“Communication is nothing more than the exchange of information. Hence, at its broadest sense, environmental communication is necessary for the survival of every living system, be it an organism, an ecosystem, or a social system.”
-Alexander G. Flo (Environmental Communication, 2004)
The interdisciplinary field of environmental humanities weaves together research from the natural, applied, and social sciences with storytelling, art, creativity, and community building. It values indigenous ways of knowing as well as non-human perspectives.
And No Birds Sing
This 6” by 8” oil and acrylic painting by Arianna Mengel is a response to Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring.
Arianna explains she was particularly moved by the anecdote described in Chapter 8 “And No Birds Sing” of the robin mother who “diligently incubated her eggs for double the normal amount of time, in the vain hope that they would hatch.”
In terms of the painting’s formal elements, Arianna says, “The black is able to dominate the empty space and convey a deep feeling of loss and silence in response to the death of the robin. Playing more along with the unpredicted results that DDT sprayings had on the ecosystem, I painted the landscape brightly, making it look healthy and flourishing. However, I made sure to include no living animals or insects, leaving the grass, trees, and creeks devoid of life, emphasizing the vast loss of life that was paid in order to attempt to ‘eradicate’ insects.”