Representation of nature

How nature is represented is directly related to how it is valued. In their discussion of the American lawn, Robbins and Sharp show how material practices (such as lawn care) are “defined by the material ideological apparatus, a system of ideas through which the conditions of production and reproduction of the world are represented back to the individual as a system of natural necessity and immediate practice” (Robbins and Sharp 2006, 121). By using their discussion as a theoretical foundation, the projects under this category seek to uncover the ideologies that are represented through the various material practices associated with wetlands and wastelands.

 

Ahmad Tahir analyzes language as a form of representation through his research of the term “wasteland” across various cultures. While Zahaan Khan considers how nature is represented through processes of restoration across the world, Lisa Rohrer traces several ways that nature is represented through the construction of multiple narratives in the Southeastern US. Finally, Deniz Taskin considers how wetlands are constructed through the employment of technological infrastructures in three projects in the US and Turkey, which reveal underlying assumptions about what nature is and how it can be represented. In each of these cases, the ability for nature to be represented through the use of language, restoration processes, narratives, and technologies is evaluated and critiqued.