Human Domestication within Urban Environments
By: Melanie Billark
Human interferences within natural habitats have occurred since the beginning of time when human existence was only viable from living off of the land in order tosurvive. However, due to the rise of technology, population increases, and the high demand of natural resources we have entered into a state of emergency as Al Gore would say. We have depleted a large amount of our natural resources and caused a number of detrimental issues affecting various aspect of ecology. These types of issues regarding the state of our natural environment concern and petrify me, which has aloud me to re-think my own artistic approaches and consider where I fit into this equation, reconsidering my own relationship with nature. I dedicated the first five years of my professional artistic career making objects out of glass. Through this experience the trajectory of my life started to shift and I was no longer interested in adding more objects into this world as an artist, which is heavily embedded within consumer culture. I did not want to be part of the problem anymore, I did not want to contribute excess waste, pollution, and energy into this already depleted and over-filled world, in order to create a commodity. With this in mind my priorities as an artist have drastically changed. Within my current practice I strive to comment on these social and political issues that involve aspects of ecology, specifically in the context of the urban environment. My practice attempts to to shed light on these issues by creating awareness, which hopefully creates a positive change either mentally or physically within myself, the viewer, or the physical site itself. My work tends to question societal roles, including my own, as well as pose possible solutions to these issues within the built environment of a city. Over the years I have attempted to have a dematerialized practice as much as I can, trying to separate myself from making physical objects through site-specific interventions and performance work. There are many different forms of human interferences within the environment, however I am going to focus on physical disturbances within urban landscapes with the intent to restore these sites. My work is heavily linked to the concept of re-wilding, which is simply the idea or act of making the world wild again (Mackinnon, 67). Cityscapes often have very little greens space. This becomes problematic for biodiversity, our own health and well being, as well as helps to contribute to the negative affects of microclimates and global warming. Re-wilding can also be seen as a form of ecological anarchism as discussed in the article Wild-Life: Anarchy, ecology, and ethics by Mick Smith. The focus of re-wilding is put on oneself. It’s a way to look at one’s own contributions in regards to ecological damage in order for one to take responsibility for these actions, create self-awareness, and self-liberation. This movement is tied to the concepts of enlightenment, while incorporating principals of social ecology. Re-wilding gives us the opportunity to give back to the environment and help to reverse the roles of human domestication, inorder to create a wilder world through site gentrification (1). Human domestication refers to the process in which humans have altered wild life such as animals and plants in order to create a more useful product through the control of their behavioral changes (Leach, 349). My work tries to encourage community engagement by using publicsites to convey these messages. My practice often incorporates an educational ecological platform that is embedded within my work. I strive to give back to the environment and help to create a wilder city through these site-specificinterventions. Our interference or domestication of natural systems constantly need to adapt and change due to our fast pace, consumerism culture, in order to create change within the natural world that match our ever-changing lifestyles. I often ask myself how can this process of interference become a process of healing, mending, or repairing our relationship with nature?
