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Research Pt.2

For my continuation in research, I decided to explore some links that Blanka had shared with me during our meeting. I read an article called “NANO Lab: Exploring Artistic Interfaces with Natural/Organic Elements in Telematics Environments”  This research took place at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro and was conducted by Carlos Augusto (Guto) Nóbrega and Maria Luiza Fragoso.  It was pretty challenging to understand because they used many terms I didn’t recognize, but they are exploring the art and aesthetics that can result from combining humans, technology, and nature to “enhance our capacity of perception”. They ask questions like,  “Can a telematic system provide an experience in art?” The projects explore processes of creating artificial interfaces, which in some way are connected with natural and organic elements, experimenting on “possible hybridization, interaction, or presence in telematic environments.” There was a project that I found very interesting called “Telebiosfera”  which is an environment made of natural and artificial elements. Two domes have gardens inside of them that are communicating with each other through the information given off of the plants in them. This is done by putting galvanic sensors on the plants (like a lie detector) which translates to images, temperature, light and humidity. It is also important to mention that the data shared by the plants is different depending on the presence of humans in the dome garden. I think this project is awesome because people can begin to visualize themselves as part of something bigger and interconnected. It is challenging to have people empathize with plants because  they are so different from how we function, but this allows humans to get feedback they can actually somewhat understand from plants. It makes people conscious about how they directly affect everything around them even if they don’t notice it. 

https://cargocollective.com/gutonobrega/Telebiosfera

I also watched TEDTalks of scientists researching plants. One video that stood out was by Florianne Koechlin, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8YnvMpcrVI which talked about how plants communicate with fragrances to attract/fend off animals and to alert each other of predators. Plants can also perceive about 20 more environmental signals than humans can. Plants can even exchange  information and nutrients between each other through their interconnected roots system in the wild. “Like internet under our feet”. They are not passive senseless objects. Lastly she suggests a system in which us humans could respect plants' dignity.

I watched another similar video on plant consciousness and memory by Stefano Manusco. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gBGt5OeAQFk

I found this article of a man who has a sealed bottle garden that has been living and thriving since 1960 and has only watered it once since. I just thought the concept of having a sealed self-sustaining mini ecosystem is really cool.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2267504/The-sealed-bottle-garden-thriving-40-years-fresh-air-water.html

I found designers that are making buildings and furniture out of mycelium/mushrooms!

Pascal Leboucq- Mycelium buildinghttps://www.dezeen.com/2019/10/29/growing-pavilion-mycelium-dutch-design-week/

Sebastian Cox- Mycelium furniturehttps://www.dezeen.com/2017/09/20/mushroom-mycelium-timber-suede-like-furniture-sebastian-cox-ninela-ivanova-london-design-festival/

Stefano Boeri- architect that designed “vertical forest” high-rise in Italyhttps://www.theverge.com/2017/8/9/16112758/milan-vertical-forest-stefano-boeri-video

Jensen & Skodvin Architects- The Juvet Landscape Hotel in Norway https://www.archdaily.com/8600/juvet-landscape-hotel-jsa

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Research Pt.1

For my direction, I have decided to combine two of my topics, empathy, and nature/sustainability. I believe there is a big disconnect between humans and the environment. I want to research how empathy works, how it's taught, how we might make people care more about the environment, can the environment make people care more, how can we make these big concepts more digestible???

