, and chose to showcase a band that I enjoy.
Dark Water Rising is a band that I experienced for the first time at a pipeline march in Lumberton, NC. Charly Lowry used her voice to sing and bring us all together during the walk, during breaks, etc. She kept the spirit alive with music, so I find her to be an inspiration.
I’d like to draw connection between the use of livestock as a metaphor for displaced people in Ceremony. “Cattle are like any living thing. If you separate them from the land too long, keep them in barns and corrals, they lose something… when you turn them loose again… they are scared because the land is unfamiliar, and they are lost. They don’t stop being scared either, even when they look quiet and quit running” (Silko, 68). I appreciate this symbolism, as I love cows, and think that we ought to be thinking of our human brains more like animals anyway. Relating Tayo’s situation perhaps, and many other folks as well, the fear of the cow represents the fear of those who have been forcibly removed from their land and into unfamiliar territory.
I think this metaphor could apply to both displaced natives and returning veterans, both of which Tayo is.
I think this metaphor can also lay over into the song “Brown Skin” by Dark Water Rising, as it speaks on the discomforts of being translocated to unfamiliar lands.
Since enrolling and enriching myself within Appalachian State’s Sustainable Development program one of the most fascinating movements I’ve studied has been the “return to nature” movement. Henry David Thoreau’s experience and writing encompasses everything I feel this movement can present to us as a society. This primitive but so incredibly sophisticated lifestyle Thoreau is able to experience during his experiment at Walden Pond is very unique because of its timing in history. At the forefront of the new industrial age, before we knew any of the consequences that would soon rain down upon us, Thoreau disagreed. He ventured on his own to find a simpler and more efficient way of living and in my opinion that is the true return to nature movement. There is no real way for us to regress society or the global mindset at this present time, but individuals make all the difference. Finding ways to support nature and live correctly and efficiently even in concrete jungles is much more appropriate and fitting for today’s society. Individuals have all the power to make a difference because eventually they form a collective, and so on and so forth until some real change starts happening. I wanted to recreate the Walden Woods Project to the best of my ability using recycled materials from the forest behind my apartment. This is the place that started it all for myself and I’m sure for a number of other environmentally conscious intellectuals, and hopefully my recreation of the area will always remind me of the true meaning and message I took from my experience with the book.
Th sticks, leaves, gravel, wood shavings and spruce twigs are all from behind my apartment.
The pond is a recycled Tupperware cover.
The box and carboard platforms are recycled from the book store.
Super Glue, Wood Glue and Packing Tape.
Potting Soil is from the SD Garden
For my creative response, I decided to incorporate something that envelops me everywhere I go no matter what. I wrote a song where the lyrics are solely based off of quotes from Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring. My reasoning behind choosing Silent Spring was that there was a certain poetic aspect that Rachel Carson’s words evoked even though they were not presented in such a way. I figured it would be much easier to pick from some of the other books that had already incorporated poetry, so I challenged myself a bit. A lot of the lyrics came from A Fable for Tomorrow, simply because of the shear mass of imagery that goes into those few pages. I tried to focus my lyrics and song structure on the juxtaposition of grimness and beauty presented in the book where something that so beautiful and deserving of preservation is wasted away. I tried to write a song that was at the same time very melodic with fluttering guitar and vocals, but at the same time has a chilling and angry aspect with lyrics like “everywhere was a shadow of death” (Carson 2) and “We allow the chemical death rain to fall as though there were no alternative” (Carson 12). Rachel Carson does an amazing job creating imagery that the reader can take hold of and make a connection with. I recorded the song as well so that the lyrics (which hopefully show up on this response) could be read with the song. I did not spend much time on the quality of the recording because I wanted the song to seem as raw as it was when it was written. Enjoy
I decided to write a poem in response to Octavia Butler’s Parable of the Sower. I was inspired and frightened by the life depicted in this novel. The environment itself is struggling immensely and everyone seems to be living in turmoil. There is an immense lack of resources, with water and food security proving to be widespread. There is only a sense of community within the walls of the neighborhood, until those walls are burned along with the neighborhood and the people itself. Life is cold, the world is desolate, the land is barren, and the people are miserable. Poverty is widespread, regardless of status and location. This book particularly hit me hard. I can’t shake the feeling that Butler’s book is a book of truth; a glimpse into our future, a peek into our “hell.” I took this book in its entirety as a warning. We must, as it is absolutely essential, take action now. We need to redirect our priorities and our efforts to the path of sustainability so that we ensure we do not find this harsh way of living to be of truth. Earth is home. It is my home, your home, every living organism’s home. Earth is not worried whether humanity survives or not so we are only hurting our own chances at survival. We depend on our environment for food, water, shelter, and other resources. If earth is our lifeline, why would we work so hard to destroy it? In my poem, I describe the bleakness of earth, the hostility between beings, and the lack of community in the future world, inspired by Lauren and her journey. I critique our society’s short term methods of thinking and its focus on profit over the planet. Overall, this poem represents a sort of lost hope for humanity, but a newfound hope for earth, as humanity could potentially cease to be a threat to earth’s ecosystems.
