The Unauthorized Audubon

Preface

vii Preface In 2012, to mark the 50th anniversary of the publication of Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring, the Michigan State University Museum presented an exhibition about the book’s impact on current science and public attitudes toward the environment. As a companion to this, the museum worked with Laura B. DeLind and Anita Skeen— both of the MSU Residential College in the Arts and Humanities— to present The Unauthorized Audubon, an exhibition of birds depicted through poetry and linoleum block prints. While the two exhibits were physically very different, I thought there was a wonderful synergy between them. They both touched on something very important—the sensitive, delicate, and complex relationships that underpin our place in nature. Rachel Carson’s seminal work reviewed the damage that unwise use of pesticides could cause to the environment and human health. Carson espoused the notion of ecology and ecosystems at a time when those terms were barely to be seen in the popular media. Her book recounted many case studies, but it is ultimately about connections, relationships, and interdependencies among nature and humankind. In The Unauthorized Audubon the print artist and poet explore relationships as well—through friendships, understanding, and the exchange of gifts. This is very much how our place in nature must be if we—and the Earth—are to survive. Birds had a central role in both exhibitions. For Carson, their song was the ode to a healthy spring, and their deaths reflected the tragedy that pesticides could bring. The birds of DeLind and Skeen are delightful manifestations of character, relationships, aspirations, and the human condition. In The Unauthorized Audubon, through striking prints and responsive poems, Laura B. DeLind and Anita Skeen take us to a whimsical, warm, and caring place that we might hope will be the Earth of our children. Gary Morgan Director, MSU Museum ...