COCO CHU 2A'06

Image: a café at the entrance of the Botanic Gardens, surrounded by trees.

The combination of Man (visitors and the café) and nature (trees and vines in the surrounding) in a peaceful tone suggests the harmony in the relationship between the two. The café is open and customers are enabled to view the trees and nature beside them, as well as enjoy the serenity and relaxed sensation provided by the greenery. The absence of a door or enclosure of the café seems to ‘unblock’ and reveal the bare and most original form of nature to customers. They are allowed to rest and enjoy the presence of nature in a pleasant mode. The interaction between Man and nature can be symbolised by the twining and outstretched ferns and leaves as well as the on looking visitors in the café.

This shows that in urban society today, nature is still the most non-artificial source of magnificent scenery and greatly used for appreciation purposes to Man. However, the café still resembles the greed of Man making money out of visitors to the Botanic Gardens, placing food and drinks prices rather high. To serve nature is also the duty of Man, and thus industrial ideas should not be brought in and let nature be taken advantages of.

Image: ducks standing on land parts in the pond by the pavement.

Ducks living with elements of nature with the waters and plants shows the close bond among the various livings in nature. These elements are forever interdependent, they rely on each other for their own living: the ducks rely on water and plants for habitat and food, the plants relying on the ducks for nutrients, and water being brought alive by the presence of the other two. By opening this scene to people looking from the pavement at such a close distant, Man and nature seems to be brought together as one, each able to observe the other carefully.

The picture depicts the fact that Man and nature can never be separated. The very existence of the pavement to allow Man to set foot in this natural environment is to permit entrance to the wild and vast nature, for Man to explore and be amazed at nature’s unexplainable beauty. By letting Man step on man-made pavements instead of on grass shows the concern Man has shown towards nature, by preventing Man from destroying the living nature by stepping on it. The strong linkage between Man and nature is shown here: Man has to pay a price to observe and appreciate nature but preserving and protecting it at the same time. Destructive acts on plants and animals are also prevented by the un-noticeable sense of distant created with Man, such as pavements. Man find it hard not to look at nature from a distant, and dare not intrude into the scene of it.

Image: a scene under a big tree- dead leaves and newly grown plants.

The fallen and dead leaves under a big tree with new lives sprouting from amongst them depict the newborn from the dead. The never-ending cycle of death and rebirth is shown here. Mother Nature has created the seeds that land from the mother tree, and the seedlings to sprout under the mother tree’s arms. This arrangement in nature makes us hard to forget its coherence and similarity with Man’s growing stages as well. Both are similar in the way old ones are dead and replaced by the emerging of newborns.
Although Man has the duty to protect nature all we could, but we must not neglect to do it in a more natural approach- by leaving the dead leaves here, they can actually decompose and used as nutrients by the tree’s roots in the ground. In this way, nature is renewing itself, providing itself with the necessary without doing harm. Comparing this natural process, artificial fertilisers seem too out of place and destructive to the growth and living of the plants.

images & post by coco chu ruxuan, 2A06 (: