Were your initial reactions to the picture above positive or negative? Is there something aesthetically pleasing about the ordering of the fields? If so, why? If not, why not? How does the bird’s eye view shape our interpretation of what we see here? Does Shiva’s quote change the way you look at the photo?
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Brandon Davis
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eddietastic, 
congo96, 
phoebe, and 23 others are discussing.
jenniefrench 3:04 pm on February 4, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
My initial reaction was skeptical. Personally I am not into geometry and symmetry and neatly laid out fields. But I was not sure what ‘bad’ – perhaps environmental damaging is better – agriculture looks like. That’s a scary thought because I grew up on the Prairies, surrounded by fields upon fields of neatly organized and regulated crops. What was I missing all that time? The quote by Shiva is helpful, in that it asks us to remember to look beyond the surface, beyond what may be for some, the aesthetically pleasing. A bird’s eye view is a fantastic way to view this planet – it brings to life the scale of our Earth, ans also of the human changes. But we need to remember that there is more than the bird’s eye view, there is more beneath the surface.
katehaxt 6:49 am on February 5, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
If there is anything aesthetic about the picture it is the eleents which disrupt the symmetry, the swashs of purple and yellow, the small patch of woodland (?). I live amongst a patchwork of green, sometimes yellow and brown, squares. While visitors find it charming, i find it deeply boring. Give me a forest anyday. The best part of the lanscape here in Cornwall, besides the sea, is the hedgerows which are allowed to run amock with weeds, wildflowers, native shrubs, etc. Biodiversity is not just healthier, its prettier, and more interesting.
sharonshi 5:15 pm on February 5, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
My initial reaction to the picture was that it was very “neat”; everything very geometrical. However, there is nothing aesthetically pleasing about the ordering of the fields because it does not seem natural to me. A bird’s eye view shape our interpretation because we can see everything all at once, compared to what we can see when standing on the actual ground. Shiva’s quote changed the way I looked at the photo in that it reminded me to look beyond what is just there. What “seems” to be, may not always be what “actually” is.
roypat 11:13 pm on February 5, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
My first reaction to the photo was that it reminded me of Holland. I lived in Rotterdam on exchange for a semester and when taking the train to Amsterdam in late April, I would pass by a number of rows of tulips or other types of flowers. The colours were separated from one another so that it was an entire field of purple, or yellow, or pink, or green. I look at this photo and I think of mass production.
natashap 11:35 pm on February 5, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
I’ve always thought that fields and farms look very neat and pretty from above – like patchwork quilts. And I don’t think the orderliness or “strict” geometry of them is necessarily a bad thing – it’s obviously going to be easier and more efficient for a farmer to work on a nice organized farm plot than one that is all wobbly and disorganized.
The quote doesn’t change how I view the picture – I still think it looks good. I do however agree with her point that monoculture is bad – at least from what I’ve read so far in this module. I don’t think that diversified agriculture and order are mutually exclusive though.
erikaw 2:07 am on February 6, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
My first reaction: “This is beautiful!” Then I realized what I was looking at…. monoculture crops. When I pressed next, Shiva’s words put everything into perspective. Although monoculture crops are destructive in numerous ways it somehow doesn’t take away from the beauty of the photo – man made items are beautiful too! (Just not for the environment or human kind!)
jaydee 8:25 pm on February 6, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
I also felt that the photo was aesthetically pleasing. I think that is more a reflection of the way we are raised in our current societal system. We are raised in a society that idolizes order and specialization. This is proving to have its downfalls. I think that this picture in combination with Shiva’s quote expresses how nature is not sustained on organization.
jonl 9:50 am on February 7, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
It looked very much like art work though being a picture of a field, I definitely felt something unnatural about how it is and what is being grown there. It is true that perhaps the patchwork leads to greater yield but I would prefer a sense of natural agriculture any day.
youngblutt 10:03 am on February 7, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
it is initially aesthetically pleasing to the eye because it has order and symmetry. I have been socialized to appreciate order and symmetry, and I have sought to operate efficiently within it. It is relative to what the early European colonizers felt when they first looked upon the Indigenous agriculture system as chaotic, inefficient and therefore, ineffective. Fortunately, we have the great efforts of Dadaists, Surrealists and Anarchists to combat such monoculture mental categorization and expression…. a legume here, a hedgerow there….
