Energy And Place
Artist Statement
Reuben Barnes
This piece represents my perspective because I try to express that we try to preserve certain areas. I tried to show this by creating the barrier around that specific area described in my essay. To keep it preserved I used symbolism and had the aspen trees as a protection around the picture. Then all around the barrier were creations made by man that I would want to stay outside of my place of Zen. This piece was big for me because the picture that I was using was very important for me, I really wanted to show that the beauty should not be altered and I thought that by not altering the picture was a huge choice to me for it was to important to let that happen.
I refined my piece by making sure that what I was putting in it made sense, I tried to show that I was preventing any sort of man made changes inside. For example a refinement that I made was I put a bulldozer trying to push or alter the land inside my picture. However the aspen tree blockade was preventing anything like that from happening. Then another change that I made was the surrounding images, I made it so that they blended together to show that they were one big opponent that I was trying to defeat. Before the entire image was really choppy and a little unclear, but afterwards I believe that it looked better and made more sense.
My main influence for creating this piece was my dad because he was the person who stopped me from damaging the photo by putting other images inside. Then he helped me create the overall theme and idea of making a barrier around the picture. The two of us then came up with ideas to show what I did not want to intrude my beautiful picture. The other influence was just the area in the picture itself, I love that place so much that I believed that it was the only logical place that I should be talking about.
Reuben Barnes
This piece represents my perspective because I try to express that we try to preserve certain areas. I tried to show this by creating the barrier around that specific area described in my essay. To keep it preserved I used symbolism and had the aspen trees as a protection around the picture. Then all around the barrier were creations made by man that I would want to stay outside of my place of Zen. This piece was big for me because the picture that I was using was very important for me, I really wanted to show that the beauty should not be altered and I thought that by not altering the picture was a huge choice to me for it was to important to let that happen.
I refined my piece by making sure that what I was putting in it made sense, I tried to show that I was preventing any sort of man made changes inside. For example a refinement that I made was I put a bulldozer trying to push or alter the land inside my picture. However the aspen tree blockade was preventing anything like that from happening. Then another change that I made was the surrounding images, I made it so that they blended together to show that they were one big opponent that I was trying to defeat. Before the entire image was really choppy and a little unclear, but afterwards I believe that it looked better and made more sense.
My main influence for creating this piece was my dad because he was the person who stopped me from damaging the photo by putting other images inside. Then he helped me create the overall theme and idea of making a barrier around the picture. The two of us then came up with ideas to show what I did not want to intrude my beautiful picture. The other influence was just the area in the picture itself, I love that place so much that I believed that it was the only logical place that I should be talking about.
Where do I Belong?
Reuben Barnes
Abstract: From the experience I describe in this essay, I realize what it is nature provides me and that places like the one I describe should be preserved so that we can be at peace for once in our lives. I try to describe sense of place through an experience that I had while being outside and exposed to nature and its beauty. Through this experience I now realize what my environmental ethic is. Through the calmness and escape from all the commotion in today’s society that I experienced while being outside. As a result, my perspective on environmental ethics is that we should try to preserve natural areas such as the area I had traveled to, so that we can find a sense of peace within ourselves.
***
I take a deep breath in and hold it. Lying before me is a sight that has never escaped and never will drift from my memory. I am located at Wilson Peak in Colorado and my father and I have wandered astray from the path a little to take in the sight. Before my eyes is a massive army of the white, soft, green- leaved delicate Aspen trees. They stretch throughout the horizon until they are blocked of by the massive mountains that encase them. As I stare out beyond this beauty I catch a glimpse of a fiery color within the sea of green. Right in the middle of the vast forest lays a small horseshoe of Aspen trees. However their leaves burn blinding yellows that pop out from all the others. Unique from all their kind they stand as a symbol of happiness for me; their burning color sends a wave of warmth straight to my soul. I sit down and open my senses so that I can allow all of the other wonders flow through my body.
Once I sit down in the soft, comfortable mossy ground I begin to listen to what surrounds me in this untouched patch of heaven. I can hear the wind, brushing against the trees, gently forcing them to sway back and forth. The whistling creates almost an orchestra that spreads out through the canyon creating a sense of peace. Now my focus is drawn towards the looming mountain that towers behind me. I stare at its barren and crumbly surface; I can feel it pressuring me to climb and explore all that it has to offer. The wind howls, trying with all its power to move the solid and massive creation. It doesn’t budge; its power overwhelms all that surround it and I cower at its strength, unsure if I could handle such a challenge. Although the rocky beast does not bear the trees I do most desire to be surrounded by it still is a sight to cherish. I decide to accept its offer and begin to climb, rock by rock up to the top.
