Abstract:
The aim of this thesis is primarily to consider what the value of looking at and being in place means, and how that value may be interpreted through a 21st century art context. The devised methodology called ‘productive contemplation’ was used as a way of considering how we perceive place and how to be in place, while acknowledging significant historic and contemporary influences in both landscape painting and nature writing. The subsequent thesis includes observational writing, landscape photography and video making. The findings of the thesis clarified how the problematic dichotomy of being in / out of place is based on understanding the differences between its constructed and subjective view. This was explored particularly through a contemplative and empathetic discipline (and arts practice), informed by the research to develop as a more exploratory / metaphysical approach to being in place. Conclusively, the contemplative interpretation included an awareness of biodiversity, which became more current or active when understood in an environmental ethical context. Through an intimate portrayal of the two locations I was able to consider the value of being in place, in terms of how we are connected and simultaneously disconnected from it, and what the implications of that disconnection might mean, both in terms of how we inhabit place, and how we regard our ecological interdependence.