Kelly Lai Liang Ting 2F/06

Squirrel, Clare and Swans


This is a picture of a squirrel on the tree, scampering away upon the presence of intruders --- humans. It shows how threatened and fearful the animal feels due to its habitat being trespassed by Man, whom is probably stereotyped as predators. It is on the verge of a getaway, though I was merely trying to get a snapshot of it, with no intention of harm. From this, the squirrel exposes its inferiority to Man and this reflects on how much power or superiority human have over nature.

However, the superior side of animals is also reflected when the squirrel, with just their natural abilities, can be faster, more agile and instinctive compared to humans. Faster and more agile, because it escapes from us quick enough that this was the closest shot I had of it (after zooming). Humans, with their natural abilities cannot match up to these animals in terms of their speed and agility, especially without technology. It is also instinctive, because it depends solely on its survival instincts and runs away from danger immediately. It does not consider whether the danger could be dealt with, compared to humans who think before responding and allow for risks. The beauty of nature is in the lack intelligence, as shown in the squirrel, as intelligence proves to be an element of destruction.

On a brighter note, the bright green, yellow, brown colours of the leaves and branches reflects on happiness within the natural environment of the squirrel whereby the tree serves as a protective shelter of the squirrel, bringing with it hope and joy for the animals who depend on it to survive. These bold colours seem to serve as a warning to humans saying “Do not trespass”, and creates a sense of security for the squirrel.

This is a picture of Clare walking into a narrow pathway made in the midst of a “jungle”.
The impending darkness coming from within the inner part of the pathway creates a sense of mystery, in contrast with the opening which is full of light, so welcoming and so clear. This reflects on how nature can appear so friendly and inviting on the outside, yet so mysterious and menacing on the inside. This mystery refers to the many unexplained things in nature, or rather the unknown, which humans see as threats. Clare is a symbol of curiosity(as seen in her interest of the woods) and represents man’s desires to come to a clear end with the unexplored, unexplained. This symbol brings along the element of venturing and discovery, as well as the value of self-sacrifice as one would risk herself/himself to know nature better for the sake of mankind and all living things, like in this case for we may not know if Clare would encounter any danger in the “jungle”. However I do not know whether Clare has good or bad intentions, and this goes back to the topic of human’s dual nature. On the other hand, the duality of nature is also reflected in the combination of both threat and yet, shelter from within the man-made jungle. Clare’s green skirt seemingly give a feeling of harmony with the greenery nature but the black shirt brings along a sense of harmony with the mysterious side of nature, showing that humans are actually a part of nature’s mystery themselves, or maybe, in another point of view, humans belong to the evil, intimidating and dark side after all.

This is an image of a rockery sculpture found in a pond.

The artist probably made this structure as this is usually what he sees of swans when he approaches them. These swans seem to be rushing to fly away in the same direction, suggesting an escape attempt from some form of danger, probably the sight of a human coming near it. This is slightly similar to the squirrel picture above. Similarly, the swans seem to be expressing some form of hope of survival, which is seen in their heads being positioned facing the sky, in the midst of fear, which is obvious due to their want to escape.

This sculpture brings along a mixture of both sense of freedom and restriction too. This feeling of freedom is from the display of the ability of swan to fly high to the sky, together with their fellow species, to any place where they can feel safe and secure. They are also in the same position as the dove, which symbolises freedom too. On the contrary, there is restriction because the sculpture captures the swans’ flight in the frozen manner, seemingly restricting it from distancing away from where it flew and making it stay in this trying-to-fly position. Furthermore, this statue is man-made, and the “man-made” characteristic of this statue together with the still motion of the swans may also convey the message about man having the propensity to disrupt nature, manipulate it and even restrict their freedom. This is prevalent in the current world today, whereby nature is usually exploited by man. The dull green colour of the man-made statue which makes it stand out in the natural surroundings seems to hint that man are “out of tune” with nature. On the positive side, this statue also reflects on man’s ability to produce such beautiful artworks even from just rocks, and that should be celebrated!

Done by Kelly Lai Liang Ting 2F /06