LANDSCAPE & MEMORY: THE UNTAPPED POWER OF ARTISTS’ BOOKS TO EFFECT SOCIAL CHANGE Camden M. Richards Submitted in partial fulfi llment of the requirements for the degree Master of Arts Art and the Book Program Corcoran College of Art + Design Washington, DC Spring 2011 © 2011 Camden Marie Richards All Rights Reserved ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This thesis would not have been possible without the guidance and help of several individuals who in one way or another contributed their valuable assistance. Thanks to my thesis committee at the Corcoran College of Art + Design for their guidance in the writ- ing of this paper and in the development of my accompanying studio work: Professor Georgia Deal; Thesis Coordinator Sarah Noreen Hurtt; Assistant Professor and Director of the Art and the Book program, Kerry McAleer Keeler; and Assistant Professor Casey Smith. I would also like to express extreme gratitude to Kerry McAleer Keeler for introducing me to the world of book arts, long before the Art and the Book graduate program even existed, and for her hard work in making so many wonderful opportunities available to us. Special thanks to my parents for introducing the world of the Eastern Sierra to me as a child: to my dad for teaching me to appreciate the silence of the wide open spaces, to my mom for teaching me the patience to do so, and to my sisters for being a part of so many wonderful memories. Sincere thanks to Mandy for convincing my parents to join her up at the lake nearly 30 years ago, and for her invitations every summer since. Thanks to the book artists examined in this study, who use their art in support of protecting the environments they care deeply about, and for being accommodating to my queries about their work and inspirations. Thanks also to my fellow classmates and artists who were always open to brainstorming when I needed help. Finally, thanks to my husband for his unwavering support of me and of this project, and to my son for inspiring me to continue advocating for the protection of undeveloped open spaces so that one day he might enjoy them as I have. ii EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Thesis Statement: An exploration of the relationship between nature, memory and personal experience, and that relationship’s role in environmental preservation, through the medium of artists’ books as a vehicle for social change. This thesis analyzes the symbiotic relationship between natural landscape and memory, explores the role that it can play in environmental preservation through the vehicle of artists’ books, investigates the power of artists’ books to effect environmental change and chronicles how that power is currently untapped. These various themes are covered in four chapters. The fi rst chapter addresses the environmental movement and the landscapes that are disappearing quickly around us. Within this chapter there are sections on the history of the environmental movement, a sum- mary of the state of the environment/current environmental issues, and a specifi c exploration of the Eastern Sierra region. The second chapter explores the relationship between individual and collective memory and land, and includes sections on man’s relationship with nature, the symbiotic relationship between memory and landscape, the role of environmental and memory preservation, and the ultimate importance of the role of individual/collective memory in environmental preservation. The third chapter considers the way that memory is used in environmental/nature writing to effect change. This chapter contains sections on nature and environmental writing, memory as a method of conveying landscape in writing, and environ- mental writing with illustrations as a method of preserving the land (and thus memory). To illustrate these ideas, the chapter contains a study of three environmental writers using memory and illustration: John Muir, Mary Austin and Gary Snyder. The chapter concludes with an analysis of the effectiveness of environmental writing/illustration to effect change by preserving the land. Chapter Four addresses the role of memory as used in environmental/nature artists’ books in order to effect positive environmental change. Within this chapter, there are sections on the artist’s book as a medium, the differences between environmental/nature writing with illustrations and the artist’s book, and an exploration of different ways in which environmental artists’ books can effect change: advocacy, activism, documentation/observation, and use of materials. The chapter also includes an exploration of why artists’ books are the perfect medium to effect environmental change; and consideration of how artists’ books are currently an untapped resource in doing so. The thesis concludes with suggestions about why this is, what we can do to change this situation, and a call to action to book artists to endeavor to more actively utilize the power of visual/experiential storytelling through artists’ books as a vehicle and catalyst for effecting environmental change. