Event 2: Vivarium

On May 10, 2018, I visited Maru Garcia's 'vivarium' exhibit at CNSI. When I first entered the room, I was confused. It was a small exhibit, consisting of only two containers with plant life and soil as well as two videos playing on the walls of the room. However, upon closer examination, I noticed how complex and insightful this work of art was.




Me at the exhibit

I talked to one of the students that had a part in the work (I am not sure if it was Maru). Upon hearing her talk and re-examining the displays, I learned so much more about the whole exhibit. The videos on the wall were actually live video footage of the contents of each 'vivarium'. In the live video, you can see the richness of life in the plants and the scuttling of small insects in the dirt. In addition, one of the vivariums had a cutout hole while the other one was completely enclosed. I do not know how I missed this the first time, but there was a person's head in the vivarium through the cutout and he would occasionally use his hands to move dirt or small plants in the vivarium around. This is a clear symbolic message that shows the relationship between humans and nature.
The man in the vivarium

Vivarium is made up of two words: viva and -arium. Viva is Spanish for "to live" while -arium is a Latin root for a container or receptacle (Dictionary.com). The vivarium fits these words very well. The student I talked to said that after adding water, she completely closed off the environment from any outside sources. The plants constantly emit Oxygen while the small insects took in the Oxygen and released CO2 for the plants. The water that was originally added to the vivarium is constantly recycled through evaporation and condensation. Theoretically, with no outside interference, this vivarium can exist for all of eternity. 
The enclosed vivarium

In one of the robotics lectures, Professor Vensa talked about industrialization and its importance to the development of modern art. However, what was not mentioned was its effect on nature (Vensa). Human beings were once the head in the vivarium. We would occasionally poke and prod nature but we would not do any heavy damage to it. However, as time continued and we entered the industrialization age, the hole in our vivarium grew bigger. We had more room to grab, move and destroy in the name of progress. The United States cut down 1 billion board feet of wood in 1840 which turned into 46 billion in 1904 (Bronaugh). Only until very recently have we noticed our mistakes but it is almost too late to change it. We try to curb deforestation, pollution and consumption but our environment is not getting better. Without human interference, nature would survive and thrive. However, once we humans start to assert ourselves in nature, it will start to die.

It is not too late to restore nature into its beautiful state. Many programs to revitalize the environment have done wonders. Government sanctions around the world have advocated for the protection of habitats and animals (Cairoli). Maybe, in the near future, we can have and appreciate the art that is nature.

Source:
“Viva.” Dictionary.com, Dictionary.com, www.dictionary.com/browse/viva.

 “-arium.” Dictionary.com, Dictionary.com, www.dictionary.com/browse/-arium.

Vesna, Victoria. “Robotics Pt 2.” Desma 9.

 Bronaugh, Whit. “North American Forests in the Age of Man.” American Forests, American Forests, www.americanforests.org/magazine/article/north-american-forests-in-the-age-of-man/.

 Cairoli, Sarah. How Can We Actively Restore the Environment? Sciencing, 25 Apr. 2017, sciencing.com/can-actively-restore-environment-15545.html.

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