She

As part of the BA (hons) course we are expected to partake in subjects such as cultural studies and Discourse. These subjects are put in place in order to help use as contemporary artist and crafts people understand the world that we work in. This in turn allows use to develop more conscious pieces of work that not only feed are ideas to the right ordinance but allows use to push them; creating more unique and interesting work.

There has been a recent change to the current curriculum and now as part of cultural studies we must produce a piece of art work to accompany are written work. This piece has to be directly influenced by the topic in the brief and we must also talk about it in are written work. I think it is a unique idea and in all honesty its quite appalling to me. It makes quite a refreshing change to be able to work on an idea or concept without having to necessarily paying much attention to aesthetic detail. “The aesthetics suit the idea and mealy embellish it.”

The above two paragraphs are my ideas and no one else please don’t take them as gospel

We where offered two subjects to write about the first was landscape and the natural world and the other is travel and tourism. Quite open don’t you think, its interesting how people reacted to such open questions. As part of the criteria we have to talk about common and alternative idea and how people have chose to use them in there work. Before the selection of are chosen subject we where given lectures based on both of the subjects. These lectures where structured with the idea of giving us and insight into some views on current cultural idea.

I have chosen landscape and the natural world and how we as humans view it. It is an interesting dynamic which has multiple faces, some of use viewing open fields of golden wheat as comforting and romantic where as others view it as massive scares of abnormality. Or how the confines of a house protect use from the world out side or trap use and leave use numb and desensitised. For most of use we interacted with landscapes and the natural world based on cultural ideas. But there are some more radical ideas of landscape and how we reacted with it.

One of this ideas is that the world we live in is alive it is an organism just like me and you. It is a theory developed by a man called James Lovelock and it is called the Gaia hypothesise. I love this idea, in fact some of my earliest and most vivid ideas just prove to fuel my ideas about Gaia. The idea that She (Gaia, the Greek goddess of the earth) was self regulating, aware and in balance, She keeps order and she is ruthless.



James Lovelock talks about the gentle balance that the earth exits in he describes how we are all part of systems that has limits. He also talks about some unique and interesting information that has been discovered through scientific research. Like how the very first photosynthesises (plants) almost wiped themselves out, they where so good at there job that the poisoned there own atmosphere. They just did what we are doing they made to much oxygen and we are doing the same making to much carbon.



There are also some more interesting idea brought to light by James, ideas that have some very deep and profound meaning. For an organism to be called and organism there is one simple rule it must follow to be able to reproduce. And a first glance you would think that this is impossible, but look again and you will see Her seeds every where. It is just an idea but it explains a lot we are Her seeds, we are the means of reproduction. We have and always will desire exploration, we crave the un none and we won’t let any thing get in are way. Science has or will have soon the technology and understanding to Teraform (changing a dead planet into one that humans can live on) other plants. Its isn’t really the case of if but more when; I think the more potent question is are we ready could we become the teenage mother to a bastard son.

James Lovelock talks about his theory in great detail in his book Gaia. The ideas he has developed are based in science and he has spent time studying and researching every aspect of them. His idea can seem at time radical and are hard to hear sometimes but I believe I is talking with a great deal of clarity. I have started work on some image that I want to use for my essay. The are human form but mechanical in structure the final pieces are meant to represent a mother or Gaia carrying a child or earth. Gaia herself is mechanical to represent man creating her child. I think.