For my creative response, I was inspired by Octavia Butler’s book the Parable of the Sower. In the book, the main character Lauren Olamina creates a new religion called Earthseed, and seeks to found a community for the religion. At the very end of the novel, she succeeds in this goal, founding Acorn with the group of people she has been traveling with. The name for the community comes from the remembrance of loved ones lost by each member of Acorn, as said by Lauren “I have enough acorns for each of us to plant live oak trees to our dead” (Butler, 327). For my response, I chose to draw a sign for Acorn. In the sign, the founding year of Acorn and the Earthseed community number are listed, as well as the name of the community. The eye is drawn to the large image of an acorn on the sign, which was the intention of my sign. This is to give people a visual representation of what the community is founded on, the idea of newness. I incorporated leaves underneath and around the acorn for both the new life of trees and the new life represented in Earthseed. Earthseed is the driving voice behind the founding of Acorn, and is the main draw to this place, something I hoped to capture in the sign.
My creative response is inspired by Lauren’s religion, Earthseed. Although Lauren says, “Earthseed deals with ongoing reality, not with supernatural authority figures”, I thought it would be fun to think about what her God would look like if it had a physical form. The painting is of God conceptualized by Earthseed. I used India ink and watercolors to create my depiction.
In my own depiction of the Earthseed God, God has a single eye for observing, and its hands are preoccupied by holding the eye open, rather than using them to create or alter the world. I also gave it roots to depict ideas of resiliency, growth, and the importance of nature in Earthseed’s philosophy. I put it on Mars, because “The Destiny of Earthseed is to take root amongst the stars”; it symbolizes Lauren’s dreams of going to space, as well as the universality of her God.
Earthseed’s God not only represents change, but also human resiliency. Despite Lauren’s position as a realist perceived as a pessimist by many of her peers, she is also intensely hopeful, never giving up on the human ability to change and adapt. She agrees that it will be difficult, but still maintains her hope for a better future where humans are more than “smooth-skinned dinosaurs, here today gone tomorrow”. This depiction of God is hopeful, because it is slowly beginning to put down roots in an inhospitable environment. It is colorful and thriving despite the barren landscape it lives in, just like Lauren.
I chose to create a painting for my creative response based on themes from Silko’s Ceremony. One theme that stood out to me in the book was the idea of global connectivity, Tayo realizes this when he is in Japan during WWII and sees Japanese soldiers. He has the realization that they are the same as him and the Laguna people on the reservation, noting that their “skin was not much different from his own”(6). Tayo had difficulty following commands to kill the Japanese because of their resemblance to Josiah, only furthering the connection he felt all people had, especially after death. One uniting symbol between the Japanese and Indians was the atomic blast that occurred in Japan. I illustrated this in my painting showing the atomic blast going off in the New Mexican desert and the Japanese jungle where Tayo was serving underneath. Tayo blames the “jungle green rain” for killing Rocky, to distract himself from the true terrors of war, he says the “jungle breathed an eternal green that fevered men until they dripped sweat” (10). This green, wet landscape contrasted greatly with Tayo’s dry, desertous homeland, showing that throughout the differences humans are still connected. Tayo realizes why the “Japanese voices had merged with Laguna voices…[that] the lines of cultures and worlds were drawn in flat dark lines on fine light sand”(228) and that the same death can unite both people, as “one tribe”.
