Water and Research
Aside from my research this week, water enchanted me. There is a series of falling water portals, and when portrayed on film it appears almost intangible. Looks like pure energy. Obsession ran its course , and took about a hundred video clips and photos. I’ve been writing about how this place enlivens the spirit of nature within the visitors, and it’s really fulfilling to experience it myself. Moments of intrigue and excitement flow through me upon every whimsical visit . I didn’t realize that my own passionate love for nature would expand to such new levels, not to mention my artistic visions. The water footage will definitely appear in my media presentation. Music that would complement it perfectly practically summons itself in the footage, enhancing its already vibrant life. Recreation of the luscious look of it through another form would be amazing. Whether it be drawing, painting, sculpture, or all three. The patterns of water have hypnotized me for years, and it feels enlivening to finally be pushed by the touch of active inspiration.
RESEARCH PAPER: The
history of the Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Garden is lucidly ironic. It was
made possible by a man who accomplished major discoveries and advancements in
oil exploration. These findings led to the extreme dependency on petroleum in
present day, and have also been revealed to be intensely harmful to the
environment. This is where the seemingly unintended irony comes into play,
considering that the Arboretum is a place that promotes and practices the
nurturing and preservation of nature (as did the man who made the oil related discoveries
that are now taking part in destroying the atmosphere). The Dallas Arboretum
and Botanical Garden possesses a specific aim in the interest of children and bringing
their bond with (and knowledge of) nature to a more intimate level. This is all
in hopes that the youth will obtain a heightened appreciation of the inner
workings of the environment as well as pro-active desires to protect it. In a
sense, the history of Dallas Arboretum can be perceived as a narrative, a
story, a cycle of life, seeing that the same source that was unintentionally responsible
for destruction is also bound to the creation of a potential solution to the
problem.
LINK TO THE REST: Oil Nature Earth Children
Insightful Log:
(5.5)Friday: 12-7:30 (subtract 2 hours in breaks) enhancing evocative object chapter, and sprucing up blog. It takes me a ridiculous amount of time to do things electronically. I never know how much time to spend. I feel accomplished for figuring things out, but it eats my time like a beast with a bottomless tummy.
(9)Saturday: 2-6 researching for research paper, 9-2 research + final additions to evocative object chapter. I didn’t stumble upon to much useful information for my research paper today, hopefully I have uncovered what I don’t want to use, and will soon find quality material. The spirits come out at night. Its the best time to tap into creative energy here.
(6)Sunday: 10-12 finishing blog post, research journals 3-6 TSIS 8-9. I discovered better stuff today! I found a journal that the director of horticulture helped produce, just not completely sure what my thesis is yet. I spent a lot of time staring at the instructions for the paper, hoping it would come to me. It sounds so unappealing, “research paper”. I meditated on it for a while, and I understand how it will enrich my experience here, and I know there’s an awesome topic waiting to reveal itself to me, just…the name…seems daunting.
(6)Monday: 12-3 on site, 9-12 research. Today was the discovery of how water moves on film. It was awesome! Awakened my spirit. It made everything feel worth it. I really became one with my video camera and my sound recorder, I’m starting to perceive them as wands capable of aiding me in my artistic magic. I recorded beautiful tunes of wind chimes and caught a video clip of my shadow disappearing and re-appearing again! It also felt really good weather wise, so I think that influenced my whimsical day. I purchased the biography of Everette DeGolyer in the gift shop, and caught site of a book on children with “nature deficit disorder” that I think I might check out. What a majestic Monday!
(10)Tuesday: 10:30-1:30 modeling where I become the object, 3:30-6:30 reading Last Child in the Woods and developing my thesis, 9-1 attempting to get on a writing roll. Today was my last modeling session (clothed), and it has been so interesting to become the object of a classroom full of people’s artistic attention. To keep my body in a difficult pose, completely still, for an hour at a time. I go into a completely different state of mind. It almost feels like yoga nidra, and I feel this naturally altered state is mirrored by the artists drawing me. For those three hours (with the exception of short brakes) they no longer see me as a person, but an object, a shape, something hard to draw; and at the end there are all these images of me, my face (surface/symbol of the mind) that are slightly obscured (in a cool way) due to all of the different interpretations of seeing. ALSO: It is really quite amazing at how long it takes me to write. Even if I am completely aware of what I would like to say, I will catch myself staring blankly at the page (also blank). I have come such a long way since the days of my complete disconnection from language, but still it does not flow out with ease.
(11)Wednesday: 2-7:30 writing, 9:30-4 writing. I cannot say I was writing this whole time due to my blank starring syndrome. Although, I was thinking about how your brain supposedly processes things when you stare off into space (or at your research paper) and I figure maybe I’m really getting some good stuff done with my prolonged gazes. Made me feel better about things. I also find that I work better in public places (less chance of getting painfully off track). Cafe Brazil, the ONLY 24hr place in Dallas, saved my life, and apparently everyone else in the Dallas area. The later it gets the more people! Soulful people. It’s nice, I guess everyone else realized the higher energy levels contained within the deeper nights.
(5)Thursday: 1-6 finishing paper + blog post. Learned a lot bout what is not acceptable in a research paper.There is a certain energy that lurks within the last moment. An energy that I probably shouldn’t be embracing, and yet can’t ever seem to avoid. It’s a push, a pressure. My heart beats a little faster. My hands experience a rhythmic shaking. My neurons seem to accommodate my lack of time by firing faster, and my blank stare backs down to the will of my feverish determination. It’s almost like drugs. I feel every muscle in my body relax when its over.
Total: 52.5 hours
