overview
Lesson 1 | Summary
Activity Pages
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lesson 1 | ode to a view
activity | ode to the land
The land has long been a source of inspiration for artists and writers
who have looked both to its sublime expanses and intimate details
with a sense of wonderment, curiosity, and reverence. While technology
may have altered our society's collective relationship to nature
and increasingly lured us indoors, many contemporary artists and
writers strive to cultivate ties with the land and to explore natural
landscapes in their work. Through video, photography and sculpture,
Paul Pfeiffer, Sally
Mann, Collier Schorr, and James
Turrell all convey distinct relationships to the landscape
and particular natural environments. Pfeiffer’s video installation
“Morning
After the Deluge” portrays a seamless image of the sun
rising and setting over the ocean. Meditating on the way we appreciate
landscape, Pfeiffer’s video forces the viewer to patiently
sit and watch as the image slowly goes through it’s beautiful
yet barely perceptible cycle. James Turrell creates viewing spaces
in “Roden
Crater” in Arizona to present light and space in new and
profound ways, and harnesses the power of nature in his architectural
skyspaces. In many ways his sculptural ode is in the form of framed
perspectives for looking at the natural elements of time and light.
Sally Mann’s collodion images from the “Deep
South” are a visual tribute to the landscape where she
grew up and still lives. Collier Schorr's images of the German landscape,
such as “Helmet/Kindling and Deer Feed (Winter/) Durlangen,”
incorporate figures and abandoned military equipment to address
the buried histories of war.
Introduce your students to these artists using each of their Art:21
video segments, slideshows, and interviews (see links above), and
discuss how their work fits or does not fit into the category of
the ode. Have students describe what they feel each of the artists’
different relationships to nature is and how they represent that
visually. Have students compare and contrast these visual representations
of landscape with the following poems: Ralph
Waldo Emerson’s "Song
of Nature," Robert Frost's "Birches,"
and William Wordsworth’s “Intimations
of Immortality.” What are the similarities and differences
in descriptive systems? How has our relationship to the land changed
since these writers were active? How is the land represented now
in the cultural landscape of ads, movies, TV shows, etc.? Why might
contemporary artists feel compelled to pay homage to the natural
world in their work?
Divide the class into groups of three or four and ask each group
to select a nearby natural area to serve as their site for an ode
to the land. Each group should visit their site, taking notes and
making sketches, and should propose a large-scale, site-specific
project for the site that would serve as their ode, revealing the
historical or personal significance of the site, or facilitating
a new appreciative view or way of seeing its natural elements. Groups
should then make plans for the construction of their piece, including
a scale model of how they imagine it would look in context, instructions
for the installation process, and detailed drawings. Each group
should present their idea to the class and students should vote
individually for the one they think is most effective. Submit the
proposal to the appropriate authorities in your community and see
if you can bring the idea into fruition. |
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