I had the explosion resembling a sunrise on the horizon, since Tayo had often described the desert during sunrise or sunset throughout the book. Towards the end of the book he describes a sunrise as a moment when everything was “all so beautiful, everything, from all directions, evenly, perfectly, balancing day with night” (220). This was a moment Tayo felt at peace and put together, amidst the troubles surrounding him. I hoped to illustrate the contrast between the beauty of the desert during sunrise and the peacefulness during that time and the catastrophe of a bomb going off.
For my representation of my creative response I decided to create a collage. My collage depicted real world examples of how DDT (an organic insecticide) effected people during World War II. Some of the images included were individuals testing out DDT concentrate pills to “prove” that they were safe to ingest. If this were true, they might still be alive today, DDT was later proven to be poisonous. Another picture I used was an image of a pair of eggs that have completely imploded since their outer shells have become so brittle that they just crumbled from the weakening agent in DDT. Some other images include DDT workers who are willfully spraying individuals of all ages with this crystalline chlorine compound in hopes to deter insects. The background of the collage is a batch of sliced opened, juicy, colorful fruits that appear to be all natural, although they are unfortunately still effected by DDT and other deadly chemicals. I chose this background to show the duality of perception versus reality of what we are dealing with today in terms of food consumption since nothing is 100% safe. I was influenced from Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring which was very moving in more ways then what meet the eyes. She is a biologist and her book Silent Spring highlights the dangerous, long-lasting effects of the use of insecticides, herbicides and pesticides on natural and nonnatural environments. Throughout the book she was plagued with the suppression from influential individuals and the government to not promote her discovery of the negative effects of these harmful chemicals to the public. This is significant because she persisted for a long time which proved to be successful in spreading essential knowledge to the general public in order to seize the use of DDT and other chemicals in the environment. Since there was such a widespread use of damaging chemicals all over North America and beyond, we still have a small percentage of these chemicals in practically all products whether they are for household uses or the food we eat today which is alarming. We continue to pump our bodies and products with GMO’s and other hormones, chemicals preservatives, etc. which is hard to fathom and I am sure Carson is disappointed to know this. But in spite of all of the negativity associated with this book, she encourages many individuals to challenge the government and our state of being as a whole population which is helpful in proliferating together with a more ecologically centered mindset. This is the ultimate gift Rachel Carson provides with her book Silent Spring.
For my creative response, I was inspired by Henry David Thoreau’s book, Walden. Thoreau depicts nature as being the central realm of his life, which is something I sincerely appreciated throughout the novel. I decided to paint Walden Pond because my childhood home was housed beside a pond, therefore, making it easy for me to relate to Thoreau in that way. Painting is something I rarely get to do these days because I’m always so busy with school work, but I took this time to do one of the activities I love most and I’m appreciative of this opportunity to get to do a hobby I rarely have time for. I found painting this scene was nostalgic of my childhood home and therapeutic for my mind during the peak of studying for finals and writing papers.
I understood what Thoreau meant by seeing a frozen pond, and the concept of a seemingly bottomless pond. Thoreau explains in the novel that nature shouldn’t be tampered with or reconstructed, that it’s a place of value. One of the quotes from Walden that stuck with me the most was on page 232, where he writes, “While men believe in the infinite some ponds will be thought to be bottomless.” This quote I think demonstrates our lives in the society we are encompassed by. The thoughts of wanting materialistic entities we don’t need, the thoughts of impressing all the time, and the thoughts of overcompensating to somehow show our mentalities. We live in a bottomless pond with our modern day lifestyles and our ‘things’ we think we need to be who we are. I think that’s why Thoreau places such an emphasis on why nature should be valued more and taken care of. Nature will always be here in some form or another, but your materialistic wants will not be.
