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Micro-Landscapes of the Anthropocene

System Blindness

I wonder if as well as plant blindness (or maybe at a more fundamental level), we have a 'system blindness' or a 'process blindness', which manifests itself in a sort of ultra short-term-ism or a failure to see what comes next. System blindness is about our collective inability to see how the sort of systems we have in place on a global scale are unsustainable. The food system, I think, is a good example. It relies on pumping plants and soil with pesticides, which come back into our bodies in the form of diseases and cancer. Another example I would say is the food packaging system. We package our food with plastic that ends up in our oceans, which kills sea-life and results in large scale 'plastic islands' that are both ugly and damaging for the ecosystems in the ocean. Several of the images from the watery worlds provide expressions of the effects of this sort of system blindness. The quote from the bird/atmosphere world "earth is big...too many working parts lacking in visible connection" is very similar to what I'm talking about and could in fact be the 'tagline' for system blindness.

I also think this notion of system blindness relates very closely to Timothy Morton's idea of hyper objects. Hyperobjects are things that we can name and things that are present in our culture, but also things we cannot point to or understand very well. It is no wonder, in other words, that we have a sort of intrinsic system blindness in our contemporary culture when our systems are these sort of hyperobjects, which resist any attempt to understand them.

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Flower Tuscany and Plant Blindness Annotated by Simonn Nguyen

Flowery Tuscany by D.H. Lawrence (1927)
Overview:
D.H. Lawrence is known for his many works about nature. He would often contrast the presence of modernity and nature. A quality he did not withhold in his Flowery Tuscany (1927), whereby he expresses his love for the various articles of nature in Tuscany and its surroundings, especially the flowers. Lawrence goes even further to express a love for all the types of flowers from various countries and uses it as a starting point to express the geographical qualities of each landmark. As a matter of fact, Lawrence uses his love for the flowers of Tuscany as a launch pad into the overall nature of Tuscany. Further enhancing his point of view is the poetic flow he exhibits, which compliments the beautiful qualities of the discussion. These natural qualities of beauty are further enhanced as Lawrence highlights the co-existence between man and nature that has been achieved throughout history. This is achieved by personifying human qualities shared in both plants and man. However, this also acts as a mirror to the conflicting relationship man and nature. Additionally, Lawrence delves into the influences of the seasons has upon the Tuscany and its surrounding natures. He often references things he hears from those he meets, fellow surveyors of the Tuscan beauty. Lawrence further enhances the majestic Tuscany by referencing the discourse of Greek mythology which holds prevalence in Tuscany due to their Etruscan origins.
I personally found Lawrence’s writing quite enjoyable and was quite impressed with the eloquence employed in his writing and the way its lyrical qualities compliment the topic of discussion. I particularly found the way Lawrence juxtaposes mankind with nature-kind quite powerful, as he highlights how mankind is able to do more with nature than just abuse it.

Plant Blindness by Rosetta S. Elkin (2018)
Overview:
As a Professor of Landscape Architecture Rosetta S. Elkin is an advocate for plant awareness and the knowledge of plant blindness as an social justice issue, a variant of the plight of the typical environmentalist who wants to save the earth by reducing carbon foots prints (a noteworthy cause regardless). She focuses upon the importance of plants that goes further than just how mankind uses and abuses them for personal gain. She speaks about how as mankind we have forgotten about plants for the quality they possess besides what we can take advantage of them for, to the extent that their importance is only equated to how much they are able to do for mankind. This is especially prevalent when comparing the importance that is given to other animals rather than plants, and the way in which humans seem to be the authority for such cases. The importance of plants is highlighted by Elkin, as she points out their position as the central building blocks of what humanity has achieved whether it be in science or technology, and hence, deserves much more respect. Elkin highlights various examples of plant blindness by specifically mentioning and displaying plant articles that are often overlooked, due to certain aspects of their characteristics.
Elkin’s writing resonates quite strongly, as it opens the readers’ eyes to a reality they are often unaware of. Personally, I feel that this issue has a lot of potential and room to be further explored for the many facets not discussed in Elkin’s essay.