The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Arts
6 — Wednesday, February 10, 2021 

Like 
many 
conservationists, 

Enric Sala loved our world before 
he thought about saving it. “I loved 
the natural world before I could 
understand it. In fact, I was interested 
in understanding it because I loved it,” 
Sala writes in his book, “The Nature 
of Nature: Why We Need the Wild.”

Sala is a scientist, conservationist 

and National Geographic explorer-
in-residence. Formerlyw a university 
professor who became tired of 
“writing the obituary of ocean life,” 
Sala founded National Geographic 
Pristine Seas, a project that explores 
the wildest seas on our planet to 
convince national leaders to protect 
these biodiversity hotspots. “The 
Nature of Nature” is a compilation of 
Sala’s experiences in a lengthy career 
of protecting marine areas in an effort 
to save our planet. 

“The Nature of Nature” is perfect 

for anyone who feels a pull to our 
Earth but struggles to understand its 
complexities. Sala’s goal is to give us 
a comprehensive understanding of 
ecology and the entangled relationships 
that make up our world. The initial 
chapters are a crash course in ecology: 
Readers 
learn 
about 
ecological 

succession, predator-prey relationships, 
keystone species. For those already 
familiar with ecology, the first half of 
the novel is a little dull. However, if 
ecology isn’t your forte, these chapters 
are succinct and valuable. 

But it’s worth pushing through 

these initial chapters to arrive at 
the heart of Sala’s argument. In it, 
he examines the intersection of the 
Anthropocene and the environment 
to make a compelling case to preserve 
the last wild areas on our planet for the 
benefit of all species — including us. 
There is both an economic imperative 

and moral responsibility to do so. 

A scientist by training, Sala uses 

multiple lines of argument to arrive at 
this conclusion.

***
The Historical Imperative: Our 

current attitudes toward the Earth 
are shaped by the actions of our past. 
Since the industrial era, the Western 
world has had a one-way relationship 
with the Earth — taking and giving 
little in return. “The energy we extract 
from the natural world around us 
flows in one direction: toward us and 
our built environment,” Sala writes. 
This approach is the exact opposite 
of what many indigenous groups 
around the world employ. Living in 
harmony with the Earth requires 
respect and gratitude — nurturing in 
return for taking. 

Sala powerfully shows us that 

humans are different from other 
species for one novel reason (hint: it’s 
not our superior intellect). We take 
advantage of the ancient compounded, 
dead layers of our Earth by mining 
for fossil fuels. “We use energy from 
the past to subsidize our looting of the 
present,” Sala writes. 

This approach is as unconscionable 

as it is unsustainable. Areas of the 
world that haven’t been damaged 
by extraction are more biodiverse 
with secure boundaries against the 
industrial 
world. 
Most 
zoonotic 

viruses, 
viral 
agents 
that 
are 

transmitted 
from 
a 
non-human 

animal to a human, including COVID-
19, have roots in disturbing ecosystem 
boundaries. 

The Economic Imperative: Many 

believe that countering the damage 
we’ve done to our planet would cost an 
exorbitant amount. Sala reveals that it 
does, but only in the short term. “The 
long-term benefits of restoring our 
degraded ecosystems and protecting 
the wild left on our planet far exceed 
the short-term benefits under a status 

quo that continues to destroy our 
natural world,” Sala writes.

Sala’s life-work involves convincing 

world leaders that natural areas 
are worth protecting. This means 
keeping forests free of deforestation 
and marine reserves free of fishing. 
The cost of doing so pays off in the 
long-run: Protecting marine reserves 
increases local biodiversity that spills 
over to nearby waters where fishing is 
permitted, giving fisheries an economic 
boom. Sala’s unique work gives 
readers a valuable vantage point on the 
economic benefits of conservation. 

The Moral Imperative: As a 

species on the top of the food chain, 
Sala argues humans have a moral 
responsibility to care for the Earth. 
“The planetary ethic moves humans 
away from a self-proclaimed center 
of the world and into a humble and 
respectful membership in the greater 
biosphere. It moves us from a position 
over the natural world to a place 
within it,” Sala says. This shift in 
perspective is a critical step to begin 
to care for our planet. 