For my creative response, I choose to paint symbols and a quote that identify with how I perceived the book, “Parable of the Sower,” by Octavia Butler. This book was my favorite that we read this semester and I felt that the plot is so relevant to the current state of our world, environmentally and politically.
The quote I choose says “take root among the stars,” which was spoken by main character Lauren Olamina. The context of the quote is explaining that the destiny of Earthseed, the new religion Lauren founded, is to take root in space. Lauren speaks to the turmoil on Earth in the book when she says, “It’s a destiny we’d better pursue if we hope to be anything other than smooth-skinned dinosaurs – here today, gone tomorrow, our bones mixed with the bones and ashes of our cities.” This quote and context resonates with me since our current situation on Earth is headed that way with the way we are currently treating the environment. The book was written in 1993 and takes place in 2024 – 2027, which means the beginning of this plot is only 4 years away from current time. Lauren takes special care to bring seeds with her to plant once Earthseed has established a community space, and they come in handy for the group once they decide to settle on Bankole’s land.
The piece of wood I used for my painting is symbolic as well. I almost went to the store and bought a blank canvas, although I believe the piece of wood not only is representative of the book, but also myself. I cut the wood off the end of a board that came from a Tulip Poplar tree. The log that this board came from was sustainably harvested with horses from a farm in Creston, NC and I sawed it into usable lumber on a Wood-Mizer portable sawmill. The wood has been stacked and stickered for a few months and is considered ready for use. In “Parable of the Sower,” going to the hardware store and buying lumber would be outrageously expensive, and even though it doesn’t directly say, is implied that it would only be a task for the wealthy and more of an idea of the past. As Earthseed is settled, they will need lumber for buildings, just as mentioned in the book. Grayson Mora has experience with building and no doubt it was with rough sawn lumber just as I have painted on. I believe the painting is much better suited on a piece of lumber that was only touched by a handful of people and only traveled to campus from the surrounding rural area.
For the creative response, I was inspired by Octavia Bulter’s Parable of the Sower. I haven’t gotten to paint much since high school but I saw this project as an opportunity to get to connect back to that hobby as well as really analyze this book, to show what I got out of it and learned. The landscape is based on their journey walking up California and fleeing the LA area which is shown in the background burning, although she never specifically describes what the city looked like since they avoided it this is just what I imagined it would be like. I decided for the globe to be held by Lauren with her hands reaching down from the clouds/stars, to return to her focus on how Earthseed’s goal is to “reach for the stars”. I showed her hands coming down because by the end of the novel I felt like she had achieved what she set out to with starting Earthseed. I also included fire along the landscape as a reference to the dominance of fire as a symbol of destruction and danger that is always present. Rather than praying to God for mercy and justice, followers of Earthseed work to change the world themselves which is why I showed her holding the earth, to represent her shaping the world in the image that she aspires to. I also included an oak tree sprouting from the earth which is a reference to acorns which are a symbol of new life, hope, and possibility throughout the book. In the final few pages of the book before the Earthseed community holds a funeral burying their dead and their pasts, Lauren says, “I would like to give them a grove of oak trees, trees are better than stone-life commemorating life” so they each plant an acorn.
My creative response journey was atypical. As class was dismissing on Thursday the 14th, Anatoli mentioned that some of the most creative submissions received in past semesters came from students who claimed they weren’t creative by nature. I left class feeling inspired by that comment, as I have never considered myself creatively gifted and felt intimidated by the assignment. So Friday morning, I sat down with a blank canvas and some oil paints, convinced that I was to create a masterpiece based on Silko’s “Ceremony.” I spent several hours and produced a painting that wasn’t the worst thing I’d ever laid eyes on. So I called it done and moved onto the next assignment.