Getting there
Before any of these amazing events my story truly begins back at my house where I dwell during most weekends. It is a Friday and I am doing the usual—playing video games and joyously chowing down on candy and soda. Suddenly there is a thundering knock at my bedroom door. Before I can respond the door slowly creeks open. My father storms into the and peers around my poster filled room with despise. He appears as a giant for I am still sitting on my floor. “Let’s go for a little trip up in the mountains.” he booms. At first I am reluctant for my video games have such a powerful hold over my mind; when I don’t play them I become distraught and deprived. So my first reaction is an instant “NO!” To my relief my dad is not upset about this so he decides to ask my sister. She has the same reaction. I watch my father’s face become sad and disappointed, so I think to myself if I should be kind and even more open to escaping the cave that I live in during the weekends. Eventually I force myself to go on this adventure with my dad, little did I know that it was one of the best choices I have ever made.
Once I had packed up and gotten a pair of clothes for the journey my father and I were about to go on I ask him which car we would take. It was a silly question of course because he has one prized piece of machinery that we always take on short trips—a Volkswagen Camper. I slink towards the old and beaten- up vehicle, I pry open the sliding door and step inside, all the memories that I have had in it instantly flood back through my mind. Once the two of us had loaded the car with our clothes and food that we would need for the two day trip my dad started up the old rust bucket and we were on our way.
On the road I began to wonder where it was my father was headed, I asked him what we would be doing and his response was that we were going to climb to the top of Wilson Peak. I had never heard of such a place, so I decided to learn about it some more. After interrogating my father about the place I learned that it was 14,017 feet, I was struck with a sense of fear when I heard this news for I had a very large fear of heights. I dreaded the thought of a narrow trail that led to the top and the possibility of falling to a perilous end. I shook the thoughts from my head and tried to think of much more fortunate things that could happen during the trip. Once we had reached our camp spot my dad began to cook up a delicious rice meal that was created just for camping, after my father and I devoured it completely the two of us set up our beds. The two of us lay outside and gazed upon the stars, we talked about all the wonderful things that make up our universe. After a few hours we slumbered into the camper and I fell asleep with thoughts about the journey that was about to take place the next morning.
At around five o’clock we woke up and began to get ready for the hike that lay before us, I had my camelback and was ready to get moving. In my mind I was really not ready for all the nature that surrounded me, I could just hear my video games screaming for me back at my house. Ignoring my imagination we both started along the path. It started out as just dozens of aspen trees, nothing else could be seen but their green leaves fluttering with the breeze. Once we had traveled a ways up the trail the mountain was now in view and in front of us. Out of the corner of my eye I noticed the small clearing that was hidden behind us and of the trail, so I wandered over to it, brushing away the leaves. Then all of the events that I have shared in the beginning of this tale occurred, the beautiful scenery, the golden patch of aspen trees, and the towering mountain that I began to climb.
***
Here
My memory flashes back to when my father and I begin to climb the towering natural structure before us. The trail is fairly easy at first, winding back and forth on a somewhat flat level, then we begin to climb farther and farther thus the trail becomes harder and harder. After quite a few hours we come to a stop not only to rest but to examine a man-made structure ahead. We inch a little closer and realize that it is an old abandoned mine that we have come across, its wooden support beams have collapsed and the entrance is closed off. I look down from where we stand on the mountain, my stomach turns as I notice how far up we are on the mountain; I look up and see that we still have a long ways to go. Once we were finished with examining the mine our journey continued and we once again began to drag our feet along the trail to the top of Wilson Peak.
I stare up into the cloudless sky, the burning sun stares right back at me and I feel a faint dizziness. We have been climbing for about five and a half hours and we are almost to the top of the mountain. I am exhausted for the trail is now going directly up to a small resting spot and the weight of my backpack is bringing my strength down slowly. Once at the stopping point I can now see the top clearly, however to reach our destination we must travel along a path that may require ropes and equipment. This came to a relief for me at first for I was weak spirited and did not feel as though I could complete the challenge that had been presented before me. Luckily for me though my father was determined to get us up there, so with the little strength that we had left we inched our way to the new trail.
