Aug 23 2007
Goodbye Summer!
Welcome to the new world of Web 2.0! The coming year promises to be filled with oodles of new computer technology discoveries. I’m excited about all these possibilities for enhancing the quality of our lives, and providing new educational opportunities. There is a caveat however.
I’m worried that kids (and people in general) will exchange the old cathode ray tube of the TV for a new, thin, liquid crystal display and still be cemented in front of digital info and imagery in a virtual world. I’m worried that the increase in technology will not be balanced out by a comensurate increase in evironmental awareness and a new sense of stewardship for Planet Earth. The more comfortable we get with technology in the security and privacy of our own cubicles, the farther we get away from any kind of comfortable relationship with the natural world. It doesn’t really matter if that old growth is clear-cut or if global warming is a partisan political tool. It doesn’t matter because it doesn’t directly affect me, and I don’t care.
In my professional practice, the natural world becomes full of examples for the visual arts. The challenge for me will be to continue trying to integrate one area with the other. I believe that if we lose our connection to the natural world we will have also lost an important part of ourselves.
