Despite the theme of a difficult, overwhelming environment in last week’s post, the Anasazi left many ruins that seem sturdy enough to stand up to it, and perhaps even be a source of power. Sometimes, in the photograph, that impression comes from strong lighting of a well-built structure.
Other times it is the rock itself that seems to herald strength. The otherwise unprepossessing buildings below appear to be emitting more thunderous bolts than Zeus himself.
It is interesting to speculate about whether such aesthetic or psychological details of setting influenced where the Anasazi built their dwellings. Physical factors such as accessibility, orientation toward the sun, and exposure to the weather can certainly account for much of the choice. From my own unsystematic observations, I can see no evidence for less functional considerations. In any case, I’m leery of the assumption that my reactions are anything like those of the original inhabitants. On the other hand, there are some plausible generalizations that one could make. Characteristics such as small vs. large, open vs. closed, light vs. dark might have a more universal significance. If you were building your own cliff dwelling, would you care? How important a factor were aesthetic aspects of the surroundings in your choice to live where you do now?
If you were building your own cliff dwelling…?I find snakes interesting but I would not want them as my bed companion. Thus, I would look for a reptile-protected place.
How important a factor were aesthetic aspects of the surroundings in your choice to live where you do now? My surroundings were dictated by an economic reason – a job. I remember my daughter’s face as we were flying from Washington DC over cornfields to our little town in Michigan. She is now back at the East Coast.
The real estate agent first showed us available houses in the suburbs which more abundant than the ones in town. Nina plunked herself on the lawn and started crying: ‘Mom, you will not drive me places. I will be stuck here’. Correct, I was not a football mom. We moved to the town where Nina could walk to school, main street and the university campus.
Investing energy, I did find a house that was within my means and that we liked aesthetically.
Steve, didn’t you put your foot into your mouth with this question considering the recent housing speculation?
It may be that the housing speculation has made price a more dominant consideration, but, on the other hand, if I had to pay so much it would make it even more important that all aspects of the new place be as right as possible. To me, location and surroundings are nearly as important as the house itself, though this has important functional factors as well as aesthetic ones. It was a big plus that there are some huge trees on our lot that give the house a feeling of being in the woods.
Even if the Anasazi had only functional concerns in siting (which seems unlikely), they certainly decorated their environment with paintings and rock peckings.
Having had to live inside a town, I too selected a section with big, old trees. But, I wonder whether this choice has to do with aesthetics. As mentioned once before, during a difficult time in life, a big tree outside my bed room window gave me a sense of much needed protection.
Given a free choice of location, I prefer the open country, mountain tops, dunes, deserts, view of an ocean.
Wow, great photos Steve! Especially #2!
Steve,
Your second photo reminds me of a Francis Bacon painting, with a tiny figure seated on a chair in the center of a huge canvas (I can’t find the title). And like your photo, the Bacon canvas has context, in the form of other paintings, that make that particular canvas even more poignant.
For artists, the canvas might represent the forces bearing down on the tiny hole of possibility, a weight held up by who knows what.
As for housing, we lived in a house that is 108 years old but in part because of its modern amenities, could easily retreat to the earth. Unlike houses of stone, houses of wood, with various openings for pipes and wires and insects, seem to be more likely to fall under the weight of their own existence. I think I know what holds our house up — it’s mostly $$$$.
I think the greatest amenity for the cliff dweller would be the immensity of space accessible to the eyes, while the body remained safely ensconced within the stone walls.
Clearly, I cannot appreciate the beauty of these photos because what I bring to it isn’t very pretty – associations with concrete fortifications on Dutch beaches, snipers firing from holes.
Aesthetics versus emotional responses.
Steve:
Image #3. The shape of the “dwelling” seems at first so free that I was caught with its close adherence to the angles of the bedrock. (If such a slab constitutes the floor of your dwelling, is it then a bed and bath rock?) And the hut is so resonant with its backdrop – a kind of Anasazi Feng Shui.
Which takes me back to a reference that I made back when. I have a tape that I pop in when I need mellowing. It’s called Canyon Dreams with music by Tangerine Dream.
It brings out the grand in the canyon and presents aspects of the landscape that must have resonated with those dwellers in a similar place. They experienced daily, and for the full duration- and in the round, the chopped vivisection of which I, the couch potato do but so briefly absorb.