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About Haunted Pastoral and the Machines in the Garden

"It doesn’t take a culture critic to tell you that nature is one of those concepts that is really difficult to define: many of us likely regard it as just one of those things that you know when you see it” (O’Brien, 2010).When we think of nature, the first thing that comes to mind is the peaceful wilderness, animals scattered throughout the untouched lands that they call their homes. The protectiveness of the blooming trees that provide shade and shelter on hot or stormy days. What we don’t realize is that nature expands far beyond that. Nature can also represent the farmland or the aquatic waterways. What makes nature so hauntingly fascinating is the haunted pastorals that are hidden in plain sight. To further expand on the meaning of haunted pastoral: the idealized spaces that become interrupted by technology. The growth of technology can be seen everywhere within the nature landscapes and creates the presence of a machine in the garden. These machines are visible to the human eye, but we may block out the objects as they are not what we want to see when we view nature. The blog posts below will go through and explain how technology haunts the pastoral land and creates a machine in the garden in various ways that you may not have imagined. Technology is more than just computerized processes.

Mar 31, 20222 min read

The Composter

This example of haunted pastoral comes in a way that may not be thought of as a piece of technology, however this photo demonstrates technology in a more unique way. The object in the photo that is interrupting the idealized space and acting as a machine in the garden is a composter. The composter is along the edge of a piece of farmland and tells the story of future technology, similar to rusty tractor. Unlike the rusty tractor that shows the past haunting the present, this composter represents the future from the past that is haunting the present. In the past, the natural earth landscape was to be thought of as natural composter, with the thought of throwing an apple or any piece of fruit or vegetable out the window because it is able to be composable with the earth. Now with advancements in technology, a man-made composter is now able to do similar processes, however, comes at the expense of an obstruction in the natural beauty of untouched landscape. I found this composter in the outskirts of a preserved wildlife area that is restricted from buildings being built upon – just natural wilderness. But now, this composter takes away from the beauty and haunts this pastoral landscape but may not be noticed upon those that walk by as it a sore in the natural view of nature in which we choose to block out. After this composter was placed in its resting spot, it has now become a machine in the garden, hidden in plain sight, taking away a would-be picturesque image and now being left with a present, but hidden disruption in the scenery. Sure, it offers a way for people to dispose of food products to make fertilizer instead of throwing it on the ground, but in an area devoted to preservation, this increases the magnitude of the unknown hauntingly presence within this idealized space. “In my afternoon walk I would fain forget all my morning occupations and my obligations to Society” (Thoreau, 1862). In this quote from H.D. Thoreau, he is talking about walking in the woods and how he would forget everything, even his obligations to society. Much like the area in which the composter is place, the wildlife preservation ground is combination of wooded grassy lands in which many people go to, to forget about their obligations to the world and feel free. However, the visual of the composter reminds people that pass by of their obligations such as not littering. This assists in the haunting of pastoral landscapes whether it is to be known or not by the individual.




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