Although I have contributed to environmental damage in many ways I am learning how to restore this relationship and redeem these choices through learning from my mistakes. I often associate environmental interferences with the idea of contradiction or failure. There are of course some positive interferences however, I am just focusing on these negative choices we encounter within the city in attempt to come up with solutions in order to transform them into positive changes. Within my thesis body of work I have learned many lessons through this idea of failure. My first project was titled The Telephone Booth Project that Iinstalled unofficially as a part of Nuit Blache Toronto 2015. I wanted to create a new environment within the nearly obsolete, underutilized phone booth.I filmed the install of this work as part of the video documentation where I enclosed the open areas of the phone booth with vapor barrier (which is the material they use in commercial greenhouses), and sealed it with vapor barriersealant (which resembles a black tar substance). I then filled the phone boothwith a layer of gravel, soil, and planted two purple fountain grass plants, that were purchased and harvested from a local Toronto greenhouse. I then added water and sealed the booth completely in order to create a sustainable environment and re-create a water cycle. Prior to sealing the booth I had also removed the phone off the hook in order to create a conversation between the phone and the plants. This act worked as a symbol of the urgency, and call for help that our environment is asking for in this state of environmental crisis we are currently living in. I used purple fountain grass because it is indigenous to Southwest Asia and Africa, however it is commonly grown and usedas a decorative grass. I wanted to comment on the Indigenous plants of Torontoand how this is almost a lost concept since everything from plants, to our food, to products of consumption are all being imported from other countries around the world, which adds to a number of problematic environmental issues. I also used vapor barrier sealant to resemble black tar in order to comment on our relationship with the environment and how we are using ash-fault and concrete to cover the natural surfaces in the city, which result in microclimates, also adding to our increasing temperatures and decreased biodiversity. I recorded the site during Nuit Blanche Toronto 2016 and following the event, in order to record human interactions and behaviours to analyze how the interactions differed from the event night to the following day. My intentions were to observe and document the progression of this site over time. However, following my critique I realized I shouldn’t make assumptions as to what is seen as “obsolete” spaces in my eyes because it might be of importance and value to others. I also didn’t fully consider the repercussions of a project like this such as possible fines from Bell Telephone, or from the city for defacing public property, which were never my intentions. I also read an article by Alexander Alberro called Recording Conceptual art: Early Interviewswith Barry, Huebler, Kaltenbach, LeWitt, Morris, Oppenheim, Siegelaub, Smithsonand Weiner that really resonated with me. Weiner in particular discussed the politics behind public artwork and the idea of anonymous art and how artists need to be responsible for every object that they put into the world. Inorder to be a responsible artist I needed to take the site down and return itto its former functioning state. Unfortunately the sealant and amount I used isvery difficult to remove naturally, as I tried many different solutions.
The clean upresulted in the use of mineral spirits to dissolve the sealant completely, inorder to restore the booth to its former condition. By using mineral spirits Ibasically undid the intensions of this project and actually added harmfulchemicals into the environment, which I never intended to do. This work taughtme many lessons such as thinking through every move and material I use in orderto stay true to the integrity of my practice. I also learned a lot about publicengagement and the responsibilities that come with creating public artwork.
Next, I thought about how I can really work with the land itself andcreated a work titled The MilkweedProject. This project was a site-specific intervention and performance thatwas recorded and made into a video. I collected milkweed from High Park andre-distributed the seeds along The West Toronto Rail Path. I chose this locationin order to revitalize this site. Over the years the community of this areahave tried to start numerous initiatives in order to re-wild this area in thespirit of guerilla gardening. Even during the construction of this pathconsiderations of leaving native species and causing as little disturbances tothe eco-system were prominent factors within the design (LeBlanc, 1). However, sincethe development of the new UP train running along side The West Toronto RailPath many of these efforts were destroyed. I wanted to revitalize this area andhelp to re-wild this site back to how it once was. Thisproject was also inspired by David Suzuki’s GotMilk Weed campaign in the urge for residences of Toronto to plant milk weedin order to help save the monarch butterfly population. By re-distributingthese indigenous plants I was hoping to increase biodiversity, and help toincrease the amount of food that the monarchs have during their migratory routeto Mexico each year. Although myintensions for this project were genuine I am still left with the question, wasthis act beneficial or was it harmful? Due to me taking milk weed from one siteto another I may have decreased the amount of milkweed pods that grow in HighPark by moving them somewhere else. I also think about if the milkweed pods Iredistributed along the rail path will withstand further development orconstruction that may take place on this site. Did I increase the amount ofmilkweed or did I decrease their population, making it detrimental. I oftenthink of this type of human intervention almost as a necessity, similar to thehand pollination techniques being used in China and various countries aroundthe world. Due to the decrease of bees, increase of population and supply anddemand, farmers were forced to introduce hand pollination techniques in orderfor their crops to survive. However, this act seems similar in the way of my owncontemplation of this being a counter-active action. Instead of stabilizing the bee population wehave come up with a solution that validates our lifestyle instead of fixing thebroken cycle within nature that we have created. Within this project I wantedto use this idea in order to help to increase the monarch butterfly populationbefore we have entered this cycle of finding solutions to replace theseessential species. By re-wilding an area with native species can help toincrease the population of various species that are being endangered orextinct.
