Final Project Proposal
Sara Brodsky
Project Title: An Artistic Adaptation of Walking Through an Ecofeminist Lens
Essential Question:
Living in the bustling urban atmosphere of NYC, is it possible to reconnect to the inner transcendentalist in the long walks through nature described in Thoreau’s essay “Walking” and what can nature teach us about self reflection, artmaking, and spirituality?
My sub-questions are:
Can one find peace and quiet in the urban jungle?
What is transcendentalism and what is ecofeminism?
How does nature show up as a theme in literature, photography, spirituality and art?
How can walking through nature inspire creativity?
How can one live in the spirit of a transcendentalist?
Statement of Purpose
For my Senior Project, I will… be exploring nature as a theme in literature, art, and spirituality and seeing how they relate to my life as a young girl living in the city. Inspired by “Walking” by Henry David Thoreau, I will be walking through every major park in NYC, journaling and photographing my experiences, ultimately finishing with a small book of photography, writing, and multimedia art.
Overview: For my senior project, I will spend my time walking, reading, writing, making art based on living the life of a ‘transcendentalist’. I wondered- is it possible to live in New York City and cultivate a connection with nature, and if so, I want to explore how it can affect your mental health and why. I hope to explore nature as a literary theme, as well as studying how it shows up in philosophy, religion, art, and spirituality. I will be taking my film camera and my digital camera with me on daily walks through the park and walking in the spirit of Thoreau. This project appeals to me because I have always wondered about and felt inclined to study and explore the human relationships to nature through growing up my Chilean roots, and recently reading about the spiritual and scientific significance of forests. This interest is what guided me into my essential question: Living in the bustling urban atmosphere of NYC, is it possible to reconnect to the inner transcendentalist in the long walks through nature described in Thoreau’s essay “Walking” and what can nature teach us about self-reflection, artmaking, and spirituality?
Inspired by a book my dad gave me, “Walking” by Henry David Thoreau, I will be living life in the spirit of Thoreau for the duration of my senior project, walking through every major park in and around the NYC area. Every day, I will keep a journal of my experiences and bring a camera, as well as experimenting with art forms such as collage, printmaking, and painting. I hope to ultimately end with a small book, a collection of photography, writing, and multimedia art that encapsulates my experience living like Thoreau. I will also be taking an online course on Open Education called “The History of Spiritual Activism” and an online course on Coursera, “Healing with the Arts”.
I will also be exploring the connection between meditation and nature and “forest bathing”. I will be attempting to commit to a practice of daily meditation along with long walks and see if I can notice a change in my mental state. The academic scope of this project will also involve lots of reading on ecofeminism, ancient spiritual traditions, transcendentalism, and other books in which nature is used as a literary theme. I hope to explore herbalism and the healing properties of plants and nature as well. This project relates to me as someone who suffers from chronic pain, I started looking for alternative medicine and methods to treat my body without adding more drugs. In this process, I started to learn about the healing properties of herbs, plants, and different foods. I hope to learn about this in more depth during the scope of this project, and how it relates to Thoreau’s “Walking”. I also hope to possibly participate in a community garden in New York and talk to people about the topic.
I will incorporate the LREI core values and mission statement throughout this project in many ways.
Citizenship: I will be showing my work to the community, educating others. I will also possibly participate in a community garden, as well as investigating how one can get involved in mutual aid work that aligns with my topic. I will be interacting with community members as well to get different perspectives on this topic.
Creativity: I will be creating different types of art every day, from writing, to photography, to printmaking and collage, ultimately culminating in a small book.
Courage: I will be courageous in the sense that I will be going out to adventure every day and going out of my comfort zone.
Critical thinking: I will be doing lots of research, reading, and critical thinking about the subject of nature as a literary theme and hope to share my findings with the class.
How will you measure your success? I will measure my success by my ability to live in the spirit of Thoreau, going on long walks, reading and writing. The final outcome which will indicate my success will be a small book of photography, writing and art.
Resource List
Online Courses:
Coursera: Healing with the Arts, University of Florida (Mary Rockwood Lane, Phd.)
Slow Factory/Open Education: History of Spiritual Activism (Jungwon Kim)
Books:
-
- Henry David Thoreau, Walking (Essay)
- Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass
- Susan Sontag, On Photography
- Ram Dass, Be Here Now
- Susan Sontag, Illness as Metaphor
- Ariel Salleh, Ecofeminism as Politics- Nature, Marx, and the Post Modern
- Susan Griffin, Women and Nature
- Monica Sjoo, Towards a Revolutionary Feminist Art
- Yoshifumi Miyazaki, The Japanese Art of Forest Bathing
- Other artistic inspirations include Mary Beth Edelson, Ana Mendieta.
- Nature Therapy TED TALK by Yoshifumi Miyazaki
- Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Feminist Environmental Philosophy
- Patricia Jagentowicz Mills, Feminism and Ecology: On the Domination of Nature
- https://e360.yale.edu/features/ecopsychology-how-immersion-in-nature-benefits-your-health
Daily Plan & Schedule
Walking days
9 – Meditation
10 – Walking
12 – Daily Journal
2 – Come home
3 – Readings, daily reflections & develop and gather photos
4 – Experimental artmaking from daily reflection
Learning Days
9 – Meditation
10 – Read
12 – Coursera class
2 – Open Education Class
3 – Walk
4 – Daily Reflections
Week 1: Heavy reading & research, short walks
Preparing photography materials, preparing art materials
(Visiting small parks, going to Prospect Park, Central Park)
Week 2: Reading, journaling & Art Therapy Course
Long walking everyday, journaling and taking photos
(Central Park, Prospect Park and possibly outside NYC area)
Week 3: Reading, journaling & Art Therapy Course
Long walking everyday, journaling and taking photos
(Central Park, Prospect Park, etc)
→ Developing film photos and Experimental Artmaking
Week 4: History of Spiritual Activism Course starts (april 30)
Reading, writing and continuing Art Therapy Course
Long walking everyday
Gathering Materials for book
Week 5: Reading, writing and continuing Online Courses
Long walking everyday
Gathering Materials for book (photo, writing, prints, drawings)
Interviewing, finding community gardens & Mutual aid resources
Week 6: Reading, writing and continuing Online Courses
Putting together final product Book
Interviewing, finding community gardens & mutual aid resources
Open Education Class: The History of Spiritual Activism
Coursera Class: Art Therapy
Documentation Plan: I will document my work by keeping a daily journal where I keep track of my walks, my daily meditation practice, and my progress on the books I am reading. I will also be documenting my notes from my online classes in this journal and miscellaneous daily findings and ideas. I will be typing up or scanning the journal at the end of each week and uploading it to the senior blog to track my progress. I will also be uploading my photos and art and possibly documenting this on an Instagram or other blog page.
Material Needs
Have: Workspace, journal, pen, camera, art supplies and books
Need: Film for camera, extra art materials, JSTOR, possibly extra journal
Backup Plan
Backup plan: I will do an art project on meditation and breathwork as a tool for daily lives.
Backup plan: I will learn how to make different kinds of psychedelic pop music with guitar and create my own and upload it to SoundCloud.