Time; Strip Mining; Humans and Nature: Three Collages for LMAC #182

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(Edited)

Collage #1

Strip Mining
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Collage #2

Time
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Collage #3
Humans in Nature
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When I saw this week's template photo in the LMAC Collage Contest (#182), many ideas came to mind.

LMAC Template Photo, by @shaka
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As you can see, the picture is rich with potential. I came up with three interpretations. These are not necessarily related.

Making the collages was the best part of the last two days. We've been selling the house (as I've mentioned before) and looking for another. Such a headache. Escaping into @shaka's picture was a pleasure. I don't compete in the contest. I just make collages because it's fun.

Collage #2: Time

When I try to think of an overarching theme that helps define the 20th century, time comes to mind. Our concept of time changed with Einstein's Theory of Relativity. A simple formula, E = mc², shook up what many thought was a certain universe with fixed rules about time.

Length Contraction Due to Relativistic Speed
realitivist contraction due to speed wikimedia 4.0.png
MikeRun. Used underCreative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.

It is not only cosmologists who entertain themselves with questions about time and its relationship to the universe. Artists have also been fascinated by the subject.

In 1943 Jorge Louis Borges (from Argentina) wrote a story called the Secret Miracle (El milagro secreto) in which a man about to be executed is granted a reprieve of sorts. As he waits for the bullets from a firing squad to hit him, time stands still for him and he is able, in his mind, to finish a masterpiece he has been writing.

In my collage, everything stands still, except the sand in the hourglass, which moves backwards and forwards. It is believed (according to the Big Bang Theory) that the arrow of time moves only forward. But do we know? In this age of uncertainty some entertain another possibility.

Collage #1: Strip Mining
As most of my regular readers know, my earliest childhood years were spent in a rural environment. One of my favorite places was a grassy hill I could see from my bedroom window. I'd cross a swiftly running book, climb the hill, and relax in the tall grass.

It never occurred to me that someone owned the hill. It was just there, part of my life. But then, one morning, I woke to the sound of heavy machinery. There were men on the hill and excavation machines. The men were digging up the ground. They were leveling my hill and in very short order, the hill had disappeared.

Strip Mining for Coal, 1974
COAL_SHOVEL_AND_STRIP_MINING_FORM_THE_BACKDROP_OF_THIS_HOUSE_AT_THE_INTERSECTION_OF_INTERSTATE_70_AND_ROUTE_^800_NEAR..._-_NARA_-_555604.jpg
EPA. Public domain. This picture reminds me of what happened to my hill. Although, my hill was very small and pretty much erased once they had dug it up. Years later, a mobile home park was established where the hill used to be. This happened long after I moved away.

I understand that the owner of the hill, my neighbor, sold the gravel in the ground to miners. What was left, when the men had taken what they wanted, was scarred earth. That's what I saw from my bedroom window.

Collage #3
The last couple of years I've been spending a lot of time at the seashore. One local community has a lively pier and at the same time wildlife thriving nearby.

Coast of East Greenland
Greenland_scoresby-sydkapp2_hg Hannes Grobe, AWI 2.5.jpg
Hannes Grobe. Used under Creative Commons CC-BY-SA-2.5 license.. Here we see a human habitation structure, icebergs, the rough coast, a boat out at sea and and an animal skull (Muskox)in the foreground.

Can we live at peace with our environment? I hope so. My collage attempts to show just such a scene.

Collage Process

I had to change the order in which I listed my collages in this blog. At least two other collagists (@quantumg and @bayuismal) focused on the theme of time, also. There is something about the template photo that suggests this theme to the three of us. So, I selected another collage to be my lead in the post, although Time is my favorite.

Only one of my collages has movement this week, Time. Even in that everything stands still except the sand in the hourglass.

I thank, as I usually do, contributors to the LMAC Gallery of Images, LIL. Without these contributions my collages would look very different:

Collage #2

Collage #1

A also thank these contributor from Pixaby:

Also, one image has been used that I contributed to LIL:

Collage #3
I should call this @borjan's collage because so many great images were taken from his LIL contributions.

I contributed two images from LIL for this collage

LMAC and LIL

You can see that LIL, the LMAC Image Library, was an essential part of my collage-creating process. Anyone on Hive can contribute to the library and everyone can borrow from it. Learn about the procedure here.

LMAC is back in competitive mode, and the community is buzzing with creative activity. Be sure to check back on the community feed to see the exciting collages come in. Better yet, join us. Make a collage. As @shaka has often said, everyone is an artist.

Thank you for reading. Peace and health to all.

letsmakeacollage art nature time science cosmology proofofbrain creativecoin mining hive
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20 comments
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What a beautiful collage!! You are a credit to Hive and the LMAC community.

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The first image reminds me of the history channel series of ancestral aliens 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
I imagine the one of the presenter with the raised hairs saying: they were aliens 🤣

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You watch the History Channel? That's two of us😂

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I used to watch that crazy show with my brother about that weird guy.
He looked like one of those weirdo guys with a backpack in public school in the US.

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Living at peace with our environment is possible but we have to be at peace with ourselves first

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That is very true, @rafzat. Thank you for reading and commenting :)

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This is beautiful friend, I admire the ability you have to capture your experiences in collages.

