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Otherwise

Otherwise

a few hundred membersearthlyhours.com

For a year, I am researching and curating one species of plant, animal, or natural phenomena per week. I am also building an “earthly book of hours” with readings and images that change across the day.

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About

Welcome to my corner of the dark forest.

I'm Ryan, an independent researcher and writer. Otherwise is my workshop for experimenting with old ideas, practices, and media forms. I'm interested in the relationship between nature and culture and in finding new ways to connect with both (and with other people).

Although this has been a personal project, I daydream about forming a sort of digital research library, like the Warburg Institute or Boston Athenaeum, with program areas and collaborating fellows--but a bit more homespun and DIY.

Current projects in the space include:

  • Lectio Terra - a weekly newsletter of species studies, collecting readings and art about a single plant, animal, landform, or natural phenomena. For example: lilacs and argillite!
  • The Earthly Book of Hours - a contemplative archive of images, readings, and natural phenomena that changes throughout the day (and night).
  • An Almanac of Impressions - a collaborative repository of observations meant to document the poetry of the seasons; inspired by the saijiki tradition of seasonal keywords. An open chat, with one weekly reminder for the group: details here.
  • The Timeshed Project: Field Notes - an invitation to reflect on how time flows through your life; inspired by the ecology of watersheds. An open blog, to share posts of any length, format, or media: details here.
  • Laurentia Kitchen [ON HIATUS] - my digital scrapbook/zine related to cooking, eating, and bioregional placefinding.

Latest from Otherwise

Week 42: First Frost (William Cullen Bryant, Hannah Arendt, Homer C. Sampson, Thomas Hardy)

Fig. 1. [Frost] (circa 1910). Wilson Alwyn Bentley. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Last Quarter Moon; November Cross-Quarter Day Headnote We interrupt this fall’s journey through the northeast...

Nov 110

Week 41: Ghost Pipe (Emily Dickinson, Merlin Sheldrake)

Fig. 1. Indian Pipe (Monotropa uniflora) (1926) Mary Vaux Walcott. Smithsonian American Art Museum. Waxing Gibbous Moon - Full Tonight; 7 Days to Cross-Quarter Headnote I felt nearly obligated, given...

Oct 2502

Week 40: Staghorn Sumac (Cole Swanson, Katherine Lee Bates, J. Francis Macbride)

Fig. 1. Emil Carlsen. Staghorn Sumac (1883). Privately held. First Quarter Moon; 14 Days to Autumn Cross-Quarter Headnote Is it a bush? Is it a tree? Is it a poison? Is it lemonade? In the lower gaps...

Oct 1810

Works in Progress

Cover: É. L. Trouvelot. “Aurora Borealis: As Observed March 1, 1872, at 9h. 25m. P.M.” Plate IV. The Trouvelot Astronomical Drawings. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1881–82. Barely New Moon; 27...

Oct 1123

Week 39: Common Pawpaw (Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin, Daniel H. Janzen and Paul S. Martin, A.C. Whitford)

Fig. 1. “Asimina triloba” (1924). R. G. Steadman. USDA Pomological Watercolors. National Agricultural Library Special Collections. Waning Crescent Moon - 6 Days to New; 34 Days to Fall Cross-Quarter...

Oct 403

Week 38: Shagbark Hickory (Carl Sandburg, Vladimir Nabokov, Charles S. Sargent)

Fig. 1. Bertha E. Jaques. Young Leaves and Blossoms of Hickory Tree (c. 1910). Smithsonian American Art Museum. [Read more.] Waning Gibbous Moon; 40 Days to Fall Cross-Quarter Day Headnote Few trees...

Sep 2723

Week 37: Northern Red Oak (Susan Fenimore Cooper, George Francis Heath, James George Frazer)

Fig. 1. Piet Mondrian. Field with Oak Trees at Dusk (1907-1908). “Owned” by some rich person. Waxing Gibbous Moon - 6 Days to Full; 2 Days to Fall Equinox Headnote Welcome to the woodlands. There is,...

Sep 2033

Week 36: Watermelon (Sylvia Plath, Pliny the Elder)

Fig. 1. “[Man Cutting Watermelon]” (c. 1898-1903). Johnson Photography Studio. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New Moon; 12 Days to Fall Equinox This week's post is dedicated to my dad, who always...

Sep 1330

Sharing My Archive

Cover Image. From Francis Macbride. Autumn Flowers and Fruits (Chicago: Field Museum of Natural History, 1924). 103. A Look Back I hate to miss a beat in the weekly species studies, but sometimes...

Sep 623

Week 35: Cucumis (Robert Hass, Marcus Aurelius, William Cowper)

Fig. 1. Fede Galizia. Still Life with Apples, Pears, Cucumbers, Figs, Plums, and a Melon (c. 1625-1630). Waning Gibbous Moon — 11 Days to New; 23 Days to Fall Equinox Headnote Which is messier, the...

Aug 3016
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