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
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