Sala’s compelling message has 

been echoed by conservationists and 
indigenous groups alike. Indigenous 
peoples around the world are fighting 
to grant personhood to what the 
Western world considers “non-
living,” such as lakes, mountains 
and coral reefs. Maori tribes in New 
Zealand have succeeded in giving 
the Whanganui River the same rights 
as a person, recognizing its sacred 
character and the consequences if it’s 
polluted or destroyed. 

“It is essential for our future 

that 
humans 
experience 
that 

transcendent overview effect and 
begin to treat the biosphere like a 
living thing instead of something to 
ignore or abuse,” Sala writes.

puzzle by sudokusnydictation.com

By Catherine Cetta
©2021 Tribune Content Agency, LLC
02/10/21

Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle

Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis

02/10/21

ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE:

Release Date: Wednesday, February 10, 2021

ACROSS

1 Not imagined
5 On
9 Arthur of tennis

13 Country quarters
14 Be behind
15 Skier’s need, 

maybe

16 Arose to catch 

the proverbial 
worm

18 President’s Day 

event

19 Ivy League 

student 

20 Dynamic prefix
21 Sushi bar brews
22 Ristorante 

favorite

24 “Holy smokes!”
26 Award won twice 

by Adele and 
Kelly Clarkson

30 Monks’ wear
33 Total drubbing
34 Flatow of 

“Science Friday”

35 Opposite of home
36 Dozen dozen
38 Craftsy etailer
39 Tiny, for short
40 “Not long”
41 Guilty and not 

guilty

42 Philanthropist 

who was a Time 
Person of the 
Year co-honoree 
in 2005

46 Spectrum maker
47 Comment after a 

missed shot

51 Characteristic
53 Shred
54 Tint
55 “I didn’t mean to 

do that”

56 Relatively 

unknown quality 
items ... and what 
can be found 
in 16-, 26- and 
42-Across

59 Unmitigated joy
60 Seller, usually
61 Its symbol is Fe
62 Some cameras, 

for short

63 Amorously 

pursues

64 Fiddling emperor

DOWN

1 Orion’s left foot, 

some say

2 __ Gay
3 Naysayers
4 Pelican State 

sch.

5 Biblical mount
6 Tropical root 

vegetable

7 Squeaky-wheel 

need

8 Tissue layer
9 Attack

10 Hazard in many 

old Westerns

11 Opening
12 Lambs’ moms
14 New drivers, 

typically

17 Novel units
21 Whack at a 

mosquito

23 With skill
24 Family outing 

destinations

25 Numbered piece
27 Outlet insert
28 Celestial bear
29 First Black MLB 

team captain, 
1964

30 Not nervous
31 Something 

Mommy needs to 
kiss?

32 Computer screen 

background

36 Odin and Thor
37 Wander
38 “Need 

anything __?”

40 Sulky state
41 Pie nut
43 Flowery van 

Gogh work

44 Battery 

terminals

45 Solution 

strength 
measure

48 “Over __!”

49 Something from 

a mill?

50 Type of survey 

question

51 Duds
52 Dinner table 

staple

53 License plate 

fig.

56 “__ come?”
57 Iconic WWII 

island, briefly

58 Winning game 

cry

SUDOKU


“Love Notes, 
baby!”

“Snow!”

02/04/21

ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE:

13 Filmmaker with a 

s __ the other”

32 Bridal shop array
37 Source of some 

WHISPER

Taubman-sponsored event 

highlights feminist architecture 

collab that reminds us why we work

Feminist thought is pervasive in 

American culture today, but rarely 
has it been considered in reference 
to the rarified field of architecture. 
Feminist architecture collaborative 
“f-architecture” 
visited 
Taubman 

College 
virtually 
on 
Tuesday 

evening to speak on how their 
practice 
challenges 
architecture’s 

historical allegiances to capital — or, 
in other words, the imperialist, white 
supremacist, capitalist patriarchy.

The presentation began in a 

digitally-rendered 
girl’s 
bedroom 

with greek columns acting as bed 
stands and a poster of Princess Nokia 
on the wall. The three women — 
Virginia Black, Gabrielle Printz and 
Rosana Elkhatib — cozied up in bed 
together, or rather, photoshopped 
together. The bedroom — a place of 
“primordial teenage rebellion” — was 
a fitting space to introduce the forces 
driving the collaborative’s practice. 
Though they were about to introduce 
projects that tackled subjects ranging 
from Native land rights in Ecuador to 
the artificial production of virginity 
in Lebanon, these politicized issues 
were inextricably personal as well.

