{"id":42394,"date":"2019-01-08T07:54:53","date_gmt":"2019-01-08T12:54:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/?p=42394"},"modified":"2019-01-08T07:54:53","modified_gmt":"2019-01-08T12:54:53","slug":"art-of-the-monstrous-burtynsky-and-the-anthropocene","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/?p=42394","title":{"rendered":"Art of the Monstrous: Burtynsky and the Anthropocene"},"content":{"rendered":"

Art of the Monstrous: Burtynsky and the Anthropocene<\/a><\/h3>\n
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The National Art Gallery in Ottawa currently hosts a sensational exhibition called \u201cAnthropocene<\/strong><\/a>.\u201d Edward Burtynsky and his associates Jennifer Baichwal and Nicholas de Pencier have created a multi-media mind-boggling representation of the transformation of the earth by humans. Their work has the shock-effect similar to the famous 1969 photograph of the earth taken from outer space, from far above. One recalls Carl Sagan\u2019s equally famous description of the earth as that \u201cpale blue dot.\u201d Those words were uttered with hope glistening on its lips. Could we see how beautiful this whirling planet, ours, was from so far above? Isn\u2019t it one world for everyone? Shouldn\u2019t humanity encircle its collective arms around this pale blue dot and cradle it tenderly?<\/p>\n

In the age of airplanes, most of us who inhabit this pale blue dot have been stunned by how awesome our view of the Rockies is from 30,000 feet above the earth. And we are probably aware that photography from above is not entirely new. It has been used for cartographic purposes. Now, many know Burtynsky\u2019s earlier works such as\u00a0Manufactured landscapes <\/strong><\/a>(2003), Oil <\/strong><\/a>(2009)\u00a0and Water <\/strong><\/a>(2013).\u00a0<\/strong>If you have never looked at any of Burtynsky\u2019s big picture photographs, you may be in for\u00a0 something akin to an electric shock. His photos of large-scale sites from high above (planes, drones, helicopters) stop us in our tracks. They grab our attention and demand that we think anew about the world humankind has manufactured.<\/p>\n

Some would add\u2014and ruined. Viewing Burtynsky\u2019s photos triggers deep spiritual and philosophical thought. Nature photographs and paintings are never mere representations; they carry symbolic meanings. And, essentially, they press us to ask the big questions: Who are we as a human species? What is our purpose on this pale blue dot? What have we done to this beautiful place, whirling in an unfathomably immense universe? Where, when all is said and done, are we headed?<\/p>\n

\u2026click on the above link to read the rest of the article\u2026<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Art of the Monstrous: Burtynsky and the Anthropocene The National Art Gallery in Ottawa currently hosts a sensational exhibition called \u201cAnthropocene.\u201d Edward Burtynsky and his associates Jennifer Baichwal and Nicholas de Pencier have created a multi-media mind-boggling representation of the transformation of the earth by humans. Their work has the shock-effect similar to the famous […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[1208,103,5493,23759,21903,23758,604],"class_list":["post-42394","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-environment","tag-anthropocene","tag-canada","tag-counterpunch","tag-edward-burtynsky","tag-michael-welton","tag-national-art-gallery","tag-ottawa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42394","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=42394"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42394\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":42395,"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42394\/revisions\/42395"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=42394"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=42394"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=42394"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}