The Art of Taking Notice

On Tuesday, September 25th, our Outdoor class took a break from pulling weeds and petting bees to take some time to reflect on the environment around us, that allows us to have these amazing experiences. Holly Schmidt, a visiting artist from Vancouver, started our sensory walk by going through the Arboretum, before heading deeper into the forest to a more secluded area. Our first activity was in a small clearing, where she asked us to create a graphic score of all the sounds we could hear. Once we had all gone mute, it became clear that no space is ever completely silent. We listened attentively, straining for sounds which we could represent visually, like music notes. The wind, raindrops falling from leaves, crickets, and even people coughing became apparent. Holly helped us realize that, as humans, we take up a significant amount of physical and auditory space – even when we are striving not to. No matter what, we have a presence. From our breathing to the crunching of twigs beneath our feet, we can never truly get away from the sound of ourselves.

Appreciating noise that is not from a human source and finding a new kind of silence, true silence, is something Holly emphasized. After some time, we were finally quiet enough to “hear [the] conversations of the forest” (Schmidt). Through this auditory sensory activity, we learned about the art of recording ambient sounds and deducing how certain spaces have changed. For example, a recording of a certain part of a forest can reveal how a certain species of birds are no longer prevalent there. Overall, what really made an impression on me, was that even when we consciously minimize our effect on the world around us, we still have an impact.

For our next activity, despite the rain, we walked to a flower garden to learn how to enhance our next sense: smell. My nose was stuffed up due to an unfriendly virus, so my sense of smell was somewhat hindered. Even in spite of that, I was able to detect an overwhelming aroma of lavender, rich soil, and rain. Here, Holly shared an interesting insight: We often describe smell in a very judgemental manner. “This smells lovely” or “this stinks”. I also realized that we tend to describe it in terms of taste, such as “sweet” or “delicious”. We were then tasked with venturing around and taking care to smell, with our noses at different heights above the ground to see how the scents differ. In this way, we were able to truly appreciate different aromas of nature without assigning our own prejudices. After a brief time, Holly brought us back together and we brainstormed different ‘made-up’ words that could describe supposedly “indescribable” smells.

Finally, in our last few minutes, Holly had us choose something nearby to sketch. Rather than attempting to copy it perfectly, we were asked to keep our eyes on the object, taking in all of the grooves, divots, and curves, simply letting our hand be guided by exactly what we see without glancing down at the page. We then came back together and shared some of our drawings, and I have concluded that some of my classmates are destined to be artists.

These activities went hand in hand with the readings we did previously, “Culture of Nature” by Alexander Wilson. Alexander Wilson describes how nature can be viewed as something pure and therapeutic and as humans we should exist as one with it, not as two separate entities. It can be a welcome escape from our everyday struggles, yet as a society, we do not often take the time to truly appreciate nature around us. As the saying goes, we do not “stop to smell the roses”, rather than just rush by them. I discovered that I am also often guilty of this. However, with a new appreciation of my surroundings, I have a more rewarding, enjoyable way of looking at nature, which we are always a part of.

What is the big take away? The art of taking notice never gets old.