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Frontyard Zoo: Owning Nature(1 st image, neighborhood ornaments) Lawn ornaments represent how disconnected the average person truly is from nature. Many people surround themselves with these kitsch, cute, controllable, and lifeless creatures. These fake ornamental plastic animals stare blankly into the distance, destined never to move, unless blown over by the wind or removed by the owner. Lawn ornaments represent a fascination with controlling nature in every way possible. People control where nature is allowed to exist and with lawn decorations, how we want it to look. These decorations are designed to look harmless, smaller than life, clean, and most of all cute. People remain ignorant of true nature and idealize it into there own romantic and false version. Bears are not huggable and deer do not come with permanent smiles. (2 nd images, photos of Caudils Store isles) At first this seems like a trivial and minute problem, but it represents a larger and more meaningful issue, humankind’s disconnected relationship to nature. The main theme that I have been concerned with for the last several years is the dynamic relationship that mankind has with nature and their surrounding environments. This theme is consistent throughout all of my work. Nature is idealized and often times depicted as sublime or virginal. Through my artwork and research, I am trying to understand this ideal and sometimes surreal misconnection that contemporary society has with the natural world. Where does this misconnection begin and why is it propagated so readily in our culture? Through visual media, I am investigating the reasons behind our misconnection to our surrounding environments and our apathy toward nature. I want to reconnect people with where they are, what they are doing, and where we are all going. (3rd image, more from Caudils) For the past two years I have been working on a series of paintings and sculptures titled, “Frontyard Zoo”. My intention with this body of work is to communicate a serious message in a humorous package. Front yard zoo refers to a controlled space within our personal environments. Zoos have animals form all over the world; Penguins in Chicago, or polar bears in Tennessee. These animals are displaced and unconnected with the surroundings outside of the zoo itself. Similarly, the plastic lawn animals placed within suburban yards are also dislocated and artificial. An ornament is anything serving to adorn; a decoration or embellishment; also a desirable or needed adjunct. It can also be considered mere external display. Lawn ornament displays are mainly in the front yards of people’s homes. These displays seem to be contagious and may even be competitive. People seem to be keeping up with the Joneses’. The front yard is the most visible portion of a homeowner’s property. Anything placed in this area becomes public. Drivers and walkers, children and adults are able to view displays in front yards. So why do people set lawn ornaments of animals in front yards for everyone to see? Lawn ornaments are a form of external kitsch, tasteless objects that hold little meaning. Most kitsch is kept inside of homes in the form of knick-knacks and nostalgia. Lucy Lippard wrote in her book, On the Beaten Track: tourism, art, and place, “It is context that determines whether kitsch is amusing, charming and meaningful or a blight on the landscape and a gag on our national consciousness. Intimate domestic contexts soften the edges of raw commodification. If everyone has a flamingo in their front yard, flamingos help define “yard”, just as marble bird baths may define “lawns” and “gardens” in a more upscale context.” Lawn ornaments are signs of ownership. To own something is to control it, therefore, when one owns lawn ornaments that represent animals, one has control over those animals and ownership over nature. Consequently, what is good for one neighbor is good for all. Plastic animals tend to multiply in neighborhoods like an infectious disease. Usually, if lawn ornaments of animals are in one neighbor’s yard, there is a good chance someone in the adjacent house that also collects them. Some people inevitably take this to a different level. Many household yards contain just a few lawn ornaments but others exhibit entire collections of various gaudy decorations. The front yard literally becomes a zoo for phony fauna. (4 th slides of lady with ducks, and some typical deer) Who do they want to see them and what do they want to say with these objects. Are they trying to speak with other animals. Do lawn ornaments attract or repel actual wildlife? Some ornaments have a true reason for existing such as; a fake snake nailed to a pier at a lake will keep away sea gulls. But does a fake goose in a lawn attract or repel other geese? What is the reason behind collecting lawn ornaments? How does this display of fake, sometime cartoon like, animals fill a void