My final project is titled Sanctuary.This project has had multiple iterations due to various problematic componentswithin this work. I originally intended this project to be a visual aid for theidea of contradiction within the natural environment. I have constructed 30boxes out of clear acrylic. Inside the boxes I have collected soil, rocks, andvarious moss species from around the city. These boxes will be stacked on topof one another to create a wall, each containing their own ecosystem that Ihave constructed. I wanted this sculpture to convey our desire for consumergoods without necessarily considering the repercussions on the environment.These cubes were intended to comment on the idea of nature being a commodity,such as the exploitation of items such as terrariums, which are also linked tohuman domestication within nature. I have recorded the location of where I havegathered each moss colony from, some being from rich ecosystems such as HighPark, where as others have been found within alleyways and other degraded areaswithin the city. My first intensionswere to allow the moss to run through its cycle, most likely breaking theconfines of the plastic due to the pressure that builds up inside each box.However, I have decided it is more important to reintroduce the moss back toits original site. I see these boxes as a type of holding place, allowing themoss to re-wild and revitalize within these controlled environments that I havecreated before I return them to their natural habitats. I have also included amap that I drew on reused canvas with moss graffiti which identifies where eachmoss colony derived from, corresponding with the number contained on each box. Thisproject ties into my efforts of correcting failure. Although I am using clearacrylic it is still a material that can be infinitely recycled and is used in away similar to a green house. The moss I have collected have all been close topedestrian walkways, roads, and other passages. I consider this act to functionas a type of balancing feed back loop. A balancing feedback loop is seen as astabilizer, opposing whatever direction was imposed within the system (Meadows,10). Due to the locations of these mossspecies they have the potential of being endangered through the means ofdevelopment, or being depleted by heavy foot or car traffic. I like to think ofthese boxes as a wildlife sanctuary, somewhere where I can monitor, preserve,and protect these species until they have been revived before returning them totheir natural ecosystems. My intensions here are not only to create awareness, butalso allow myself to have a role in the action of protecting, healing, ormending while being able to observe and learn through my findings. I am hopingthat through this action I am able to return the moss in a better conditionthen when I found it, helping these small ecosystems to thrive.
Although I have overcame many obstacles, made many mistakes, I have learned a lot about my own position and relationship with nature through these processes. I am going to continue to strive for a dematerialized practice and focus on the idea of restoring myself as well as the environment through site-specific interventions and performance based work. I will continue to engage the community within my practice and create an education platform for my viewers if they choose to engage with these interventions. I will continue to delve into the concepts of re-wilding and thinking critically about how we can reverse the roles of human domestication within the urban environment through site gentrification and self-awareness.
“When we choose the kind of nature we will live with, we are also choosing the kind of human beings we will be. We shape the world, and it shapes us in return.” (Mackinnon 152)
Annotated Bibliography
Alberti, Marina. "The Effects of Urban Patterns onEcosystem Function."International Regional Science Review 28.2 (2005):168-92. (This article is about the effects urbanization has on ecosystems. Itexplains how urban development and human interactions interfere with naturalprocesses of environmental systems. It describes the process of humanmodification on nature and how this action creates natural disturbances to how ecosystemsfunction. It also describes strategies on how we can minimize the impact urbandevelopment has on natural ecosystems. This article really inspired me toconsider human modification on nature and the impact our choices have on naturalsystems. It also made me consider how we can plan around existing structureswithin urban planning rather then destroy the land in order to rebuild).
Alberro, Alexander,and Norvell, Patricia, eds. Recording Conceptual Art : Early Interviews withBarry, Huebler, Kaltenbach, LeWitt, Morris, Oppenheim, Siegelaub, Smithson and Weiner. Berkeley,CA, USA: University of California Press, 2001. ProQuest ebrary.Web. 16 November 2015. (This paper takes a lookat a variety of artists and analyzes their conceptual art practices. The sectionthat was the most inspirational to me was when Lawrence Weiner discussed the politics behind public artworks, the responsibility an artist has, and theobligation an artist has with every object that they put into the world).
