The Beauty of Environment: A General Model for Environmental Aesthetics Page: 69
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Events. The environment as an aesthetic object is not only static; it is also dynamic. The objects of
examination are not only objects but also series of events and states of change of objects (growth,
development, death). Such are:
1) the regular variations and processes of the environment: the times of the day and the year;
dark -light; warm - cold; wet - dry.
2) the events of the environment: the natural development and life of animals and plants; the
activity of animals (hunting, nesting, etc.); the activity of Man. Man sees and makes 'stories', he
unites the elements to form a series. The models and schemes of narration influence this; relations
of cause and effects are obtained according to a dominant explanatory model.
Very often comparisons with art are used when speaking of the events of the environment: a
drama (the cycle of the seasons; tragedies in nature), music (the song of birds), film, dance.
For example, nature films present the nesting, care of the young, hunting of animals, and the
processes of nature as drama-like series of events. The activity of animals is seen to be motivated
like that of Man. (Such is a film by A. Karvonen of the state of equilibrium between the wolf and the
elk: The general situation is presented through individual cases; the wolves find a lone elk, they are
able to wound it, they wait for it to weaken, then they attack, a 'love story' of two wolves runs
parallel to this; the narration links the events all the time to the general level, to the life of the
species.) The depictions of nature in literature are very much the depiction of natural events. What
is aesthetic examination then? - the search for tragic and comic features, the search for excitement
and romance, etc. In the cultural environment such events as a building becoming ruined, or even a
whole town being deserted (for example Dawson City and so-called ghost towns), also belong to
this.
Some of even the clearly observable changes are combinations of so many factors that their
prediction is inaccurate and impossible: variations in temperature, wind force, dry spells and rain.
Complete similarity at different times is impossible in the environment. The change itself is
aesthetically significant; even knowledge of coming changes may arouse aesthetic pleasure:
We are immersed in nature like in an ocean but, at the same time, due to the limitation of our field of
vision, nature is always opposite us. It does not allow to be grasped wholly at one stroke, while
unveiling one of its visage, it veils another. Neither the kind of objects in the world nor their actual
arrangement depend on us (we cannot interfere as long as our attitude is purely aesthetic). All we can
do is to choose a place to contemplate them, sometimes we wait for some changes (e.g. a sunset).
[Makota 1976: 35:]
Is there a parallel relationship between a work of art and an ecosystem? Both are articulated
totalities, but the environment has the character of a process, the work of art is static. In both, the
place of a part in the creation of a totality is sought. A work of art forms a closed system, but the
environment receives influences all the time. Art is opennonly as a system, as a phenomenon, in
such a way that individual new works of art can always be added.
Works of art have their own history that is reminiscent of natural history. They are thus the
results of intentional activity, usually the work of an artist; but in some cases they have arisen
through his choice or changes in communal use. An intention only means that attention must be
paid to the fact that something has been made or classified as a work of art; not that the history of
the creation and development of the work of art, the theoretical frame of reference, etc. should be
brought into the interpretation. (See Beardsley 1983: 22-23; on genetic history see Frohlich 1968.]
In the case of nature, matters are otherwise. It is not possible to draw a boundary at the point at
which the object and its history of development begins. The history of its formation then also
belongs to the aesthetic analysis of the object. Natural objects exist in time, and they have this
temporal dimension, a development history. This also means that the object can never be perceived
in its entirety, for the temporal process continues into the future, until some l*iman act or natural69
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Sepänmaa, Yrjö. The Beauty of Environment: A General Model for Environmental Aesthetics, book, 1993; Denton, Texas. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc52173/m1/87/: accessed April 23, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; crediting UNT Center For Environmental Philosophy.