for the person collecting them? What is the function of the lawn ornament? How do the average passers by respond to them? Can lawn ornaments act as symbols for larger ideals and become icons for our culture’s lack of sophistication and uncontrollable desire to control everything? (5 th image, Noah’s Arc) The first sculpture in the “Frontyard Zoo” series, titled Noah’s Arc, was made in August 2004. The animals on the Astroturf platform are in pairs, representing the story of the great flood in Genesis where animals were lead onto the arc two by two, male and female, to eventually repopulate the earth. In this sculpture, the animals are bunched up together in an absurd manner. Flamingos mingle with polar bears and domesticated farm animals are juxtaposed near wild beasts. This sculpture becomes the humorous manifestation of a more serious misconnection and the inspiration for most of my recent paintings and drawings shown later. There are serious misconnections between humans and the natural world that are represented by the simple act of displaying lawn ornaments in a yard. These ornamental displays signify dominion over nature. This fundamental misconnection has its roots in literature, namely the Bible. The book of Genesis states: “And God said, Let Us bring forth man in Our image… and let them prevail over the fish of the sea, and over the winged creature of the heavens, and over cattle, and over all the earth, and over all creeping things that move on the earth.” Another translation of this scripture is: 1:28 “And God blessed them, and God said to them, Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea, and over the winged creatures of the heavens, and over all living things that move on the earth.” For thousands of years, people have been taught that they are separate from nature and that it should be feared as something dangerous, mysterious, and foreign and should therefore be subdued and tamed for the benefit of humans. The domination of nature creates a never ending power struggle and is one reason for our misconnection. We spew chemicals on our lawns, set traps in our basements, and place air conditioners in our windows to make our surroundings more comfortable and controlled, yet the weeds always come back, the pesky rodents procreate and prevail, and it is still hot outside when we walk the dog. We fight endlessly against these variables in our lives, yet to no avail. We never win. (6th image, Stay in, Stay out) Fences are indicators of control. They simultaneously keep things in and out. The image you now see is titled, Stay In, Stay Out. This piece is about separation and ownership. Whatever is within the fence is possessed and whatever is outside the border is dismissed, pushed away, and regarded as other. The area outside the fence is considered vast, limitless, and unknown. Within the fence, everything is controlled and familiar. Humans create borders and boundaries that animals do not understand. We expect them to respect these perimeters we set and when they are breached we feel violated and unsafe. It is foolish to expect animals to comprehend our arbitrary boundaries. Lawn ornaments, on the other hand, are fully compliant and controllable. (7 th, Cotton Candy Pelican) The next several images are small 12in. x 12in. drawings derived from canted photographs of the sculpture, Noah’s Arc, shown previously. These drawings are meant to show the absurd and humorous side of lawn decorations. The graphite drawn on gesso gives the plastic creatures a texture while the flat, solid background colors become a symbol of artificiality. Lawn ornaments are false representations of animals, caricatures of the real thing. Most lawn ornaments are made of plastic and are produced in China. Plastic is a 20 th Century man-made material that is completely synthetic which contributes to the counterfeit character of the animals depicted. Plastic is basically weather proof, non-biodegradable, and weighs very little, perfect for cheap lawn displays. (8 th, Blue Moo) Most ornaments do not accurately correspond to the actual size of real animals. A polar bear can be the same size as a pig or donkey and a goose can be larger than a deer. They come complete with happy little smiles and innocuous stares as in this drawing titled, Being Green Makes Me Smile. (9 th, slide) When viewing animal ornaments, I often question the intentions of the makers. A company most likely hired an artist to design these objects in a specific manner to fill a specific need or demand. Some ornaments are extremely lifelike and detailed while others are cartoon caricatures (and there are still others in between). The cartoon animals serve an obvious purpose; to make someone laugh, smile, and evoke a sense of play or whimsy. The main term used when describing the lawn ornaments is “cute”. (10 th, slide) This piece titled, Lean Chicken, contains a double meaning related to fat free chicken pumped with chemicals found at