December Artist-in-Residence-in-Everglades



Photo of Mathias by Jan A. Bielinski



December may become chilly, but not for our Austrian AIRIE Fellow Mathias Kessler. For nearly ten years Mathias Kessler has been exploring the concept and history of “nature” within the Western Eurocentric context of capitalism, humanism, and representation. In his works, he not only exposes the many interventions of human culture that have threatened, remade, and shaped what nature is, but plays with our longing for an apparently untouched environment.



In particular, he investigates the complex movement of man and nature across two important notions: natura naturans (self-creating nature) and natura naturata (created nature) as explored by Dieter Buchart.

  

Kessler uses photography to abstract nature (as a condition of human perception) rather than document it, in order to draw an arc from visible topography to the social, economic and cultural realities that underlie the seemingly blank surface of nature.

“In my photographs or computer-generated landscapes,” Kessler explains, “I work within the historical interface between the private living room and the adjoining public room of the natural order; between memory and its image; authenticity and alienation. With nuance and subtlety, I expose the way human intervention reconstructs the natural to the point that it is just another “fiction of the 18th and 19th century” as Robert Smithson put it.”

For the AIRE residency he wants to work with the Rangers to create guided tours that will speak of representation. It will bring back a visceral experience in nature and deconstruct the image we have and replace it with the known and unknown that we encounter out there. All the tours will end in the sunset and no cameras will be allowed. Each participant will receive a guide to the sunset as a document to keep.

To read Mathias Kessler’s entire biography,

please visit our website at http://www.nps.gov/ever/supportyourpark/everairiecalendar.htm.

From Wolftrap to Everglades

For the past 14 weeks, Clara Pittleman has been the newest intern in the Pine Island District of Everglades National Park (ENP). Clara's parents work at Wolftrap, the National Park Service for the Arts.  Her mother is the superintendent and knows Dan Kimball, the Superintendent of ENP.  Through their friendship, Clara was able to find an internship at the Everglades.

Originally from Maryland, Clara attends SUNY Cortland in New York. She is pursuing a degree in Outdoor Recreation with a concentration in Environmental and Cultural Interpretation.  Both of her parents are NPS employees, and through her mother’s friendship with Dan Kimball, Clara discovered the internship potential at ENP.

Clara giving an interpretive program.

Clara has been working with everyone in the Interpretation division over the past 3 months and has enjoyed her time in the Visitor Center and on the trails educating visitors about what ENP has to offer. Clara appreciates the uniqueness of the Everglades since this part of the country was new to her when she arrived. Clara was glad to learn about each new species she encountered and relay that information to first-time visitors. She was also able to cross-train with other park staff members by helping check hydro sites in the western part of the park, and participating in a beach cleanup on East Cape Sable. Clara’s favorite part of her internship was seeing the changes from summer into winter, especially seeing the birds starting to arrive at the Anhinga Trail. Since she was only here through November, Clara looks forward to coming back in the future to see the Everglades in the winter time.

The new Volunteer Coordinator Assistant

Kirrin Peart will be the VIP Coordinator Assistant this winter season. Born and raised in Chico, CA, Kirrin has always had a connection to the outdoors. From a young age, her parents recognized her passion for nature and encouraged her to pursue it as a career. As a high school student, Kirrin interned with Lassen National Volcanic Park and from there has volunteered and worked at a variety of parks across the country, including a summer spent in Washington D.C. working for the National Council for Preservation Education.  Most recently, Kirrin has worked as an interpretive ranger at Yellowstone. While she has too many memories to count from her years in the parks, Kirrin credits helping to open the first visitor center in Lassen Volcanic National Park, backpacking throughout Olympic and watching wolves and grizzlies in Yellowstone amongst the highlights.

Kirrin is a recent graduate of Western Washington University, with a BA in Archaeology and a minor in Geology. While in school, she served as the Anthropology Club President and presented at conferences on the varying conceptual theories regarding early settlement of the Americas. After spending her first summer working in Yellowstone, she acquired an interest in Bison and began conducting experimental archeology, attempting to make her own tools using Bison bones, quickly discovering that it was much harder than it sounded.

When she isn’t working, Kirrin is an avid wildlife watcher, hiker and kayaker. She is excited to spend her winter in Everglades, exploring new places and viewing a whole new world of wildlife.

Enjoy the holidays, no blog post on 11/28/13. Will resume on 12/5/13

Toss, Scoop, Freeze

These are the words to abide by when volunteering with Fisheries Biologist Zachary Fratto. After a 45 minute ride to the research plot, Fratto, Kevin Bowles Mohr, and Jacob Osborne tossed, scooped, and froze for the next 4 hours.

Wading in the enormous scenic river of grass, surrounded by periphyton, tree islands, and the sounds of pig and cricket frogs, Jacob, Zach, and Kevin worked diligently on their project in the research plot that has been continuously monitored since the 1970’s.

Zach places the minnow cage based on pre-determined random selections in the research plot. Carrying the contraption above his head, Zach slogs through the sawgrass to the desired location and tosses it into the river of grass.

First, they identify the plants within the cage; the percentage of plant coverage, the average water depth, and the volume of bladderwort and periphyton. Next, they use the sein net to scoop and capture any fish, crayfish, shrimp, or other invertebrates like the Alligator flea or fingernail clams. These are all thrown on ice to freeze them for later research purposes. Lastly, they use two nets to scoop any remaining creatures before moving on to the next placement. In order to move, each net must scoop 5 times without a single living thing being captured.

Zach Fratto has 8 research plots in which he must visit 5 times a year; each plot has 7 sections to be monitored as detailed above. To achieve this standard, Zach relies on volunteer interns throughout the year to assist him. On occasion, he might have an empty seat on the airboat and willing to take another volunteer. This could be you . . .

A Writer Among the Glades

November we give thanks, and thank Bill Maxwell for being our November Artist-in-Residence-in-Everglades Fellow. Bill Maxwell first began teaching English and journalism in 1973 at Kennedy-King College in Chicago and continued to teach at several other colleges and universities for more than 20 years. Currently, he is an adjunct professor at St. Petersburg College and a columnist for the Tampa Bay Times.

“Born in Fort Lauderdale, I am a lifelong lover of the Everglades,” says Maxwell.

Throughout his careers as an educator and journalist, Bill Maxwell has written about protecting and enjoying our environmental treasures. Some of his work has influenced readers to write letters to newspapers and to contact their legislators.

“Like John Muir, Aldo Leopold, Edward Abbey, and others, I want to make the environment come alive on the page by creating word pictures, drawing readers vicariously into the magnificence our natural wild places. We nonfiction writers -- journalists, essayists, and memoirists -- have helped to establish the aesthetic value and material efficacy of the Glades.”

Access to one of Bill’s columns, please click on the link, http://www.sptimes.com/Travel97/10198/Florida_bound__The_Ev.html

Read Bill’s book, Finding Yourself: A Spiritual Journey through a Florida Garden, (Bok Tower Gardens) or the one pictured here.

To read Bill Maxwell’s entire biography, please visit our website at http://www.nps.gov/ever/supportyourpark/everairiecalendar.htm.