Over the weekend, I couldn’t help the nagging feeling that I had missed the “point” of the assignment. I had rigidly chosen a text and a medium because of my rigid definition of creativity. Sunday evening, while finishing Butler’s “Parable of the Sower,” I realized that the definition I had held of creative genius up to that point was not the whole truth. Creativity can be seen in all kinds of unconventional ways throughout the life experience. In “Parable,” I found the gift of creativity in Lauren’s resourceful preparations for the journey past the wall. This is a different kind of creativity: facing a life or death situation and utilizing human ingenuity to survive all odds.
This application of creativity allowed me to find where I fit organically into the creative process. Finding ways to fix machinery or fences or pieces of equipment was my specialty area at my last job. Can I create a masterpiece with a pencil and paper? No. But I can patch a break in a line of fence without any conventional tools while in the field. This reconciliation of myself as a creative being gave me the inspiration for my project: the compilation of my own apocalyptic “go bag.”
To create my grab bag, I set several ground rules. I was not allowed to purchase anything new or take anything from anyone that they would miss in day-to-day life in the meantime. I used Lauren’s detailed list from page 18 and built off of that. Finding some items, like a clothesline or small can opener, proved to be impossible. I also wasn’t satisfied with the amount of food I could procure, or a sleeping mat and warm layers.
It’s hard to replicate the adaptive responsiveness that Lauren and her walking crew embodied in the face of imminent danger without the presence of that existential threat. My pack was put together leisurely, and rested in my closet until presentation day without needing to be hidden from probable intruders. With that being said, the act of assembling it gave me new insights into Lauren’s psyche throughout her struggles in “Parable.” When all was said and done, I had a new level of appreciation not only of the text and characters, but of myself as a creative being.
Kate Bradley
SD 3800-101
December 3, 2019
Creative Response: Grounding
Produce a creative visual (or multisensory) response to one of the course texts and an issue in sustainable development engaged by the text. Select the text to which you respond and present your response to the class on the assigned days. The response could be something you find that was created by someone else, such as a photograph or a sculpture, or it could be something you create, such as a drawing. The response must be accompanied by a brief written explanation (1 page) of the points of contact between the text and the particular artistic representation.
In my experience with our texts for this course, I was particularly drawn to Walden by Henry David Thoreau, and the self sufficient, nature dependent lifestyle that Thoreau was experimenting with. His emphasis on solitude and resigning oneself to “the influence of the earth” and heavens presence under our feet in the ground immediately drew my mind to the practice of grounding. When contemplating what creative medium to use, I found myself trying to force Thoreau’s ideas into the box of conventional art forms that I don’t often use. I realized that I am moved frequently by experiential art in very similar ways to visual art, so I decided that my response to his work would be in the form of a grounding technique called “Zhan Zhuang” which translated means “to stand like a tree.”
I am having the entire class stand and participate by standing with feet pointed straight ahead and shoulder width apart firmly on the ground. Breathing steadily through the nose, you then focus on extending upwards through the top of your head, until it feels as though your head is effortlessly floating above your neck. You then allow your hips to sink slightly, as though you are sitting on a tall bar stool, which should straighten the lower part of the back. Keeping the knees at only a slight bend, you want to make sure that they are not over your toes. While maintaining steady breath, relax the shoulders so that they are slightly rounded, allowing the arms to rest at the side. Then tuck your chin up and in to open up the spine, meanwhile softly pressing the tongue to the roof of the mouth. We will hold this pose for one minute, but it is often practiced until people hold it for 40 minutes a day.
This practice reminds me of the ways in which Thoreau as well as the sustainability movement challenges us to be conscious and fully present, and connected with the earth around us. It draws us into remembrance of our great dependence on the earth. Ideally, it would be performed barefoot outside so that the contact with the earth, similar to Thoreau’s submersion into life next to Walden Pond, reminds us of all its intricacies and provision. In certain ways, this is the ultimate practice of mentally and physically letting the world around alone, holding tight to what is happening now and the continuity and dependability of the earth beneath, which is something that Thoreau in his explanation of the cost structure and daily goings on of his lifestyle really relishes. It’s a beautiful way to great the day or the night with great joy by checking into the world around.