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Thank you very much, @inessita. My collages tend to be literal. I'm glad you like my approach. Thanks for reading and commenting :)

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(Edited)

Interesting collage of the result of strip mining and seeing the effect on a cherished hill. We're often sheltered from what goes on behind the scenes. The shoes we wear, the clothing on our bodies, food we eat, house we live in, phones, glasses, medicine, computers we use, and every aspect of our lives has left its mark upon the earth. It's the conundrum of life, it must exploit and pollute its environment to survive. There is no other way around it yet. Hopefully the AI will figure out way to feed us without the need to further destroy our environment. The coast of Greenland looks majestic though a bit cold ☃️

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You have such hopes for AI, my friend. I do hope you are right. I don't share your optimism. I'm a bit more skeptical, have lived through so many 'miracle' phases that I'm a bit jaded when it comes to promise for change.

It's true--we don't really want to look behind the curtain. Animals we eat are killed brutally, farms often destroy the land they depend on, etc.

Are we the only species that does that? Probably not. It's just that we're on top of the food chain and there is no one, nothing to balance our ruinous behavior--except nature.

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(Edited)

You have such hopes for AI, my friend. I do hope you are right. I don't share your optimism. I'm a bit more skeptical, have lived through so many 'miracle' phases that I'm a bit jaded when it comes to promise for change.

I know what you mean. I used to be very skeptical of technology. I changed my attitude when some authors pointed out how different things were now compared to a time like the middle ages or ancient Rome. Then something clicked, and I began monitoring technological development. Then I could see the trajectory of developments in relation to human development (social, economic, political, etc). AI feels different than industrial technology because it seems like AI will develop not only intelligence but also a form of consciousness. This is not necessarily a good thing. There's a good chance that it will end terrible for us. Or it might be just what we need to deal with the most pressing issues that I see: space (to live in without destroying our planet), time (as in healthy long life for the pursuit of love and happiness), and resources (to keep the flame of life alive). How's that for hopium?

Are we the only species that does that? Probably not.

I'm always surprised by how animals behave so much like humans. I recently read that apparently crows use statistics!

nothing to balance our ruinous behavior--except nature.

This is another conundrum because we are made by nature. We're natural in every sense of the word. Our thoughts and actions are a natural process. So, if we're part of the natural matrix then this brings up those grand questions about who, what, where, when, and why we exist and do what we do. 🙃 I need to lay off the green tea, I think :)

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Please don't lay off the 'green tea'. I love your speculation🌼

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As per usual, awesome collages A.G.and you are so generous using the images from the lil images. Thanks for including my lil image. The house looks perfect in your strip mining collage.

I sympathize with you in moving. I wouldn’t know where to start if I had to pack this house up and move to another. I guess the first thing would be a yard sale to simplify all the things one accumulates over the years.

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Hello my friend!

I think I could make all my collages by using your LIL pictures. They are so expressive. This was a perfect building for that collage :) Thank you for the picture and for your support.

Yes...the house is under contract and if everything goes smoothly, we hand the keys over on Oct 11. It happened so fast--I wasn't ready. Now where do I live?😂

It'll be alright. I'm deferring work to others. I just worry. That's my job.

Hope you are well and out of the track of any more storms. Have a most wonderful Sunday

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This is beautiful my dear friend. Absolutely beautiful I must confess

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Hi @agmoore 👋🙂

What a fantastically rich potpourri!
I like all 3 collages. But yet, this time I have one favorite, too.

The second collage literally speaks time. Pulsating cycles, decay, and there is a figure like Kairos, keeping an eye on all opportunities. And there is this building that is built on previous layers, just like the time. Excellent symbolism.
The sand in the hourglass also is a fantastic effect!

Great work as usual, @agmoore. And it was an interesting, brief excursion into your childhood. 👍
Thank you for making use of my hourglass from the #lil. :-)

in which a man about to be executed is granted a reprieve of sorts. As he waits for the bullets from a firing squad to hit him, time stands still for him and he is able, in his mind, to finish a masterpiece he has been writing.

I strongly believe this is possible. From practicing mindfulness meditation, we know that time is also personally relative. We are able to compress and stretch time or the experience of time.
We also know that from our dreams, where a dream can have felt like it lasted for hours or days, but in reality it only happened in seconds.
What if we are actually able to live many lives in such a short time?

Keeping my fingers crossed that the beautiful new house crosses your path very soon. 🤞
🤗

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My dear friend @quantumg,

What a wonderful comment☀️. I don't know what it was about the template that so strongly suggested time to many of us, but it's something we felt instinctively. My time collage was that kind of response. Except for the hourglass (which was perfect!), the elements were not literal. I'm very happy you felt what I felt when I made the piece.

As for Borges, he is brilliant. I personally believe he inspired a generation of Latin American writers specifically, and writers around the world generally. He sort of put down the foundation for magical realism in Latin America. His exploration of time is typical for his unique (though not unique anymore because many people have copied him) world perspective. If you haven't read him, I know he is widely available in German. He was fluent in German, English and French and actually translated from those languages into Spanish.

Keeping my fingers crossed that the beautiful new house crosses your path very soon

🌼

We are looking at a house today that has great possibilities and is reasonably priced. Thank you for crossing your fingers. Hope it works out because this is wearying😇

Thanks very much for your encouragement--every time I get it right (in your estimation), I go forward to the next piece with more confidence.

Have a great week

Warm regards,
AG

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