Nature and Art: A Christmas Plea for Cities

I wrote an urbanist Christmas wish list last week for Fast Forward Weekly. I figured I'd elaborate on one of my wishes for weedy nature and public art: disturbance oriented art.

3 minute read

December 14, 2014, 1:00 PM PST

By Steven Snell @Stevenpsnell


I cobbled together a 2014 Christmas wish list for the Fast Forward Weekly newspaper last week. I listed many wishes: an active citizenry, affordable housing, a conservation ethic. I thought here I’d elaborate on one of my more cerebral wishes: art. In a column titled "A holiday wish list: forget toys, asks for urbanism" I wrote:

Allow for more art. More public art, more street art, more building art, more pop-up-wherever art, more colour, more creative expression manifested on the grey stuff, the concrete stuff and over billboards (a nod to artist Banksy and activist Edward Abbey here). Not commissioned per se, just artistic expression in general. Bring on the artists; “tagging” is not art.

I figured I’d use a recent trip to Mexico City and its exurbs to elaborate on that wish. Below I provided a visual record of public art, or at least my kind of public art—nature and art. Nature is the assemblage of the physical world that is not human or human creation. Art is the expression of human creation in nature. It’s a good coupling.

Botanist Peter Del Tredici (2014) is considered a pioneer for his work on “spontaneous vegetation found in cities.” He chronicles the rarely appreciated plant species common to most cities, those we consider “weeds.” For the purist, a weed invades native species (though some native species are considered invasive and thus weedy). Del Tredici argues that the native vs. weed is counterproductive. We should look at the function of the species rather than its origin. Context is just as important as species.

Del Tredici uses “spontaneous” to describe plants that “grow without human intervention. These urban “disturbance adapted” plants can provide significant ecological function despite being native or weedy. They act as vegetative cover for soil which prevents erosion. They are wildlife habitat. They can be food. They can be beautiful.

I thought I’d try using Del Tredici’s argument here as a device to explore pubic art. My kind of public art. Art that is attached to the lived experience—art that may or may not be expressed by a human but has been aided by human creation. Art that is “disturbance adapted.” Art in architecturally left-over facades and back alleys. Art in cracks of concrete. Art that beautifies the ugly unintended consequences of building cities, the asphalt and horizontal concrete and lost spaces.

Good art removes environmental banality, or perhaps transcends it. I think there’s something both theoretical and quotidian here, the stuff of our everyday lives. I think this kind of public art is embedded in the routines of our lives, and our lives are embedded in it. Our day-to-day and the cities we build make disturbance adapted art. It is a coupling. It is something material in form and social and cultural. Finally, referencing geographer Steven Flusty (2003), I consider this kind of public art a mediator, translator, and participant in our urban formations. Disturbance adapted art could be a foundation for further critical investigation into what is urbanism, what is urbanisation.

With that, welcome to my point of entry into disturbance adapted art. I look forward to seeing where this may lead you. Connect with me on Twitter or Facebook and send me your kind of art.

Cuernavaca. Sun. Soil. Water. Done.

Cuernavaca.

Cuernavaca.

Guanajuato.

Guanajuato. Painted weeds.

San Miguel de Allende. If you run out of glass shards, use a bush; or, if you run out of bush, use glass shards.

Connect Steven on Twitter @stevenpsnell or Facebook stevenpsnell.

Sources:

Del Tredici, P. (2014). The Flora of the Future. Projective Ecologies. Reed, C and Lister, Neds. Harvard.

Flusty, S. (2003). De-coca-colonization: making the globe from the inside out. Routledge.


Steven Snell

Steven Snell has over ten years of professional urban planning experience with a focus on conservation policy. He has a master’s degree in urban design and is a novelist of How Soon We Fall From Love.

Sweeping view of Portland, Oregon with Mt. Hood in background against sunset sky.

Oregon Passes Exemption to Urban Growth Boundary

Cities have a one-time chance to acquire new land for development in a bid to increase housing supply and affordability.

March 12, 2024 - Housing Wire

Aerial view of green roofs with plants in Sydney, Australia.

Where Urban Design Is Headed in 2024

A forecast of likely trends in urban design and architecture.

March 10, 2024 - Daily Journal of Commerce

Cobblestone street with streetcar line, row of vintage streetlights on left, and colorful restaurant and shop awnings on right on River Street in Savannah, Georgia.

Savannah: A City of Planning Contrasts

From a human-scales, plaza-anchored grid to suburban sprawl, the oldest planned city in the United States has seen wildly different development patterns.

March 12, 2024 - Strong Towns

Aerial View of Chuckanut Drive and the Blanchard Bridge in the Skagit Valley.

Washington Tribes Receive Resilience Funding

The 28 grants support projects including relocation efforts as coastal communities face the growing impacts of climate change.

March 18 - The Seattle Times

Historic buildings in downtown Los Angeles with large "Pan American Lofts" sign on side of building.

Adaptive Reuse Bills Introduced in California Assembly

The legislation would expand eligibility for economic incentives and let cities loosen regulations to allow for more building conversions.

March 18 - Beverly Press

View from above of swan-shaped paddleboats with lights on around artesian fountain in Echo Park Lake with downtown Los Angeles skylien in background at twilight.

LA's Top Parks, Ranked

TimeOut just released its list of the top 26 parks in the L.A. area, which is home to some of the best green spaces around.

March 18 - TimeOut

News from HUD User

HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research

Call for Speakers

Mpact Transit + Community

New Updates on PD&R Edge

HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research

Write for Planetizen

Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools

This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.

Planning for Universal Design

Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.