Landscapes
What is a landscape?
Is it just a pretty view created by nature, like of mountains, sky and trees? Is it created by man, such as Manhattan skyscrapers or meticulously planned out flower gardens surrounding a suburban home? Or is it digital, like Mario’s own continuously linear world in Super Mario Bros?
In my opinion, a landscape can be all of these. It can be created by nature, or by man. Why? Nature had a plan and purpose for her own landscapes. Eg: lakes were created for fish to thrive in. Men have plans for our landscapes. I know Jackson argues that landscapes are only artificial, but I have to disagree. I do agree that landscapes are a collection of things. In nature’s point of view, it’s a collection of trees, water, flowers, etc. In man-made’s it could be a skyline (a collection of skyscrapers). I do think man-made landscapes are much different than natures, however.
What is a digital landscape?
A digital landscape doesn’t necessarily have to be fully digital, such as a video game. It could be a combination of traditional landscapes and digital elements, such as a football field. The point is that somewhere, ditigal technology helped plan the landscape or is an actual part of the landscape, such as a jumbotron displaying the “Great Student Section Race,” at Camp Randall.
Examples
Originally, when I think of “landscape,” I think of the countless hours my mom would put into her flower gardens around my childhood home. Although it’s more of a traditional landscape, there were many digital elements used to create it. My parents hired a team to specifically create a beautiful landscape, including a patio, retaining walls, many trees, and much more. How did they plan it out? A computer program. My mom (who’s technically a “Master Gardner” after taking some classes) worked tirelessly to plan what each species of flower, plant or shrub would go where. She had a database on her computer to keep track of her plants. Every fall, she planted tulip bulbs and every spring she replaced them with petunias. My dad would do the edging, weeding and mulching. My mom and I would watch countless landscaping shows on HGTV and TLC for inspiration for our own garden. As for more digital technology, we had a sprinkler system in our lawn and also an underground fence, each controlled by an electric panel in our garage. The point? Much planning went into our landscape every year to show our collection of plants, trees, etc while using digital technologies.
Another example of a digital landscape is the 3D modeling program, SketchUp. Literally, it can plan and create landscapes, such as architecture, civil engineering, video game design etc. It’s easy for users to understand because of its pretty simple interface. Users literally “sketch up” objects to make them 3d after creating shapes. Want to plan landscaping for your house? This program could work. Want to plan an art gallery? This program works for that as well. You can import pictures to make it more realistic, or you can download 3d graphics that are already created.
A final example of a landscape could be a music festival. Would you count FreakFest as a digital landscape? There’s a collection of stages for music. It was meticulously planned months in advance, including the map of the concerts on State. It had to be cordinated into the existing landscape of State Street (including the Capitol), so it was important to understand what location would be best for each thing. Where should we put the portapotties? What locations would be best for the stages? How can we incorporate sound technologies into existing landcapes? What streets do we put our exits and entrances at? Where can people buy tickets? They had to figure out how to incorporate digital technologies, such as light shows into the physical landscape.
Additionally, they communicated their event through digital technologies. One of their main advertising techniques is on Facebook (I’m still getting notifications from them!).