One of their earliest projects took 

form in October 2016 at the United 
Nations Habitat III Conference in 
Quito, 
Ecuador. 
The 
conference 

worked to implement the U.N.’s 
“New Urban Agenda,” and while it 
claimed to seek representation from 
underrepresented voices in the region, 
a single booth cost $4,000 USD. For 
the Amazonian Kichwa midwives of 
AMUPAKIN, a self-organized birthing 
center providing traditional plant-
based medical care in Archidona, the 
conference was inaccessible. 

So where does design come into this? 

F-architecture submitted a publication 

to Habitat III’s “urban library” that 
considered how the U.N. could break 
from its extractionist mindset to 
incorporate “lesser known languages, 
other socialities, convivialities, semiotic 
registers, 
and 
ritual 
engagement 

with the non-human … as a basis for 
other sustainable futures and more 
sustainable pasts.”

Black then explained how they 

also fundraised to sponsor the 
members of AMUPAKIN to attend 
the conference and arranged several 
locations in Quito at which they 
could sell their wares to benefit the 
birthing center. At this point in the 
presentation, it was clear that not only 
was no one paying f-architecture, 
f-architecture was, in fact, sometimes 
paying their clients. 

So how do they practice out of 

New York City? At the start of the 
presentation, Elkhatib acknowledged 
the privileges granted to them by 
their 
degrees, 
connections 
and 

“physical ability to hustle.” Coming 
out of school at Columbia University, 
they established an “air of legitimacy” 
by renting out desk space at New 
Inc, The New Museum’s incubator 
space 
dedicated 
to 
supporting 

innovative practices in art, design and 
technology, for just $200 a month.

The last project they presented 

examined the spatial politics of 
hymen reconstructive surgery clinics 
in Beirut, Lebanon. In other words, 
they wanted to know what role the 
space of the clinics themselves played 
in reinforcing virginity culture and 
the ideal body in the country.

For 
VI 
PER 
Gallery 
in 

Prague, 
f-architecture 
physically 

reconstructed the spaces of the 
surgery clinics using observations 
collected 
from 
fieldwork 
in 

Lebanon the year prior. Presenting 
this, the three women were now 
photoshopped riding a digitally-
animated train car. A pair of hands 

entered the foreground to hold a sheet 
of paper that formed the background 
for the images of the installation they 
were about to show. 

The first image they presented 

was a photo of their reconstructed 
waiting room. Describing its effect, 
they explained that upon entering, 
you’re greeted with a womanly scent 
and a sink at which to apply some of 
the sweet odor. Lebanese Fashion TV 
plays in the background.

Then, the second image shows the 

reconstructed self-examination room. 
An inflatable plastic cushion sits in 
front of a curved mirror and suggests 
its usage. Gallery-goers would put on 
a VR headset while reclined on the 
cushion to enter a simulation of the 
operating room. A male doctor’s voice 
says ominous things while the tools of 
operation float overhead. 

The third and final space is 

a boutique hotel room space for 
recovery. The sheets are bubble 
wrap and pop after one usage. This 
last room — and the others too, for 
that matter — are not some twisted 
conceptions of f-architecture. They 
are rather a critical representation 
of the real clinics of Dr. Nader Saab 
in Beirut, clinics that reinforce the 
construction of virginity and bodily 
transformation under the guise of 
luxury and class. 

Armed with a sensitivity for the 

way space reinforces these existing 
power 
structures, 
f-architecture 

framed these clinics in a light surely 
no one had before. Although this all 
seems like more of an installation 
artist’s work than an architect’s, 
architectural 
education 
today 

engrains an apprehensive mindset 
in students. In an age of impending 
ecological disaster, what design really 
justifies its environmental cost?

BEN VASSAR
Daily Arts Writer

Artist Profile: ComCo 

proves that COVID 
hasn’t killed comedy

‘The Nature of Nature’ shows us 

that ecological conservation makes 

economic and moral sense

Before 
the 
pandemic, 
The 

Comedy Company, better known 
as ‘ComCo,’ would pack the Angell 
Hall Auditorium for improv comedy 
performances. Their most dedicated 
fans would sit cross-legged on the 
floor, right before the elevated stage. 