This was a one of the most dangerous situations that I had ever been in for we were practically climbing across a cliff, one wrong move and I was toast. I reached out a shaky hand to grasp the crumbly rocks in front of me, my heart was racing and I was thinking if it was even worth coming to this place and seeing that beautiful scenery. Suddenly my dad grasped my hand and heaved me up to where he was at the top. I stood up and was awestruck, before me was yet another sight, not as beautiful as the clearing but still spectacular. We were now 14,017 feet up in the air. I gazed across the horizon, realizing that I now towered above all that surrounded me. I peered over the edge and felt my body quiver with a sense of fear. Despite my trembling I tried to calm myself and see the beauty and peacefulness of my surroundings.
Now that I was at the top of the world I was somewhat at peace, I laid down with my dad, who was enjoying everything, twice as much as me, and relaxed. All the pain that I could feel from the perilous climb was washed away by the wind that roared where we rested. The fear was not completely gone but instead was replaced with a sense of awareness that no matter the situation I was glad to be in this particular area. I sat there and thought to myself about what my sense of place was and if this was the one place that I finally thought I belonged. After a long hour of staring out into the blue abyss we both began to retrace our steps back to the old van.
Once we boarded our creaky mobile home we headed for Durango. On our way back I gazed out the window trying to capture every image of beauty that was in front of me. Suddenly without warning I was on the highway: back on material not made by natures wonder. Then farther up the road there was construction, I watched as a massive piece of machinery tore away at the ground. Ripping up the roots and annihilating all in its path. I stared in disgust at this man made creature that completely destroyed my vision of peace and beauty. I close my eyes and try to picture a blockade of indestructible Aspen trees around Mt. Wilson. Protecting it from the destruction and commotion of all mans’ creations. I thought about Wilson peak and thought to myself “This place should never be changed: No civilization, no man-made creations, nothing to disturb this perfect peace where I can come to and escape from all the commotions and video games.” From this experience I had truly realized what it is nature provides me and that places like this should be preserved so that we can be at peace for once in our lives.
Reuben Barnes
Abstract: From the experience I describe in this essay, I realize what it is nature provides me and that places like the one I describe should be preserved so that we can be at peace for once in our lives. I try to describe sense of place through an experience that I had while being outside and exposed to nature and its beauty. Through this experience I now realize what my environmental ethic is. Through the calmness and escape from all the commotion in today’s society that I experienced while being outside. As a result, my perspective on environmental ethics is that we should try to preserve natural areas such as the area I had traveled to, so that we can find a sense of peace within ourselves.
***
I take a deep breath in and hold it. Lying before me is a sight that has never escaped and never will drift from my memory. I am located at Wilson Peak in Colorado and my father and I have wandered astray from the path a little to take in the sight. Before my eyes is a massive army of the white, soft, green- leaved delicate Aspen trees. They stretch throughout the horizon until they are blocked of by the massive mountains that encase them. As I stare out beyond this beauty I catch a glimpse of a fiery color within the sea of green. Right in the middle of the vast forest lays a small horseshoe of Aspen trees. However their leaves burn blinding yellows that pop out from all the others. Unique from all their kind they stand as a symbol of happiness for me; their burning color sends a wave of warmth straight to my soul. I sit down and open my senses so that I can allow all of the other wonders flow through my body.
Once I sit down in the soft, comfortable mossy ground I begin to listen to what surrounds me in this untouched patch of heaven. I can hear the wind, brushing against the trees, gently forcing them to sway back and forth. The whistling creates almost an orchestra that spreads out through the canyon creating a sense of peace. Now my focus is drawn towards the looming mountain that towers behind me. I stare at its barren and crumbly surface; I can feel it pressuring me to climb and explore all that it has to offer. The wind howls, trying with all its power to move the solid and massive creation. It doesn’t budge; its power overwhelms all that surround it and I cower at its strength, unsure if I could handle such a challenge. Although the rocky beast does not bear the trees I do most desire to be surrounded by it still is a sight to cherish. I decide to accept its offer and begin to climb, rock by rock up to the top.
Getting there
Before any of these amazing events my story truly begins back at my house where I dwell during most weekends. It is a Friday and I am doing the usual—playing video games and joyously chowing down on candy and soda. Suddenly there is a thundering knock at my bedroom door. Before I can respond the door slowly creeks open. My father storms into the and peers around my poster filled room with despise. He appears as a giant for I am still sitting on my floor. “Let’s go for a little trip up in the mountains.” he booms. At first I am reluctant for my video games have such a powerful hold over my mind; when I don’t play them I become distraught and deprived. So my first reaction is an instant “NO!” To my relief my dad is not upset about this so he decides to ask my sister. She has the same reaction. I watch my father’s face become sad and disappointed, so I think to myself if I should be kind and even more open to escaping the cave that I live in during the weekends. Eventually I force myself to go on this adventure with my dad, little did I know that it was one of the best choices I have ever made.