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction - An exploration of the relationship between nature, memory and personal experience, 1 and that relationship’s role in environmental preservation, through the medium of artists’ books as a vehicle for social change. Section 1 - Overview of artists’ books and environmental movement; relationships Section 2 - Overview of artists’ books as vehicles for change; currently untapped resource Section 3 - Thesis Chapter 1 - The environmental movement & landscapes that must not be forgotten 3 Section 1 - History of the environmental movement Section 2 - Current environmental issues Section 3 - The Eastern Sierra region Chapter 2 - The relationship between individual/collective memory & the land 8 Section 1 - The Individual’s relationship with nature Section 2 - Symbiotic relationship between memory and landscape Section 3 - Importance of environmental and memory preservation; the role of individual/collective memory in environmental preservation Chapter 3 - Memory as used in environmental/nature writing to effect change 11 Section 1 - Nature/environmental writing; using memory to convey landscape in writing; environmental writing with illustrations as method of preserving land Section 2 -Three nature writers using memory & illustration: Muir, Snyder, Austin Section 3 - Effectiveness of writing/illustration to effect change/preserve land Chapter 4 - Memory as used in environmental/nature-related artists’ books to effect change 24 Section 1 - The artist’s book; differences between environmental/nature writing with illustration and the artist’s book Section 2 - The artist’s book use of memory/landscape as more powerful to effect change Section 3 - Different ways in which environmental artists’ books can effect change Conclusion - Artists’ books as perfect, but untapped, medium to effect environmental change 34 Section 1 - Why artists’ books are the perfect medium to effect environmental change Section 2 - How artists’ books are currently an untapped resource in effecting change Section 3 - Call to action to book artists to harness power of visual storytelling to effect environmental change End Notes 40 Bibliography 51 iv Richards 1 INTRODUCTION AN EXPLORATION OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN NATURE, MEMORY & PERSONAL EXPERIENCE, AND THAT RELATIONSHIP’S ROLE IN ENVIRONMENTAL PRESERVATION, THROUGH THE MEDIUM OF ARTISTS’ BOOKS AS A VEHICLE FOR SOCIAL CHANGE. “The more clearly we can focus our attention on the wonders and realities of the universe about us, the less taste we shall have for destruction.” -Rachel Carson Art can be an extremely powerful way to inspire positive social reform. In particular, an artist’s book, which “requires touch to unlock its evocative ‘otherness,’ ” is capable of doing so best on an intimate level, because as an art medium, it “cohere[s] into a work that is set in motion with a reader’s touch.”1 Furthermore, every single artist’s book, just as with any piece of art, plays a part in the growth of the individual who experi- ences it. While the connection is made on a more private and intimate level with artists’ books because of their haptic qualities, traditional art infl uences are initiated in a more public and outward manner. In this sense, the method in which an artist’s book effects positive change is similar to the butterfl y effect, a con- cept introduced by American mathematician, meteorologist and pioneer of chaos theory Edward Lorenz, where a minute variation in a dynamic system can eventually result in a sizable variation in the long term structure of the system. This can be the same with artists’ books; they can instigate change, no matter how big or small. Artists’ books about nature and landscape in particular are the perfect catalysts for environmen- tal change, and yet represent an untapped resource in the fi ght to preserve our environment. According to Johanna Drucker, artists’ books “really did not exist in their current form before the 20th century.”2 More specifi cally, many of the institutions devoted specifi cally to the study, making and collecting of artists books were launched in the second half of the 20th century. Among others, this included Franklin Furnace, The Center for Book Arts, New York, Printed Matter, Minnesota Center for Book Arts and the San Francisco Center for the Book. Interestingly enough, the environmental movement developed along a parallel timeline. While there were many environmental activists and conservationists working in America during the 19th and early 20th century, such as John Muir, Teddy Roosevelt, and those who formed the National Park Service and the Wilderness society, effectually planting the seeds for the movement to come, it wasn’t until the mid 20th century when the movement took hold. And once it did, it was a productive time in terms of the founding of non profi t and government organizations dedicated to environmental pro- tection (Sierra Club and the Environmental Protection Agency, for example) as well as governmental regu- lations instituted to protect the environment (Wilderness Act, National Environmental Policy Act, Clean Air Act, Water Pollution Control Act, Endangered Species Act passed, Alaska National Interest Lands Conserva- tion Act, to name a few).