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tending a forest, experimental nature cinema & theory by cathy fitzgerald (phd practice-thesis visual culture scholar, NCAD Ireland)

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RIA digital humanities

Image I tweeted from the Digital Repository of Ireland public talk on ‘Open Access to Humanities Data, 7 May 2013, at the Royal Irish Academy

“One of the cultural revolutions we’re living through is a change in the relationship between the way knowledge is gathered and the way it is communicated. There was an old model of scholarship: experts did painstaking research. When they discovered something they shared it with their colleagues and, to a greater or lesser extent, with the public. The tools and methods they used were kept away from the the view of that public; only the results of the process were shared. One of the better consequences of digital technology is the challenge to this basic order. The process of gathering knowledge is no longer separate from that of sharing it. And the tools and methods of research are becoming public property…

This is a new kind of knowledge. It is not a product but a process.

It consists not of conclusions but of an open-ended invitation to explore.“
Fintan O’Toole, Arts & Books – Culture Shock, Irish Times, Saturday, May 11, 2013, p.8

On 7 May I attended a talk about Open Access to Humanites Data organised
by the  Digital Repository of Ireland (DRI) organisation at the Royal Irish Academy

English: Open Access logo, converted into svg,...:

Open Access logo: wikipedia commons

As someone who is very aware and actively taking part in sharing my humanities research and transdisciplinary arts practices online I was delighted to hear about Open Access and what it means for the Humanities. As I’m attempting to make my own work (from a rural location) as accessible as possible, it was informative to hear cultural archivists and researchers actively engaging in this area. Catriona Crowe, Head of Special Projects at the National Archives of Ireland, gave a stimulating overview how digitising  the 1901 and 1911 Irish Census’ led to unexpected research and remarkable new social understandings of a very important time in Ireland’s history, that have resonances with today’s Ireland too. Likewise the quote from Fintan O’Toole above preceding his discussion of another fascinating historic document that has been digitised and  has gone live on line yesterday - the 17th century Down Survey of Ireland (the Down refers to lands being laid ‘down’ in measurement, not Co. Down) conveys key reflections on the enormous changes and potentials in the open access movement for the cultural sector.  The Down Survey can be accessed at iti.ms/16YITDD (more…)

Hollywood forest: 11 March , 2013

Some of the Hollywood forest community – Sitka spruce, Willow, Birch, Alder and Aspen: 11 March , 2013

A part of my work since 2009 has been involved in bringing the new type of permanent forestry management I employ on my small 2.5 acre conifer site into the Irish political sphere.

In contemporary art-ecology projects, political dimensions are often encountered, particularly when you begin to critically examine the socio-political effects that may be affecting the environment you are studying/representing. A special journal issue examines recent thinking and practices in art-ecology-politics-land projects and I detail briefly my own political work in regards to my forest work here.

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“All of this is crucial, because perpetrators of atrocity so often attempt to convince themselves and everyone else that what they’re doing is natural or right. The word “Anthropocene” attempts to naturalize the murder of the planet by pretending the problem is “man,” and not a specific type of man connected to this particular culture.

The name also manifests the supreme narcissism that has characterized this culture from the beginning. “

Derrick Jensen, 2013. Earth Island Journal

This is a follow on post regarding my interest in the developing geological/cultural term ‘The Anthropocene’. It’s my way of keeping up-to-date with the key people in the humanities and sciences who are meeting to talk about the devastating ecological affects developing across the earth (biosphere), that have exponentially accelerated since the industrial revolution. Understanding the grave ecological realities we are facing is the key premise to my own studies in thinking about/practising deep sustainability (I’ve also this week just been asked to co-author a research paper, particularly contributing a visual culture perspective on the new holistic piechart of the planetary tipping points that was accepted at the UN Rio summit last year, (more…)

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