My creative response was based off of Octavia Butler’s Parable of the Sower. For my project I tried to create what I visualize when Lauren is discussing the religion of Earthseed. In the book, Lauren awoke from a dream and had the realization that the purpose of Earthseed is to take root among the stars. I wanted to visually portray her prophecy, so I carved out a book painted it and relabeled it so it could be the book of Earthseed. Beneath the book, I painted a canvas that was supposed to look like outer-space, and wrote the main truth of Earthseed large and in the center; “God is Change”. I wanted to make that the focus of the painting because the phrase was the backbone of the entire religion. The belief that God is not a singular entity but instead is something you have the ability to shape, drove nearly all of Lauren’s actions in the book. Her belief system is what inspired her to be prepared. It kept her alive throughout the book and allowed her to create a community of other travelers. Also on the canvas I cut out and glued on stars. Behind the stars I wrote a few of the other key parables Lauren had written for Earthseed. In the hollowed out book I put a plant. I ended up with parsley which wasn’t my first choice, but I wanted it to be something edible to incorporate the knowledge of edible native plants Lauren had acquired in preparation for leaving the community. From the bottom of the book, I glued what is supposed to look like thin roots across the canvas. The purpose is so it looks like the knowledge of Earthseed is spreading, and literally “taking root among the stars”, fulfilling Lauren’s dreams for her religion.
When I look into Native American culture I always get a strong sense of respect and admiration. I also feel shame. I am of the same people that took everything away from native people and threw them the scraps after the outsiders were through. Even in present times there are politicians and leaders that throw native considerations aside. Within Ceremony by Leslie Marmon Silko this issue is really highlighted through the story of Tayo and his place within the tribe. Due to Tayo being mixed he is constantly struggling with his identity between being Laguna and being white. All of his friends are fully Laguna but do not respect what it means to be truly Laguna, with the stories, traditions, and way of life. I can relate to Tayo in a certain way because I am transgender, therefore I am seen and treated as one gender but identify heavily with the other. It is a struggle for people to get over the fact that some people are different and it can take a toll on a person. The way that Tayo helps find himself is through ceremonies and self-reflection. I use self-reflection and get advice from older relatives, but I also cope through food. Food to me is a way to connect to people in such a strong way because food always brings people together. While Tayo never has this huge connection to food within the book I believe that it plays a big part in most Native culture. The connection that I have with food and farming is the same that Tayo has with his cattle. The cattle guide Tayo through the ceremony and Tayo becomes stronger mentally and culturally. Making a Native fry bread allows be to connect with Tayo and his struggles.
The purpose of this creative response delivery is to invoke thought and intention regarding the types of leaders we elect into our communities as well as the types of leaders we seek to become.
The excerpt provided by Octavia Butler’s interview on “Democracy Now” from her sequel to Parable of the Sower, Parable of the Talents introduces the claim that there are serious consequences in choosing the wrong leaders in a community. Butler’s passage states that consequences of choosing an inadequate leader goes beyond oneself. Instead, it is to subject “those you love” to thievery and slavery. Beyond the interpretation and message of this passage, the figures that surround the writing represent examples of effective leaders in the face of injustice and trial. The photograph of Ken Saro-Wiwa was chosen because he was an influential role model for small communities organizing against the unethical practices by large oil companies. Saro-Wiwa’s activism gave the Ogoni community a voice, which is an important example of community organizing to remember moving forward. The image of Tara Houska (middle right) is accompanied by an illustration from “Idle No More,” (bottom right.) The two were chosen to highlight the importance of advocacy for indigenous communities. This advocacy includes both cultural and environmental preservation on land originally belonging to native tribes. Eleanor Roosevelt was chosen as emblematic leader because she used her social status position as First Lady to promote the rights of women and other marginalized communities. Rachel Carson in the top right corner is a relevant choice to the course work of Classics in Sustainable Development, as well as a strong female figure in science. Science communication is a subject about which I am passionate and look to Rachel Carson’s work as an example of effective storytelling and communication regarding environmental action. Lastly, I chose images from the Women’s March and the Climate March in various cities to represent the strength in mobilizing young people and emphasizing the importance of strong leaders in the future. Additionally, it is important to point out that being a leader on a small scale can still have a significant impact in social, political and environmental change.