I first searched for Biophilic design, which is based off of the Biophilia hypothesis that most humans have an innate, biological affinity for the natural world. So, Biophilic design aims to integrate natural elements and processes into the built environment. And this is more than just an aesthetic of functional discipline, but a way to improve people’s mental and physical well-being. Having plants indoors  can help reduce stress, help with focus, and even increase immunity. Some examples of biophilic elements are natural light, greenroofs, terraces, natural aromas, water features, accent colors in greens, blues, and browns, minimally processed materials like wood and stone, etc. After, I looked up if I could find anything on humans being desensitized to environmental issues. To my surprise, I found a study by Alexandra C. Alhadeff.at Yale School of the Environment called “Numb to the World: Degradation Desensitization and Environmentally Responsible Behavior”. The study involves a group of 147 middle and high school kids (11-17 years of age) split into two groups and one group would be exposed to environmental degradation stimuli (EDS) while the other would not. Their emotional state and heart rates were recorded before and after the viewing. Lastly, after the viewing they would receive a complimentary juice box that they then had the option to either put in the recycling bin or the trash. Surprisingly, the group that was shown EDS resulted less likely to recycle/engage in environmentally responsible behavior (ERB). ( I also noticed that the article includes many sources that could help me in the future!) Lastly, I found a study called “Children’s Environments That Foster Connections to Nature” by Victoria Derr and Krista Lance at the Environmental Design Program at the University of Colorado. It mentions how children in urban environments where nature is absent or limited sometimes express fear or apathy toward the natural world whereas children with access even to degraded nature or minimal natural landscaping for free play express preference for these places. It also mentions that frequent, direct experience with nature, coupled with an adult who teaches respect for it, influences the development of environmental care and stewardship later in life. 

Adjacent Areas:

Biomimicry

Biomimicry is a practice that learns from and mimics the strategies found in nature to solve human design strategies. Biomimicry is about valuing nature for what we can learn, not what we can extract, harvest, or domesticate. In the process, we learn about ourselves, our purpose, and our connection to each other and our home on earth.

Grounding Techniques

You can use grounding techniques to help create space from distressing feelings in nearly any situation, but they’re especially helpful if you’re dealing with anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, dissociation, self-harm urges, traumatic memories,  and substance use disorder. These techniques may help distract you from what you’re experiencing and refocus on what’s happening in the present moment. There's physical techniques like putting your hands in cold and warm water, breathing deeply, picking up/touching items near you etc. Mental techniques like thinking in categories, describing what’s around you, playing memory games, etc. 

Autism Empathy Kit 

Designer Heeju Kim designed a set of sensory tools so that people can empathize more with those who have Autism. The set includes different shaped lollipops that impede tongue movement in different ways, and shows that it is difficult to hold a conversation due to problems with pronunciation. There is an augmented reality set that alters the viewers perception of what is in front of them (blocked periphery, double vision, etc.) Lastly, there is a set of headphones that are amplifying nearby sound.

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Research Methods

I am still unsure which topic I will focus on, so, for now, let’s say that I will do either empathy/psychology or Nature/Sustainability.

With both topics I would start by searching the history of the topic, what has been done, other people’s views on the topic, etc. I think this helps to get a general idea and develop what direction you want to take things. It also helps to build off of the research that is already done so that you can direct your paper into new areas (instead of writing about things that have already been talked about time and time again. For the topic on empathy, my next step would be to create a questionnaire with open-ended questions for many people to answer. This will allow me to get a wide variety of answers from a lot more people in a lot less time than if I were to jump straight into interviews. Then, from those answers, I would then choose what people I want to reach out to interview. This will allow me to go into a lot more depth with the right people. Since I will already have their questionnaire answers, I can build on those to create more questions. Lastly, I would offer different scenarios. This will open up a discussion of how a person would react to a new problem instead of only talking about things that they have experienced in the past. For the topic of Nature/sustainability, my next step would probably be video ethnography. This way, I can record how people behave in environments with many plants and in environments without plants and then compare the two videos. Then, maybe I could utilize provocation to see how people would react to a sudden change in that environment and record that. This will be helpful to see the effects of a given variable in an environment. Lastly, I could conduct interviews to get a clearer view of what the people were actually feeling about the sudden change. This will be a more effective way of reviewing the research instead of trying to guess what people were feeling just by looking at the recordings.

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Questions On My Topics of Interest

Nature/Sustainability:

1. How does being in nature affect our well being and will incorporating more nature in our spaces help us feel more connected and responsible for the environment?