Once I had packed up and gotten a pair of clothes for the journey my father and I were about to go on I ask him which car we would take. It was a silly question of course because he has one prized piece of machinery that we always take on short trips—a Volkswagen Camper. I slink towards the old and beaten- up vehicle, I pry open the sliding door and step inside, all the memories that I have had in it instantly flood back through my mind. Once the two of us had loaded the car with our clothes and food that we would need for the two day trip my dad started up the old rust bucket and we were on our way.
On the road I began to wonder where it was my father was headed, I asked him what we would be doing and his response was that we were going to climb to the top of Wilson Peak. I had never heard of such a place, so I decided to learn about it some more. After interrogating my father about the place I learned that it was 14,017 feet, I was struck with a sense of fear when I heard this news for I had a very large fear of heights. I dreaded the thought of a narrow trail that led to the top and the possibility of falling to a perilous end. I shook the thoughts from my head and tried to think of much more fortunate things that could happen during the trip. Once we had reached our camp spot my dad began to cook up a delicious rice meal that was created just for camping, after my father and I devoured it completely the two of us set up our beds. The two of us lay outside and gazed upon the stars, we talked about all the wonderful things that make up our universe. After a few hours we slumbered into the camper and I fell asleep with thoughts about the journey that was about to take place the next morning.
At around five o’clock we woke up and began to get ready for the hike that lay before us, I had my camelback and was ready to get moving. In my mind I was really not ready for all the nature that surrounded me, I could just hear my video games screaming for me back at my house. Ignoring my imagination we both started along the path. It started out as just dozens of aspen trees, nothing else could be seen but their green leaves fluttering with the breeze. Once we had traveled a ways up the trail the mountain was now in view and in front of us. Out of the corner of my eye I noticed the small clearing that was hidden behind us and of the trail, so I wandered over to it, brushing away the leaves. Then all of the events that I have shared in the beginning of this tale occurred, the beautiful scenery, the golden patch of aspen trees, and the towering mountain that I began to climb.
***
Here
My memory flashes back to when my father and I begin to climb the towering natural structure before us. The trail is fairly easy at first, winding back and forth on a somewhat flat level, then we begin to climb farther and farther thus the trail becomes harder and harder. After quite a few hours we come to a stop not only to rest but to examine a man-made structure ahead. We inch a little closer and realize that it is an old abandoned mine that we have come across, its wooden support beams have collapsed and the entrance is closed off. I look down from where we stand on the mountain, my stomach turns as I notice how far up we are on the mountain; I look up and see that we still have a long ways to go. Once we were finished with examining the mine our journey continued and we once again began to drag our feet along the trail to the top of Wilson Peak.
I stare up into the cloudless sky, the burning sun stares right back at me and I feel a faint dizziness. We have been climbing for about five and a half hours and we are almost to the top of the mountain. I am exhausted for the trail is now going directly up to a small resting spot and the weight of my backpack is bringing my strength down slowly. Once at the stopping point I can now see the top clearly, however to reach our destination we must travel along a path that may require ropes and equipment. This came to a relief for me at first for I was weak spirited and did not feel as though I could complete the challenge that had been presented before me. Luckily for me though my father was determined to get us up there, so with the little strength that we had left we inched our way to the new trail.
This was a one of the most dangerous situations that I had ever been in for we were practically climbing across a cliff, one wrong move and I was toast. I reached out a shaky hand to grasp the crumbly rocks in front of me, my heart was racing and I was thinking if it was even worth coming to this place and seeing that beautiful scenery. Suddenly my dad grasped my hand and heaved me up to where he was at the top. I stood up and was awestruck, before me was yet another sight, not as beautiful as the clearing but still spectacular. We were now 14,017 feet up in the air. I gazed across the horizon, realizing that I now towered above all that surrounded me. I peered over the edge and felt my body quiver with a sense of fear. Despite my trembling I tried to calm myself and see the beauty and peacefulness of my surroundings.
Now that I was at the top of the world I was somewhat at peace, I laid down with my dad, who was enjoying everything, twice as much as me, and relaxed. All the pain that I could feel from the perilous climb was washed away by the wind that roared where we rested. The fear was not completely gone but instead was replaced with a sense of awareness that no matter the situation I was glad to be in this particular area. I sat there and thought to myself about what my sense of place was and if this was the one place that I finally thought I belonged. After a long hour of staring out into the blue abyss we both began to retrace our steps back to the old van.