From all of the books we read this semester, Parable of the Sower immediately had the most significant impact on me. Set in the United States in the 2020s, it struck a little bit too close to home. One of the most influential aspects of this novel was Earthseed, and Lauren’s belief that “God is change”. This impacted me so much because I deeply resonate with Lauren’s perspective on God / the Universe. I believe that the only constant is change, and that we are constantly involved in the co-creation of our lives.
For my creative project, I decided to conduct a ceremony based upon the African Orisha, Oya. In Parable of the Sower, Lauren’s full name is Lauren Oya Olamina; Butler chose this middle name very intentionally. Oya is the goddess of wind, storms, and change. She assists in rapid inner and outer transformation, and clears paths for the new. So much of what Oya represents is reflected in Earthseed, in Lauren, in the community she wants to create.
For my ritual, I researched Oya and the colors, foods, items and other energies associated with her, and put together an altar with all of these intentional elements. I chose a red altar cloth to represent change and power, as well as a red and purple candle (and a white candle for protection, which I always use when conducting rituals in my personal life). I had a chalice of red wine and a bowl of raspberries for edible/drinkable offerings, carnelian and smoky quartz (stones associated with Oya), a jar of comfrey oil (an herb associated with Oya) I made from the SD garden this summer, as well as sage for cleansing and sandlewood incense for putting good energy back into the cleansed space.
My focus for this ritual was to use the theme of change associated with Oya and Parable of the Sower to inspire us all to make change in our own lives. The ritual happened to be coinciding with the New Moon, which is a great time to do a ritual / set intentions around planting seeds and making changes. I had everyone in the circle write on a piece of paper things that they want to change, call in, and let go of in their lives. After everyone wrote down their piece, I passed around a lighter and had everyone burn their piece of paper. The intention behind this was that, as the paper burned, the things you wanted to let go of were dissolved, and the things you wanted to call in were then put out into the universe to manifest.
Magic and witchcraft is a part of my daily life and spiritual practice, and helps me greatly in times where I feel stuck, down, doubtful or confused. As Lauren says, change is the only constant, and we are both shaping it and shaped by it every day. I feel that magic can be a beautiful way to help bring some of our creative power into fruition.
The piece I created was inspired by the aboriginal style that was first introduced to be through the aboriginal poetry we read earlier in the semester. This piece contained many new ideas that were represented by the idea of leaving things as they were found. Even with holes, they were to be covered for fear of a snake coming to the village. In addition to this, the main element of my piece was represented by water, which was a running theme in the Parable of the Sower. The top of the waterfall in my art was clean, as it became obviously more murky as the painting panned down. This was to represent both water scarcity and the downfall of american society.
In addition to this, in the top margin of my art, the sky went from day to night, left to right. This was to highlight the paradigm change that Earthseed experienced as it was created, and also its stark difference between itself and other religions. This also was to highlight the concept that god is change which was a very lyrical aspect of the story. Finally, on the far right of the sky there were stars in addition to the sun portrayed in the middle. This aspect was more in reference to earthseeds destiny laying in the stars, and the different interpretations of earthseed that could arise from each individual shaping god.
For my creative assignment, I decided to do a small-scale recreation of my favorite pieces of art I have. A little over 2 years ago, I was walking out of the Student Union and I stumbled upon a pile of large carboard next to a dumpster. I went to look, and was confused at what I saw. Every piece of cardboard (4 ft x 3 ft) was folded evenly in half (vertically) and there were two large pictures heavily taped to the sides. The odd part about this was that the two pictures for every piece of carboard didn’t seem to match each other. The colors varied, the themes differed, and the people/places pictured were borderline opposites. I assumed it was some sort of art project from the summer semester, but I couldn’t figure out the assignment for the life of me. In the pile, I found one piece that I wound up taking.
