A botanist and urban ecologist recently launched a Kickstarter campaign aimed at transforming a section of New York City into a forest. But, what’s even more exciting is this: it will appear overnight, morphing a public plaza in Times Square into a temporary, three-week showcase of the natural world.

For lack of better words, this project is a big deal. Encapsulating so much more than just three weeks of natural beauty, this forest, created by Marielle Anzelone, has the potential to drastically alter the way millions of people see themselves in relation to nature.

Environmental issues are all around us yet exist in subtleties difficult to appreciate on a daily basis. They lack visibility, and for that, are easily denounced or not prioritized. Because of this, environmental spectacles hold great value. They allow for an instantaneous understanding of an environmental issue, creating a lasting call to action in a split second.

This project utilizes the power of spectacle, an idea that Syracuse University geography professor Natalie Koch specializes in. In an interview with The Daily Orange, Koch explained how, “the value of spectacle lies in its ability to make certain phenomena visible, when they are often otherwise overlooked. Since environmental problems tend to unfold over long periods of time, and are often spread out all over the world, it is often difficult to visualize these problems.”

Anzelone understands this. In her Kickstarter video Anzelone details how, “trying to save things in a context where people don’t think that they exist at all is impossible.” This project serves as “a wake up call to help New Yorkers understand that nature exists in our city and we do nothing for it.”

SU is home to a project similar in nature. The university’s Climate Change Garden, a project started by biology professors Jason Fridley and Doug Frank, is located outside of the Life Sciences Complex, and intends to unearth valuable data by comparing the growth patterns of various types of plants, some native and others not, in a changing climate over time. Although the two projects possess drastically different time frames, they both carry added potential because of their planned physical enormity.

In a Jan. 22 interview with The Daily Orange, Fridley explained, “The thing I am excited about the most is that it’s right in the middle of campus…It makes a big difference to have something there, right in front of you that you get to watch on a daily basis.”

The very existence of the Climate Change Garden will foster environmental awareness for years to come.

Koch goes on to further explain that, “Overall, spectacle operates by producing a ritual time-space. Its value lies in its ability to educate publics on a mass scale and in a point-based fashion, rather than through a slower, more sustained or diffuse set of activities.”

We live in a time where environmental issues warrant immediate action, yet all too many people seem ambivalent to the plight of the natural world. With issues ranging from ocean acidification to deforestation to sea level rise, it should be increasingly clear to world leaders that preserving our natural world must be of chief importance. Grand environmental demonstrations have the potential to begin eroding the dense banks of apathy and environmental disregard.

“Spectacle has long been favored by environmental activists because of its power to galvanize the public’s attention about issues that are more spatially and temporally diffuse,” Koch said.

It is events like Anzelone’s PopUP Forest and projects like SU’s Climate Change Garden, which give hope to environmentalism. Aspiring environmental activists should take note, understanding the immense value rooted in environmental spectacle.

Azor Cole is a junior public relations major and geography minor. His column appears weekly. He can be reached at azcole@syr.edu and followed on Twitter at @azor_cole.

Published on March 26, 2015 at 12:02 am