Boylan, Michael. Environmental Ethics. 2nd ed. Hoboken:Wiley-Blackwell, 2013. Web. (Thisbook has a number of essays discussing issues of ecology and various environmental issuessuch as climate change and sustainability. Theseessays also discuss the current environmental crisis through the lens of socialists and feministsand how we can create change. These essays made me to consider various perspectives on ecological awareness and ways to create change).
Brown, Andrew. Art & Ecology Now. N.p.: Thames& Hudson, n.d. Print. (This book is used mainly for inspiration. It is filled with various contemporary artiststhat deal with themes of ecology, research, and theimpact humans have on the natural environment).
De Luca,Paul A., et al. "Variability in Bumblebee Pollination Buzzes Affects the Quantity of Pollen Releasedfrom Flowers." Oecologia172.3 (2013): 805-16. Web. (This article describes the process of hand pollination and compares this process to thenatural pollination of bumblebees. It looks very closely at this modifiedprocess of pollination and proves that the most successful pollinators are thebumblebees themselves. This article helped me to understand how humans areaffecting the lifecycles of many species and how important it is to protectthese species rather then to replace them with human processes).
Gore, Al. An Inconvenient Truth: The PlanetaryEmergency of Global Warming and What We Can Do about It. Place of Publication Not Identified: Bloomsbury, 2006. Print. (This booklooks at our environment, what are the causes of climate change are, the impactof these changes, and how we can find solutions. This book really aloud me tounderstand the severity of these issues and critically think about the choiceswe as humans make everyday and what those repercussions are on the environment).
"Got Milkweed? Toronto-basedCampaign Aims to Get Milkweed into Thousands of Gardens, Schoolyards and ParksThis Spring." David Suzuki Foundation. N.p., 2 Apr. 2015. Web. (A short article and look into the Toronto God Milk WeedCampaign launched by the David Suzuki Foundation. It talks about why they areurging Torontonians to plant milk weed, describes the benefits, and what thecause is all about. I learned about this initiative through this website, inwhich I did further research on monarch butterflies, milkweed, and thelocations in which I was using).
Haas, Tigran. Sustainable Urbanism and Beyond: Rethinking Citiesfor the
Future. New York: Rizzoli, 2012. (Thisarticle looks at urban planning and how sustainable principals can beimplemented within the design elements of a city. It also talks about how thesechanges can help us in the future
to accommodate for our growing economy.This article really made me consider our poor urban planning choices as well asquestion why we don’t implement these methods within the development ofToronto’s urban planning).
Kirby, Keith, Rachel Yannik, and Colin Barr. "Wilding (OrRe-Wilding)." International Journal of Biodiversity Science & Management 2.3 (2006): 273- 5. Web. (This article describes the politics behind re-wilding. It breaks down the process, the benefits, theconcerns, and objectives of this act. This article let me understand the fullconcept of re-wilding and what the importance of this act was. It also informedme the importance of one’s own position within this movement).
Klanten, Robert, Sven Ehmann, and Kitty Bolhöfer. My GreenCity: Back to Nature with Attitudeand Style. Berlin: Gestalten, 2011. Web. (This book looks at artists, designers, architects,and activists that all want to create positive change by taking initiative and coming up with innovative ways to incorporate moregreen space within the cityscape. I used this book mainly for inspiration).
Leach, Helen.M.“Human Domestication Reconsidered”. CurrentAnthropology 44.3 (2003): 349–368. Web. (This article describes thescientific use of the term “domestication” and the affects of this process onwildlife such as plants and animals. This article traces back in time when thisprocess was first being used and how that has become an even more modifiedprocess within the built environment in relation to our modified and altereddiet and way of life. This article really helped me to articulate and supportmy concept of human interference within the environment).