My piece of art has a photo of Muhammad Ali underwater boxing on the left and a drawing of the Buddha on the right with a quote. Muhammad Ali’s side is entirely black and white with blue tinges all over, and Buddha’s side is entirely orange and yellow with black accents. Muhammad’s side feels strong yet sad while Buddha’s feels warm, inviting, and inspiring. Muhammad’s side is plain but Buddha’s is intricately designed. Muhammad’s side is plain, lonely, and isolated but Buddha’s makes me smile. I enjoy the opposition, and although I have no idea what the assignment was, I think that’s part of the fun of now. I get something new from the poster every time I look at it, and every new perspective or thought brings me a little bit closer to understanding it. Part of me thinks that I’m not meant to know the topic otherwise it’d just ruin the mystery and magic, but part of me also thinks I do understand it – I just can’t verbalize it.
Given my explanation of the poster and its influence on me, I thought a representation of the same concept for Tayo’s journey would work really well. I chose to picture the opposing forces, colors, and feelings of fog and fire. The fog represents Tayo when he came home from the war. In the beginning of Ceremony, Tayo says that “he had been white smoke. He did not realize that until he left the hospital, because white smoke had no consciousness of itself…He inhabited a gray winter fog” (13). Upon his return, Tayo clearly is suffering from PTSD and major depressive disorder. He could barely walk or speak, and every time he tried, he spoke about himself in the third person. He was dissociating so greatly in an attempt to remove himself from the pain the war had caused him that he lost himself entirely in the process. He was gray/white fog and only saw gray and white during this time. My heart ached for Tayo during this part of the book because I too suffer from PTSD and depression. I know what it is to feel like a white/gray fog and to remove yourself so fully from a situation that you lose sight of who you are. It’s hard and it’s beyond painful to come out of that kind of place, but Tayo worked to claw his way out. From my perspective, the most pivotal moment of Tayo’s recovery was at the very end when Leroy, Emo, and Pinkie were torturing Harley over the fire. The fire and witchery and evil ceremonies being enacted by Tayo’s “friends” mirrored the original ceremony by the witches during which the white man and all of his horrible evils were created. The evil entered the world then and would never leave; it always had to claim a victim, but it was up to the person to whom the evil called that determined how a death would occur. As Tayo watched his once friends torture the other, Tayo knew they were looking for him. He knew that if he came out of hiding to rescue Harley, he would be murdered in such a manner that only more evil would come out of it, and all of his soul searching would be for nothing. Tayo knew then and there that these boys were no longer his friends. These were evil monsters were sent to destroy him from the inside out. Harley, Pinkie, Emo, and Leroy represented Tayo’s evil spirits, and Tayo had to sacrifice them to save himself. I believe that the fire ceremony that night both metaphorically and physically burned his bridges with the unhealthy and evil parts of himself, and as hard as it was for Tayo to not help, he knew he was saving himself in the process. At the end of the novel, we learn that all of his friends have died or been shunned and sent on the run from authorities. We don’t find out difinitively if Tayo ever gets better, but I believe that he does. He had already put in so much work to find himself and heal, and he finally lost the heavy evil spirits that were weighing him down in the end. I don’t believe that he will forever be healed, but I do believe he has better tools to help him through any rough time to come. I believe he burned the evil part of himself that night and opened room for goodness and wholeness to enter his life.
The fire burned Tayo’s fog away, and now he has room to grow and connect with his family, life, and spiritual self again. My Buddha poster has incendiary elements, and whenever I look at it, I too feel that I have the power to burn the evil parts of myself and start a new road towards healing. I feel very connected to Tayo and his journey, and now we both have posters to symbolize our own paths to healing.