Triptych

First Vine
Second Vine
Third Vine


I have often valued simplicity in life. Keeping things simple and relatable allows ideas to be better understood by the masses. When examining this assignment, I thought for a while about some fantastic and creative video ideas that would effectively categorize my relationship with nature. What I soon realized was that my philosophy of simplicity did not allow for too much creativity in a seven second video. I went with my gut instinct here, and decided to analyze three different relationships we humans have with nature. After much thought, three categories stuck out to me. Dependence, independence, and desire.

Firstly, we are dependent on nature for food, water and shelter. Every animal on the planet needs those three basic things, and humans are not exempt from this. However modified our food, shelter or water becomes; we still need to have them all for survival. I concluded that a shot of some fruit (with a sticker on it), a glass of water, and an apartment building, do a good job of showing our absolute dependence on nature, in one form or another. This is a relatively simplistic, but accurate portrayal of the most basic relationship between mankind and nature.

Secondly, we humans attempt to be independent from nature. Buildings our constructed to shield us from the forces of nature, we take comfort in being separate from nature as we sit contently in our artificial civilization. I decided that a shot of my house would be a good example of a shield in which I live, to escape from nature. This should not be confused with shelter, as shelter can take many forms, and an apartment building is just one of infinite possibilities.

Thirdly, our desire to experience nature within the confines of our civilization is at times over whelming. We find some sort of indescribable relief when we escape from our cities and houses to a form of nature, like a park or a wilderness. I find it interesting that every time I open my window I feel some sense of relief. I like to open my window to get closer to nature, to feel the difference in air temperature, to hear the birds and other animals. We desire nature, within our civilization.