2. What are the main factors keeping our economy from becoming closed-loop?

3. What are the most difficult changes we will have to overcome in order to become a closed loop-economy and where would we start?

4. Does more exposure to nature as a child make people more caring about the environment and if so, how might this concept be implemented into schools?

Handmade Things:

1.What behavioral and genetic factors cause some people to have multiple obsessions/ hobbies/interests and what does this say about the person as opposed to someone who does not have many obsessions/hobbies/interests?

2.What are the similarities and differences of the effects that meditation and making/crafting have on the brain?

3.Is the urge to make things something that is genetic, taught or both and what other outside factors cause people to want to make things?

People/Psychology/Empathy:

1.How is social media impacting the views and behaviors of the younger generations and what mentality might we expect from them in the future?

2.How do different cultures treat/view the elderly and what effects does it have on the mentality of their society?

3.What are the main environmental, behavioral, and genetic factors that make people empathetic? Can it be taught effectively?

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Currently reading: Susan Cain - Quiet. The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking 

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Philipp Igumnov, Cloudhouse, Photo collage

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JOHNSON TSANG 

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Hand study ‘Selenelion’, Kathrin Marchenko, Embroidery on Tulle, 2020

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Interest #3: People? Psychology? Empathy?

I recently read a book called Quiet, By Susan Cain, that mentions that a 2010 Michigan Study shows that college students today are 40% less empathetic than they were thirty years ago, with much of the drop having occurred since 2000. (The study’s authors speculate that the decline in empathy is related to the prevalence of social media, reality tv, and “hyper-competitiveness.”) (Cain 141). 

Empathy is an interesting word. It means the ability to understand and share the feelings of another person, fictional character, or sentient being. It involves seeing someone else’s situation from their perspective and second, sharing their emotions, including, if any, their distress. Not to be confused with sympathy, which means having feelings of pity and sorrow about someone else’s misfortune. 

I must admit I know very little about this topic, but the book I mentioned has opened my eyes to a lot of things that I wasn’t quite as aware of before. Like people’s temperament and people’s roles in social settings, and I often find myself wondering why people react to things a certain way, and what is really going on inside their head. I consider myself someone that feels very deeply for other people. Sometimes to the point that I feel exhausted. And I am not quite sure how to go about this but there is just something about people and their behavior that I’ve been very interested in lately.

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Interest #2: Handmade Things

I have always had a huge appreciation for anything handmade. The fact that someone took the time to carefully plan and craft something makes the object 100x more special to me. I love when objects have a story. My whole life I have loved doing things like painting, drawing, collage, ceramics, embroidery, etc. I am in love with the process. I am a slow worker. Making art has always been a very therapeutic process for me. I have tried meditating before and I realized I get a similar feeling when I make things. As a natural worrier and over-thinker, this is my escape. It’s a way for me to exercise being in the present. It is a time where I can process a lot of what is going through my head. Problems that I usually think of as being enormous end up being miniscule.

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Interest #1: Nature

I grew up in a small, blazing hot, incredibly humid, swampy, town in Mexico. Most of our weekends, my family would drive to a nearby beach early in the morning and we wouldn’t leave till dark (when the swarms of mosquitoes became unbearable). The beach was ugly and whenever we would dig “hot tubs holes” and make sand castles, our hands would end up stained black due to the various oil spills that had affected that area. We also went fishing a lot. I caught my first fish when I was about 8? Or maybe it was a crab, I’m not sure. My dad would take me on hunting trips with him and I would intentionally make noise to scare off animals so they wouldn’t get shot. (He didn't take me to very many after that.) In school, I was the kid making mud pies and picking up worms and ladybugs at recess. Nature has always felt like home to me. Now that I am older I notice that because of my childhood, my interest in sustainability came very naturally. I love finding ways to reduce waste, and buying second hand. I am currently switching to a more plant based diet. I have always felt like I have some kind of duty to do better. I believe the earth doesn’t need us, we need Earth, so I try to do better, however small my contribution might be.