the market and the obvious lean that somehow questions the viewer. It is meant to be cute and even funny with serious undertones. The more lifelike ornaments tend to initially fool the viewer into believing the actual animal is present, therefore insinuating that true nature has graced the homeowner’s lawn with its presence. This may give the homeowner satisfaction because if animals are seen on his property, then his property has worth. The owner is trying to demonstrate a false sense of control over nature and worth for his land. This is another attempt to possess nature and place material value on wild animals. But even though some of these ornaments evoke a sense of trompe l’oiel, they are by no means beautiful in themselves. Cartoon lawn ornaments may be cute and naturalistic lawn ornaments may seem real at first glance, but neither of these can compare to the true beauty of nature. Nature, and wild animals in particular, are beautiful simply because they are wild, free, and dare I say…alive. (11 th image, Monstrosities) The idea of beauty may also be a matter of taste. These images shown here are titled, Monstrosities#1 and #2. They originated with the idea of taking what other people believe to be “cute” and “precious” and forcing them to see the same objects as ugly, confused, and rediculous. Twelve cute birds are stacked on one another in each sculpture to create a form that may be too unattractive to place in one’s lawn. Some of the ornaments used are fairly lifelike, while many are stylized and more like cartoon versions of the real animal. These stacked birds have a forced relationship, obviously not found in the wild. Here is a quote directly from the sales tag of a specific type of lawn ornaments called Portlys. “Always friendly and fun, the Portlys’ are big on charm and cheer. Each one of these upbeat characters will delight both adult and children-on the porch, in the garden, or anywhere!” These particular ornaments have an overly fat, cartoon like appearance, cute and cuddly indeed. Nature, conversely, is not cute and no matter how much we try to control it, we cannot. People can only control the plastic, frozen representations of animals. Some people actually go so far as to dress up the fake animals like humans. (image)This is a severe form of disrespect for real nature. There may be a humorous or satirical side to this, but it is certainly lost on the home owner. The anthropomorphic quality given to the lawn ornaments is just another attempt to control the object and make it more “cute”. People would rather have a fake goose in their front yard than see a real goose that is noisy and shits on the grass. Actual deer may come from the surrounding area into our finely manicured lawns and disrupt everyday control. They graze and sometimes injure our plants. The logical solution for the average homeowner is to freeze the deer in static positions so they can do no harm. These plastic or cement creatures give the idea of nature, without all the pesky reality, such as: noises, smells, and inconvenience. Ideal nature is preserved forever if necessary. Some yards even come equipped with “gazing balls” that hypnotize fauna and transfix them into confused stationary statues. (12 th image, All hail the golden orb)This next image is titled, All Hail the Golden Orb. Twenty six artificial rabbits are bolted down to a 3ft. x 3ft. platform. The dazed bunny rabbits face the center of the piece, kneeling and giving praise to the reflective “gazing ball” resting on a tree stump. (13 th, another bunny photo) The combination of the mirrored image and the golden rays of sun in the orb, leave the animals dumbfounded. Bunnies bow and stare with dead eyes as they pay homage to the ball that has become the center of their ever shrinking universe. Visual representations of animals, whether cartoon like or naturalistic are not the problem. Many animal representations hold deep power and meaning for many people and cultures. I only insist that we recognize the vast difference between representations with power and those without, and then question why it is necessary to display the representations without power. What does it accomplish when placing a swan near a tree in the front yard? How much power do plastic or cement deer have that flank a driveway in suburbia? (14 th image, Lions of AI-chicago, and plastic lion) The difference between a lion statue in front of the Art Institute of Chicago and a plastic lion in a front yard is obvious? The producers of lawn ornaments will have you believe that they are both “statues”, yet one is authoritative and one is only adorable. One demands attention and the other can be overlooked. There is also a vast difference between a bear represented on a Pacific Northwest Native American Totem pole and a plastic black bear that lights up the lawn at night? (15 th image, NW totem, plastic black bear) Some representations contain a more powerful meaning than others. Some