Once we boarded our creaky mobile home we headed for Durango. On our way back I gazed out the window trying to capture every image of beauty that was in front of me. Suddenly without warning I was on the highway: back on material not made by natures wonder. Then farther up the road there was construction, I watched as a massive piece of machinery tore away at the ground. Ripping up the roots and annihilating all in its path. I stared in disgust at this man made creature that completely destroyed my vision of peace and beauty. I close my eyes and try to picture a blockade of indestructible Aspen trees around Mt. Wilson. Protecting it from the destruction and commotion of all mans’ creations. I thought about Wilson peak and thought to myself “This place should never be changed: No civilization, no man-made creations, nothing to disturb this perfect peace where I can come to and escape from all the commotions and video games.” From this experience I had truly realized what it is nature provides me and that places like this should be preserved so that we can be at peace for once in our lives.
Project Reflection
1. The task at hand for this project was to first of all get a hold of the sense of place idea, this was the main part of the project because we were supposed to find out what our sense of place was. So the next assignment was to figure out what our sense of place is, I decided to choose a spot out in the wilderness called Wilson peak. This place was super important to me ever since I had visited it, so I decided to choose this place as my sense of place. Then the next step was to begin writing an essay about the place and how I connected to it spiritually, this was a big part for the essay because in the essay we had do describe what about the place was important to us and why.
2. Some sections of going through the sense of place project were very interesting for me, for example the time that we had to think about my sense o place. At first i did not think I had a sense of place, then we did the journal that required us to sit outside and sit down to try and find out what our sense of place might be. While doing this it brought me back memories about my journey to Wilson peak, then it gave me a moment of clarity, that Wilson peak was the only logical choice for my sense of place. Another situation that I had run into while doing this project was my visual piece at first, it was difficult to show how I wanted nothing to change in the photo that I was choosing for the visual piece. This problem was solved by my dad who gave me the idea of keeping the original picture the same and show all the things I don't want in the picture on the outside.
3. I really was most proud of the essay that I wrote about Wilson peak, i thought that I had described it better than possibly imagined. For example when I am talking about the scenery that I viewed during the trip "Before my eyes is a massive army of the white, soft, green- leaved delicate Aspen trees. They stretch throughout the horizon until they are blocked of by the massive mountains that encase them. As I stare out beyond this beauty I catch a glimpse of a fiery color within the sea of green." All of this was a very happy moment in my life and when I read this part out to myself it truly helped me remember what it was like being there.
4. I really enjoyed this project and I think that the chemistry part for it was also a big part, I say this because the chemistry part really opened up my eyes to what has been happening to areas such as Wilson peak. The chemistry project was all about the fossil fuels and other resources we use for our own benefit, this also showed me that we are destroying places that I emotionally connect to for large construction zones for whatever. Overall i thought that the project was one of the best that I had all year due to the fact that it allowed me to open up my senses and also my feelings for places such as Wilson peak.
2. Some sections of going through the sense of place project were very interesting for me, for example the time that we had to think about my sense o place. At first i did not think I had a sense of place, then we did the journal that required us to sit outside and sit down to try and find out what our sense of place might be. While doing this it brought me back memories about my journey to Wilson peak, then it gave me a moment of clarity, that Wilson peak was the only logical choice for my sense of place. Another situation that I had run into while doing this project was my visual piece at first, it was difficult to show how I wanted nothing to change in the photo that I was choosing for the visual piece. This problem was solved by my dad who gave me the idea of keeping the original picture the same and show all the things I don't want in the picture on the outside.
3. I really was most proud of the essay that I wrote about Wilson peak, i thought that I had described it better than possibly imagined. For example when I am talking about the scenery that I viewed during the trip "Before my eyes is a massive army of the white, soft, green- leaved delicate Aspen trees. They stretch throughout the horizon until they are blocked of by the massive mountains that encase them. As I stare out beyond this beauty I catch a glimpse of a fiery color within the sea of green." All of this was a very happy moment in my life and when I read this part out to myself it truly helped me remember what it was like being there.
4. I really enjoyed this project and I think that the chemistry part for it was also a big part, I say this because the chemistry part really opened up my eyes to what has been happening to areas such as Wilson peak. The chemistry project was all about the fossil fuels and other resources we use for our own benefit, this also showed me that we are destroying places that I emotionally connect to for large construction zones for whatever. Overall i thought that the project was one of the best that I had all year due to the fact that it allowed me to open up my senses and also my feelings for places such as Wilson peak.