paige 5:37 pm on February 7, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
I think to the naked eye it looks ordered and pleasing. But knowing that it is a field of crops my first thought was that it looked so unnatural. There is no way that anything would grow like that in the wild or even stay like that for a couple months without being tightly monitored. Systematically this may provide ease for the farmers but thinking of sustainability this is greatly reducing the soils productivity time.
brandond 1:30 pm on February 8, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
I have to admit, I was conflicted about this photo, both before and after the quote. Part of me identifies fields such as these with nature and the outdoors, or the antithesis of the rather conventional, concrete-laden cities in which I lived. I also appreciated the symmetries and colors of of the fields (as a few others of you have noted), as well as their productivity. At the same time, I have long been concerned about pesticides and have increasingly come to understand the connection between pesticides and the highly organized, regimented fields evoked by the photo. Maybe the biggest impression the photo/quote made on me was that I am conflicted; not just me, but also the food culture, aesthetic culture, and political culture that have shaped me…
bgibson 12:09 am on February 9, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
I definitely had a positive initial reaction to the photo, the well ordered lines and colour blocks make a nicely segregated image. It’s kind of like looking at photos of architecture or textures, a photo that is well composed and draws the eye along lines is more pleasing that one that is haphazard. The quote that accompanied the photo really emphasizes how much effort is required to shape the land like this. It’s not uncommon to see patchwork farmland like this, but the quote definitely made me think of how the land might have looked before human efforts.
emilym 10:11 am on February 9, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
My intitial reaction to this photo was that it was pretty, organized, and nicely laid out, but also that it is extremely unnatural. Like a few people have said, I tend to appreciate the chaotic look of untamed nature. These fields have been so arificially maintained that it ruins the beauty of it for me. Shiva’s quote definitely helps to put that into perspective as well. However, I have to admit that it is really impressive just how much farmers/corporations such as Monsanto have been able to change our natural landspace to increase productivity to such an extremely high level.
sampethick 3:25 pm on February 9, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
It doesn’t even look real. It’s pretty, because like many of you have already mentioned the plots are very symmetrical, and the colors are aesthetically pleasing; we all enjoy lush green fields because it makes you think, “warm summer day.” That being said I didn’t really feel a significant change in reaction when I read Shiva’s quote, I think that’s because the photo does look so unnatural, that there are negative feelings towards at first sight, even though it looks so nice. Shiva’s quote just solidifies and put’s an explanation to those negative feelings.
lcoulthard 9:15 pm on February 9, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
As much as the nicely laid out colours and rows are, knowing the effects of monocultures makes it impossible for me to find this photo aesthetically pleasing, especially after reading Shiva’s quote. The birds-eye-view makes this type of farming seem like something it’s not. A closer look at the crops might reveal that they aren’t even very healthy, and testing the soil could reveal an abundance of chemical fertilizers that are leaching into the ground. I also assume that there would have been more forest, which is truly aesthetically pleasing, in that photo before farming cleared it out!!
brenden 10:30 pm on February 9, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
I don’t find this image to be particularly pleasing because of the lack of symmetry. It just goes to show how we have indeed exhausted our viable supply of farmland and how humans are willing to cultivate every bit of land they have ownership rights over to generate wealth for themselves. I found another picture from a higher altitude which demonstrates how we are indeed exhausting all viable land for cultivation to support our ever growing population.
http://azfoo.net/places/sky/17May2004/14_DesertFarmlands.jpg
Danni 11:40 pm on February 9, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
My initial feeling of this picture is confused. The confusion originates from the aesthetically pleasing about the ordering of the fields. The bird’s eye view lead us to a different angle of observing the ordering of the field. These remind us how much we got from land, although it always remain silent. The quote definitely help us rebuild our view of field, in regard to how human efforts change our land, including “extracting nutrient” from it.
midara 12:03 am on February 10, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
My initial reactions to the picture was positive because I think it is systematic and well managed. The ordering of fields is aesthetically pleasing to me because the crops seem to be very arranged and planted. My another thought about the photo is that planting crops in such a way will save much time from separating crops (i.e. if the farmers are planting corns and beans together, they may have to harvest the crops differently or harvest them at the same time and spend more time to separate corns from beans). The bird’s eye view shape our interpretation of what we see in the photo because the representation of orderness and systematical harvests implies good harvest, hygiene, high production, and hence we will enerally have a positive initial reaction.