are religious objects that contain spirits, while others are meant to evoke fear in the viewer and ward off enemies. Lawn ornaments have no spiritual power and do not demand the same respect as icons or sentinels. Icons symbolize larger concepts and accepted cultural standards of meaning and beauty. Sentinels stand guard over important sites for political or religious purposes. Images of animals have been represented for thousands of years. These representations, whether three-dimensional or two dimensional, were produced for many reasons. Cave drawings in prehistoric times told stories and paid homage to the animals that gave so much sustenance to their people. Early Egyptian cultures also represented animals to connect themselves with the spiritual powers innate to certain creatures. (16 th image, asoka pillars) Buddhist architecture is adorned with powerful animal carvings such as; lions, bulls, and elephants, to instill a sense of awe and respect from viewers. Many Native Americans represent animals through painting and sculpture to become closer to the ancestral realm and use certain effigy objects in rituals and ceremonies to pay respect to the animal spirits that give them food, clothing, and life. (17 th, native American rattle) Lawn ornaments on the other hand, are void of any spiritual content, contain no innate power, and function more as an eye sore than an object of beauty and respect. Another harmful concept that disconnects humans from the natural world is the idea that humans are somehow separate from nature. We need to believe that we ourselves are natural. When we conceptually set ourselves apart from our idea of nature, we inevitably feel less responsible for it because it is not us, rather something other that is being harmed. This attitude lends itself to the mismanagement and pillaging of nature. The thought that nature only exists to serve human interests is the reason why the word “wilderness” is defined as – an uncultivated, uninhabited region; any barren, empty, or open area; and is also synonymous with the term, waste. Open areas such as deserts are considered barren wastelands because they may not serve narrow-minded human concerns. There are many species of plants and animals within a desert region and simply because humans cannot use them for personal gain does not make them worthless. People think they are detached from nature, on the contrary, everything we do affects the world around us and everything that happens around us, in turn, affects us. We are not so isolated. We deny the fact that we are also animals ourselves and are therefore connected to the world around us. We are part of a food chain, not necessarily at the top either. How long would an average person actually survive alone in a forest? We see wilderness as something alien, disconnected from our existence and unknown to our experiences. In this foreign expanse also lies the ideals of nature, something that is soft, romantic, relaxing, quiet, meditative, serene, tranquil, peaceful, calming, restful…We see nature as an escape from people and the urban landscape, someplace where we can relax and “get away from it all”. But nature is also uncontrollable, unknown, frightening, harsh, mysterious, unidentifiable, unfamiliar, forbidding, disorderly, random, cruel… In this clash of terms, quaint idealism is met with a harsh reality. When the ideal becomes imagined reality and is accepted, the disconnection of man and nature is propagated. Nature is only distinguished from other non natural things due to there relativity and relationship to people. A tree within a backyard is considered unnatural due to its relationship to people, it is planted by people, it is chosen by people, its location is chosen by people, and it is surrounded by man made environments, therefore it must be unnatural. If humans are natural, then planting a tree in your backyard is natural too. Natural phenomena caused or allowed the tree to grow in that specific yard. The sun gave it much needed photons of light, the air gave it much needed carbon dioxide, the ground gave it much needed nutrients, and the climate gave it much needed water. Humans may have initiated the tree’s existence, but nature allowed it to live. If humans are natural then everything we do and produce is natural as well. Like a bird building a nest, a beaver making a dam, a termite producing a mound, or deer creating paths through the forest, humans erect skyscrapers, build dams, produce cities and suburbs, and construct roads. The paintings in the Frontyard Zoo series are also derived from photographs of the Noah’s Arc sculpture. These paintings, oil on panel, are diptychs that show the lawn ornaments on the top sections and wood or vinyl siding on the bottom sections. The clean vinyl siding signifies the cookie cutter housing developments so typical in suburbia, shown in this image titled, Beasts in the Burbs.