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Otherwise

Otherwise

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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 reading and images across the day (link below).

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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 32: Dog Days, Horace, Heraclitus

Cover Image. Illustration of the Constellation Sirius, with text. From The Harley Aratus (c. 820-840). Rheims, France. From the British Library, Harley Collection. Waning Crescent Moon; 46 Days to...

Aug 903

Week 31: Butterfly Weed, Paul Muldoon, Nathaniel Lord Britton

Cover Image. William Clark, “Asclepias tuberosa. Tuberous Swallow-wort.” From Richard Morris, Flora Conspicua: A Selection of the Most Ornamental Flowering, Hardy, Exotic and Indigenous Trees,...

Aug 210

Week 30: Blueberries, Joseph J. White, Inc., Alix Beeston on Ellena Savage

Cover Image. “Vaccinium corymbosum: Stanley.” J. Marion Shull, USDA Pomological Watercolor Collection. Waxing Gibbous Moon; 6 Days to August Cross-Quarter Day. Headnote Rounding out my quartet of...

Jul 2620

Week 29: Corn, Haudenosaunee Storytellers, Emily Pauline Johnson

Cover Figure. Nasca artist(s), Corn Stalk-Shaped Vessel (c. 1-600 CE). Waxing Crescent Moon; 13 Days to August Cross-Quarter Headnote In my personal opinion, much resisted by the chatbots I...

Jul 1900

Week 28: Redcurrants, Maud Grieve, The Ohio Agricultural Experiment Station

Fig. 1. “Fay’s Prolific,” from Fruit Culture, Volume 2 (Scranton, Pennsylvania: International Textbook Company, 1913), Section 19. Waning Crescent Moon; 21 Days to August Cross-Quarter Day Headnote...

Jul 1100

This Week: Curating an Earthly Book of Hours

Taking a week away from the species to make some progress on a side project. I started this Lectio Terra project over the winter, after struggling to finish a short essay around the feelings that “we...

Jul 514

Week 27: Serviceberry, Robin Wall Kimmerer, K.M. Wiegand

Cover Image. “Amelanchier Canadensis,” Plate CXCIV from Charles Sprague Sargent, The Silva of North America, Vol. IV: Rosaceae-Saxifragaceae(Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1892), p. 133. Waning Gibbous...

Jun 3010

Week 25: Maculae Solares, Galileo Galilei feat. The Roman Inquisition, Simon Barraclough

Cover Image. Richard William Seale, “The Course of the Solar Maculae over the Sun’s Disk” (n.d.). Waxing gibbous moon; summer solstice. Headnote A weather update from outer space: We are more than...

Jun 2200

Week 24: Wool Sower Wasp, E.P. Felt, Francesco Redi of Arezzo

Cover Image. “Oak Galls,” from Millett Taylor Thompson, An Illustrated Catalogue of American Insect Galls, ed. E.P. Felt (Nassau, New York: Rensselaer Co., 1915), p. 71.* Waxing Crescent Moon; 3 Days...

Jun 1800

Welcome!

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...

Jun 710
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