Leblanc, Dave. "A Forgotten Finger of Land Now an ImportantPublic Space." Globe & Mail(Toronto, Canada): G5. 2012. Web. (This article is about the history of the West Toronto Railpath and all of thedetails and considerations that were taken into account during the construction and development of the path. This article informedme of the history behind this site as well as the preventative acts, thoughtsand consideration behind the development and construction of this path).
MacKinnon, J. B. The Once and Future World: Nature asIt Was, as It Is, as It Could Be. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Print. (This novel speaks to specific issues of the human impact on the natural worldtracing back from the beginning of time to the present day. J.B. Mackinnon uses theterm and ideologies behind "re- wilding" in order torebuild the environment, allowing humans to re-connect with nature. I agree with a lot of theconcepts, terms, and ideologies behind this book and find it fits into with a lot of what I am trying to convey within my practice. This wasthe first time I came across the term re-wilding, which inspired me to dofurther research regarding this movement).
Meadows,Donella. Thinking in Systems (White River Junction: Chelsea Green Publishing,2008), 11-34. (This is mainly a scientific article that explains varioussystems such as feedback loops. It describes how these systems work within theenvironment and differentiates the various types of systems and feedback loopsthat occur within nature. This helped me to understand the various types offeedback loops and the difference between the impacts it has on naturalsystems).
OBERNDORFER, ERICA, et al. "Green Roofs as UrbanEcosystems:
Ecological Structures, Functions, andServices." Bioscience 57.10 (2007):
823-33. (A study on how green roofsfunction, green-roof technology, the
benefits of improving green roofs,and how their interactions can improve
ecosystem functionality. This helpedme to understand the drastic positive impacts green spaces have within urbansettings).
Pickett, S. T A, and M. L Cadenasso."Linking Ecological and Built
Components of Urban Mosaics: An OpenCycle of Ecological Design."
Journal of Ecology 96.1 (2008; 2007):8-12. (This article is about plant ecology and how urban design can intersect inorder to improve ecological function. This article made me think about howurban design can be implemented in order to create a better quality of life. Aswell as allowing the process of urban development be a process of repair).
Richter, Matthias, and Ulrike Weiland. Applied Urban Ecology: AGlobal Framework. Chichester; Hoboken,NJ: Wiley-Blackwell, 2011. (This article discusses ways to improve urban areas throughurban planning, environmental research, and social politics. Giving me a betterunderstanding of urban development).
Shantz, Jeff. Space, Place, and Society: Green Syndicalism :An Alternative Red/Green Vision. Syracuse University Press, 2012. Web. (This article looks at green politics and how activismcan help to protect our fragile environment. He also discusses how we can address these issues through various approaches to ecology and transformation. This articlereally made me think about the importance of activism and how powerful this actcan be).
Smith, Mick. "Wild-Life: Anarchy, Ecology, andEthics." Environmental Politics 16.3 (2007): 470-87. Web. (This article describes the social andpolitical constructs ofre-wilding and how it is linked to forms of anarchism and ecology. It describes how this processhelps to create self-awareness, critique socialconstraints, and helps to rationalize environmental damage through the process of re-wilding. This articlealoud me to understand the complete process of re-wilding and the politicsbehind this movement).
Spaid,Sue. Ecovention: Current Art to Transform Ecologies. Place of PublicationNot Identified:Greenmuseum.org, 2002. Print. (A book about ecology and innovation. It discussedhow artists are creating change through intervention with nature while focusingon themes within ecology and science. This book was used as inspiration andconcept development).
Smith, Stephanie. Beyond Green: Toward a SustainableArt. Chicago: Independent Curators International, 2005. Print. (This book is also used for inspiration however, it’s more about thecombination of research, art, and sustainable design. It looks at various artists anddesigners that are using the principals of sustainability to re-create existing objects, finding solutions toecological problems, orinventing new objects and possibilities for the future).
VanDer Ryn, M. "Third Principal: Design with Nature." Design withNature (n.d.): 104-45. Web. 30Oct. 2014. (Working with nature to regenerate our natural world through various design principalsin order to revive nature instead of depletingit. This article made me think critically about urban design and how we need tostart building around existing ecosystems and implementing the site within thedevelopment stages).