Review: The Mountain and the Bumble Bee
In a moment when too many people preach from their front yard mountain top what they claim to be the best practice for preserving Mother Earth, The Mountain and the Bumble Bee provides a refreshing perspective on the matter. Instead of threatening the viewer with a call to action the exhibition revives the familiar field of landscape and environmental stewardship through examination and imagination.
Environmental consciousness has spiraled into an industry of financially-motivated impostures that promote a lifestyle they don’t adhere to – this consciousness on a mass media level has lost its grass roots, proactive luster. This is echoed in a headline I recently saw announcing Sierra Club’s lawsuit against musician/activist The Edge because of a multi-mansionplex he plans to build on a protected area of the California coast.
The roots of this traveling exhibition curated by Chris McGinnis took life from his interest in, “economic systems and extraction industries that are in conversation/conflict with the natural world.” His memories of exploring a 19th century tannery near his family’s cabin as a child are one example of how these interests also became intertwined within his personal artistic practice.
Other references include the study of landscapes as captured by frontier photographers, landscape painters who were paid by, “railroad moguls, or the US government, for the purposes of inspiring westward growth and expansion”, the recalling of early land surveyors, and the interpretations of fourteen artists, including the curator.
I appreciate the research that has gone into curating The Mountain and the Bumble Bee. The exhibition sheds light on a recurring topic with an enlivened view that is well studied1 and nuanced with personal interpretations. It is energizing to see an exhibition that fuses various art forms for a visually educational adventure.
The Mountain and the Bumble Bee burrows into the subject of landscape nationalism and the pull between peoples desire to protect the organism that cares for us, and the undeniable reality that it is impossible for humans to leave no trace. Our American identity is deeply tied to this lands vast landscapes. Think about the memories you have of visiting parks and the understanding they’ve provide you of what makes up our country’s differing regions. If you weren’t aware, our National Park Service is turning 100! What does that mean to you?*
~CRS
*If you’re interested in further exploring what our park service has to offer take a suggestion from the curator himself and check out any of his favorites: Sequoia National Park, Zion National Parks, Pittsburgh’s Mon River Valley, The Smokey Mountains, Ohiopyle, Allegheny National Forest, Southern Arizona…
1 Some examples include:
Landscape and Memory, Simon Schama
Inventing Niagara, Ginger Strand
Storming the Gates of Paradise: Landscapes for Politics, Rebecca Solnit
(the content of this book inspired the exhibition title).