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ExplainWhat is slow looking?
Slow looking at art means taking your time to really look at and appreciate a painting. It's like when you look at a flower up close and notice every detail – colors, shape, and smell. When we slow look at paintings of nature, we can imagine ourselves in the scene and feel as if we were really there. This helps us love and enjoy nature more.
We can also make our own art by collecting things like leaves, sticks, and rocks and using them to make a picture. It's a fun way to be creative and feel connected to nature. Look at the pictures below to get some ideas!
The art of slow-looking
Nature is not only all that is visible... it also includes the inner pictures of the soul.
Edward Munch, Norwegian painter
How trees talk to each other!
Did you know that some trees talk to each other in the forest? They do it using underground networks of mushrooms and fungi. These networks allow the trees to share nutrients and even warn each other of danger, for example when pine beetles attack them. It's as if the trees have their own secret language!
A source of oxygen
Producing large amounts of palm oil and other foods on farms is causing deforestation, a big problem in many parts of the world. Many trees and plants are being cut down to make room for farms, and it's hurting our planet, because fewer trees produce less oxygen.
Forests host 80% of life
Forests are special places on Earth where a wide variety of plants and animals live. In fact, more than 80% of the many different types of plants and animals on land can be found in forests! Did you know that more than half of these creatures are insects, like beetles?
What is a légumiste?
Légume means vegetable in French. In the 1700s and 1800s, those who ate a plant-based diet were known as légumistes. Today we call them “vegans” or “vegetarians.” Famous légumistes include Mary Shelley, Voltaire, and Élisée Reclus. Légumistes is also the title of a series of artworks about plants and ecosystems by the French artist duo Lamarche-Ovize.
Florentine and Alexandre Lamarche-Oviz
Florentine & Alexandre Lamarche-Ovize are French artists. They create art inspired by nature and use various materials, like drawings and ceramics, to make their pieces. They enjoy trying different art styles and techniques, and are influenced by a movement called Arts and Crafts, which began in the late 1800s. This movement still has an impact on how people make art about nature today.
EngageWant to know more?
Bibliography
LANGSAME KUNSTBEOBACHTUNG
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Berger, J., (1972). Ways of Seeing. London: BBC and Penguin Books.
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Tate Gallery: https://www.tate.org.uk/art/guide-slow-looking
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FLORENTINE UND ALEXANDRE LAMARCHE-OVIZE
Lamarche-Ovize, A. & F (2017). Inventaire (catalogue of artworks). Les presses du réel.
DIE ARTS & CRAFTS MOVEMENT
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Triggs, O. L. (2012). Arts & crafts movement. New York: Parkstone International.
Wilhide, E. (2005). William Morris and the Arts and Crafts Movement. Thames & Hudson.
NATURBEOBACHTUNG
Carson, R. (1956). The Sense of Wonder. Harper & Row.
Grandin, T., & Johnson, C. (2020). The Outdoor Scientist: The Wonder of Observing the Natural World. Weldon Owen. Kimmerer, R. W. (2013). Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teaching of Plants. Milkweed Editions.
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Engel, M. S., & Baione, T. (2018). Natural histories innumerable insects: the story of the most diverse and myriad animals on earth. New York: Sterling.
Jenkins, S. (2012). The Beetle Book. Houghton Mifflin.
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Murawski, D., & Honovich, N. (2016). The Ultimate Bugopedia: The Most Complete Bug Reference Ever. National Geographic Kids.
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Resh, V. H., & Carde, R. T. (2009). Encyclopedia of Insects. San Diego: Elsevier Science. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-374144-8.X0001-X Weaver, A. H., & Lawrence, G. (2007). The voyage of the beetle: a journey around the world with Charles Darwin and the search for the solution to the mystery of mysteries, as narrated by Rosie, an articulate beetle. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press.
Copyright and licenses
Images in the game
Dragonfly: Story by Charles Kingsley, illustrations by Warwick Goble, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Lady beetle: Dimatrofimchuk, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Mountain pine beetle: Commissioners of Fisheries, Game and Forests, No restrictions, via Wikimedia Commons
Grey heron: Hamonville, Jean Charles Louis Tardif, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Great white egret: Illustration from John-James Audubon’s book “Birds of America”(1840). Internet Archive Book Images, No restrictions, via Wikimedia Commons Earthworm: Mary E. C. Boutell, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
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