LSA junior Finn Maloney likened 

ComCo shows to hanging out in a 
friend’s basement — just with over 
200 friends. 

Now, amid COVID-19 restrictions, 

the University of Michigan’s oldest 
improv group is shifting their live 
comedy to virtual platforms. Even fall 
auditions were switched to Zoom. 

Despite a lack of announcements 

and publicity during activities like 
Festifall and Northfest, ComCo 
still watched fifty auditions. Unlike 
improvising live, hopefuls auditioned 
from their bedrooms. 

“It was really interesting as people 

were, like, picking up stuff around the 
room and, like, hiding under blankets. 
That was just really fun, but not what 
we were looking for. And so we had 
to specify that you’re, like, in a room 
with lighting so we can see you and 
make sure you have your audio on,” 
School of Music, Theatre & Dance 
senior Ansleigh Hamilton said. 

Hamilton auditioned and joined 

ComCo her sophomore year after 
walking around Festifall. Recalling 
her all-denim ensemble, Hamilton 
describes walking up to the ComCo 
table as a “Hollywood magic moment” 
when ComCo member Archie Magnus 
pointed at her in the crowd. 

Like 
Maloney, 
Hamilton 

reminisces about the live shows of 
the pre-COVID era, missing feeding 
off the audience’s energy, even while 
underneath bright stage lights, the 
performers growing more and more 
sweaty with every scene. 

“We’re 
not 
just 
performers 

together. We’re friends, and that 
was part of what made it so strong,” 
Hamilton said. 

Founded in 1979, ComCo has 

developed traditions over the years, 
including the annual Ross show held 
in February. This ComCo staple was 
moved into video form and released 
on YouTube in December. Maloney 
describes the show as “a gift to (Ross 
seniors) who are about to graduate.” 

“We come in, and we all wear 

suits, and we’re, like, ‘oh, stocks and 
shit, I love that stuff.’ It’s never mean-
spirited, and usually, everybody’s in 
on the joke,” Maloney said.

Filmed socially-distanced outside 

the Ross School of Business, ComCo 
members donned their blazers, power 
suits and AirPods for their Ross-
inspired satire. Hamilton’s pug also 
made an appearance as a Ross alum. 

“There’s 
definitely 
an 
ironic 

distance between our performance 
and what we actually believe of Ross,” 
Maloney said. 

Maloney described the scaffolding 

of their normal in-person shows as 
rehearsed, like knowing which game 
is happening. At ComCo, games 
are the improv moments when the 
performers and audience are engaged. 

“Once the actual improv starts, it 

is completely improvised all the time, 
always,” Maloney said. 

About ten ComCo members filmed 

the Ross video in-person and socially 
distanced, while members outside of 
Ann Arbor had clips inserted. 

Both Maloney and Hamilton 

described members working on 
aspects of a video or performance 
that cater to their strengths, whether 
that be writing jokes, creating musical 
numbers or videography. 

Though live performances in 

crowded spaces are not currently 
safe, ComCo has found a way to 
keep the laughs coming. Two-hour 
rehearsals continue twice a week. 
Virtual hang-outs help build group 
chemistry, allowing members to 
replicate that energy in video and 
Zoom performances. Maloney found 
that hanging out, whether on Friday 
nights or sober practices, forges bonds 
vital to the group’s flow on stage. 

ComCo tried a trial Zoom show 

in the fall semester. Hamilton also 
hopes the annual year-end showcase, 
traditionally held at the Mendelssohn 
Theatre, can be made virtual this 
semester.

“I felt so welcomed when I was 

first in ComCo because they’d say, 
‘we’re gonna go to a party tonight’ or 
‘I’m grabbing brunch. You’re coming.’ 
This year, we can’t even hang out with 
our newbies and really get to know 
them,” Hamilton said. 

TRINA PAL 

Daily Arts Writer

NINA MOLINA 
Daily Arts Writer

Read more at 
MichiganDaily.com

Read more at 
MichiganDaily.com

Read more at 
MichiganDaily.com

