Tagged: Ideas of Nature

The Alchemy of Early Photography

Four contemporary photographers use historical techniques to bring attention to the transient, illusory, and disposable items and people in our world. From tintype to cyanotype, these processes combine chemical knowledge and artistic insight.

A series of differently shaped laser cut and engraved wood seals are arranged on a surface.

There’s Nothing “Natural” About Binary Gender

In light of the US government’s controversial proposal to define gender as a “biological fact,” a trans scholar and artist critiques the use of “nature” to limit the messy, multidimensional reality of gender identity and expression.

Black and white artist rendering of ecohorror icon Godzilla attacking a city

Eleven Ecohorror Films to Creep You Out

Curious about ecohorror? An ecocritic recommends classic, campy, and little-known films that play with our culture’s deepest fears about nature. A few of these creature features just might get under your skin—literally.

Kate Durbin, artist, takes a selfie while standing in thigh-height waves and wearing a yellow plastic dress with Hello Kitty icons and a long, green wavy wig. In the background, other women wearing white underwear and rainbow-hued long wigs also take selfies while standing in the waves.

The Pleasures of Teaching Plastic

Plastic shapes us even as it contributes to our destruction. A performance studies scholar shares her creative approach to teaching about plastic and identity in an unavoidably plastic world.

Woke Environmentalism

Environmental justice is the future of environmental activism. A new documentary reader edited by Christopher Wells chronicles the birth of the environmental justice movement.

A peacock stands on reddish earth in the center of the image. His briight blue and green plumage fills the enttire frame.

Birds on the Brain in the Ancient World

In ancient Greece and Rome, birds filled more than the skies. Jeremy Mynott’s new book explores birds in ancient imaginations and the science, pastimes, art, and literature they inspired.