(18 thslide) The painted panels are zoomed in, canted views of the sculpture. Since the lawn ornaments are artificial, the paintings must feel artificial as well. The paint is applied in a hard edge, simplistic manner, creating many organic shapes using different values of color. They look synthetic and fake and are false replicas of the simulated creatures. Each character is a lie; a counterfeit version thrice removed from true nature. From simulated plastic, to digital photograph, to painting, Plato would be appalled by this mimesis. The two paintings titled, (19 thslide) American Eagle(19 thslide) and Duck, Duck, Goose utilize weathered, rustic wood on the bottom panels that represent the architectural construction indicative of more rural buildings such as barns and farms. This wood is actually from my grandparent’s barn in upstate New York and is meant to evoke the idea of construction and labor. There is nothing new about humans constructing their environments. We build to feel safe and comfortable and this is all about control. Suburbia is a prime example of the search for safety and control. Suburban homes sprawl out from urban centers. They are nearly identical mazes of clean perfect structures. The indistinguishable buildings create endless labyrinths of streets, avenues, courts, drives, fences, and manicured lawns. This painting titled (20 thslide), Midnight in the Wilderness Garden, speaks to the idea that wilderness is being sectioned off and encroached upon by perfectly planned, ready-made communities. These places are basically void of trees and anything an animal can call a home. Natural prairies and forests are leveled and jam packed with single family homes leaving what once lived there to fend for themselves. Lawn ornaments therefore replace actual animals. Within these mazes, people plant, prune, trim, dig, fill, clear, and build their environments. They want nothing out of their control in their immediate vicinity, yet it comforts them to imagine something wild in the distance; something virgin, sublime, and untouched by man. Richard White wrote in his essay, Work and Nature, “We seek the purity of our absence, but everywhere we find our own fingerprints.” The idea that something is actually virgin and untouched is a completely human centric idea. What would the virgin landscape look like? Who or what is doing the touching? How far back in the history of this planet do we have to go to find this virgin landscape, to the Triassic period or when the earth was a burning sphere of liquids and gases? The earth has always been utilized by its inhabitants to serve its inhabitants, so is the answer; virgin nature is void of any organisms? This absurd notion of course is not what people think of today when imagining virgin landscapes. They imagine picturesque postcards of the Grand Canyon, National Parks, coral reefs, Alaska, Patagonia…and others. People think of cascading waterfalls, never-ending forests, raging rivers, and mountaintop vistas. Of course this is nature, but so is the tree in your backyard, the small little forest in your neighborhood, and the creek at your grandmother’s house. If everything is touched by humans, then it is only a matter of preference and aesthetics that would lead someone to the Rocky Mountains of Colorado rather than their grandmother’s backyard. One obvious sign of human fingerprints on a landscape is construction. Construction is a sign of civilization and culture. We begin constructing our environments and our culture in and near the home and force those ideals into all our surroundings. Humans construct their environments within their minds and in tangible reality. This construction is simultaneously an intellectual endeavor and an arduous physical progression. In our minds we create ideals; unrealistic concepts of the imagination. They are romantic visions of what we think nature is or should be. In reality we change the land that surrounds us to suit our cultural needs and desires. This construction manifests itself in what material objects people collect and surround themselves with. The objects and decorations we place in our personal domains will give viewers information about who lives there and what they like or dislike, but ultimately will hold no true power or deep meaning. Objects such as, gazing balls, garden gnomes, sports team flags, rainbow wind catchers, holiday decorations, and most of all lawn ornaments depicting animals are popular and widespread in American yards. These contrived microcosms are generic, artificial, and aesthetically tasteless. So do the world a favor and leave the lawn ornaments in the garage, plant at tree, and hang a bird feeder.
Uncommon Ground – William Cronon Pg. 173 Richard White “Are You an Environmentalist or Do You Work for a Living?”: Work and Nature.) the Art of Ancient India, ,pg 46-47. Lippard, Lucy R., On the Beaten Track: tourism, art, and place. New York, The New Press, 1999.
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