Shiva’s quote definitely affects the way how I look at the photo because she points up that the more orderly the crops is arranged, the worse is they bringing to the environment. I still like how the photo looks, but I start to think if the beautiful view is actually doing good to the environment or not.
tsung 1:33 am on February 10, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
My initial reaction was “wow” however, it brought up memories of when I looked out the plane window and saw the neatly organized plots. Just as we say we cannot judge a book by its cover, we cannot judge a field by its looks. Although it may be easy on the eyes, there is nothing pleasing about the ordering the fields. It may look neat and vibrant from above, however, if we zoom in and look at the soil and what’s below the crops, we might find horrific things. Shiva’s quote reflected the bureaucratic nature of today’s society and by doing so, it is interesting to note that even agriculture cannot escape the authoritarian structures of our society. We still treat land as commodities and further alienate ourselves from nature.
kimzzzy 7:27 am on February 10, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
I definetely see a lot of order in this photo. It amazes me how straight the lines in the fields are. Initially, I find it very interesting because it looks like some abstract art work. However, after drawing the connection between this photo and Shiva’s ideas I realize how wrong this photo is because of how unnatural the landscape is. The bird’s eye view helps us see this situation from a further perspective because it may be more difficult to spot the problem from ground level.
jlin 10:16 am on February 11, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
My initial reaction to the picture was amazement. I mean, I can’t deny that the human capability to create, modify and experiment simply stirs a sense of wonder and respect in me. That being said, right when you click on “next” the caption reveals how silent nature can be. This is probably because we try to mask nature and nature’s dynamics…who can see that all the environmentally degrading forces are at work beyond the neatly controlled field? We often try to have a birds eye view on nature, standing back and trying to interpret the scene, identify some kind of problem, formulate solutions and then through trial and error find the best solution. However, this approach may be wrong. Instead, perhaps we should try to get into the complexity of nature. Appreciate its dynamics and fluxes. It may be messy, it may not be aesthetically pleasing (like this picture is to me) and thus it may not give us a sense that we are in control and we have power. But then again, isn’t that the reality we should remind ourselves of?
nytsuen 1:07 am on February 12, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
I thought to myself, “Wow, this is a piece of art.” It almost looks like a painting but in reality, it is not. Therefore, it is really impressive and fascinating that such beautiful agriculture exists. When we look at things from the bird’s eye view we are looking at something in the bigger picture. Often, we miss all the nitty gritty things, and all the back scene things that go on when looking at a “big picture.” This can be applied to our agriculture. When you look at this photo, the fields are beautiful and looks healthy but who knows what’s happening under those plants. The soil is probably degrading from extensive planting and pesticides. In the end, even our nature is being controlled and modified to benefit humans.
yitailiu 2:20 pm on February 13, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
This image appears to me first as a piece of abstract art, there is something creative in an orderly sense, and I do appreciate this aesthetic image. When I read Shiva’s quote and looked again at the bird’s eye view picture, I realize how much “control” was placed in this field for it to be orderly, both ecologically and politically. This sense of order now turns into a feeling of forced constraint, and I noticed how far this constraint extends to.
phoebe 3:44 am on February 14, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
My initial reaction to this picture was that it was beautiful. The purple and the yellow really stood out from the green and the neat orderly lines and symmetry felt tidy and organized. After reading Shiva’s quote, I realized that this was the monoculture she was referring to and how difficult it can be to get people to change their mindset. While it is true that ecologically it would be better to plant more diverse seeds, it would probably be much easier and efficient to plant in tidy rows and all alike seeds together. Thus any weak plants or weeds would be more easily sorted out and dealt with.
congo96 7:02 pm on February 29, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
I had a positive reaction the different shades of green and colour and the orderliness of it was pleasing. Probably because we live in a culture that values order and cleanliness. Organization is synonymous with effectiveness in our society so representing nature as orderly is appealing to us you. Shiva’s quote does change my perspective however. It reminds me that that orderliness reflects human’s need to command and control and the sometimes devastating consequences that has had in history and on people and the environment.
eddietastic 3:41 pm on March 5, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
my first reaction to the picture was one of efficiency that they were trying to maximize the space that they had. The vibrant colours were very beautiful however after reading shiva’s quote because it really expressed the need for humans to go out in the world and make sure everything is the way they want it no matter what the cost. I believe that this is not a very environmentally friendly way of doing things .