EcoArt: Paint Nature on Old, Ugly Walls

                                                                          EcoArt 

Paint Nature on Old, Ugly Walls

"Make a forest grow on dead concrete;

in our hearts, joy and reverence." - avr

Wall Murals painted by Dr Abe V Rotor

A child from the neighborhood delights in hugging a make-believe 

concrete tree before a wall mural background painted by the author 

at his residence in QC Metro Manila

The magic of art is transformation:

ugly to beautiful,

ruthless to kindness,

useless to valuable,

aesthetic to functional,

dull to creative,

academic to practical,

prosaic to expressive,

static to dynamic,

passive to active

fantastic to realistic,

inertia to momentum,

ad infinitum.

"We build too many walls and not enough forests." 

(A nature-inspired twist on Isaac Newton's famous bridge quote)

Cover the scars of the city with the wildness of the earth.

Concrete can bleed, but concrete can also bloom.

Abandoned walls, visible and invisible,

disturb our peace, but who cares?

The essence of mythology and history,

 forgotten in time and space.

Relics and ruins these walls stand for,

affront to dignity and beauty;

cruel to the eye, fateful and uncaring,  

waking up our guardian's  duty.

Outer side is replica of the inner side,

like Blake's analogy of a dog 

starving at its master's gate predicts

the ruin of state, a prologue.

Art, art, wake up to this urgent call,

cover the scars of indifference,

make a forest grow on dead concrete,

in our hearts, joy and reverence.

"Imagine a city where everyone could draw whatever they liked... 

awash with a million colors." — Adapted from Banksy, a pseudonymous England-based street artist, political activist, and film director. He has never publicly confirmed his identity.

Bring home the stream, valley, trees 

filled with birds and breeze;

art, for thou art sacred and beautiful,

to these children after school.

"Painting from nature is not copying the object, it’s realizing one’s sensations."

— Paul Cézanne (French Impressionist painter)

   Old wall transformed into waterfall,

      for birds to gather from the sky,

   abode in the wildlife like our home,

     all creatures that crawl and fly.

"If you can paint one leaf, you can paint the world." 

— John Ruskin, an English polymath – a writer, lecturer, 

art historian, art critic, draughtsman and philanthropist. Wikipedia

Picnic by a wall mural of nature,

game and make-believe gesture.

"Nature is painting for us, day after day, pictures of infinite beauty." — John Muir,

"Father of the National Parks", a Scottish-born American naturalist, author, environmental philosopher, botanist, zoologist, glaciologist, and early advocate for the preservation of wilderness in the United States. Wikipedia

Imagine the wall, bare and empty,

without these kids, jolly and happy.

"To the artist there is never anything ugly in nature." — Auguste Rodin

(French sculptor generally considered the founder of modern sculpture.)

*Painting a nature mural on a cracked, weathered, or "ugly" wall is a powerful act of transformation. It uses the organic textures of decay to breathe new life into a space.

Here are curated quotes and sayings—ranging from art history masters to urban poetry—perfect for pairing with, or inspiring, a nature wall transformation. AI Overview

"I paint flowers so they will not die." — Frida Kahlo,

(Mexican painter whose were greatly inspired by the nature and artifacts of Mexico.) 

Natural and Planned Obsolescence (Self-administered test True or False, 25 Items)

Natural and Planned Obsolescence

(Self-administered test True or False, 25 Items)

Dr Abe V Rotor

Purchases must be well planned. Customers must be meticulous. Buying can be programmed. Don’t make haste, haste makes waste. Waste is the result of planned obsolescence - served in advance.

1.Obsolescence is a natural phenomenon – things get old, fail to function and deteriorate. Nothing man-made remains forever functional and efficient.

Premature obsolescence is a major factor in garbage/pollution  buildup
in our society today.

2. Obsolescence occurs when certain parts of a machine breaks down disabling the whole system. This is the basis for producers to take advantage through what we call planned obsolescence.

3. A particular item becomes functionally obsolete due to natural causes or planned design to terminate its function before its due time.

4. It is now the chance of amateur photographers to buy film cameras which were very expensive before digital cameras were introduced in the market.

5. Books are becoming less and less popular in lieu of electronic publishing, except encyclopedias which continue to be published in print.  

6. Planned obsolescence victimizes consumers, not only because of the premature failure of an item they buy, but they bear the cost of research and development of new products – without their knowing it.

7. Planned obsolescence diminishes demand by discouraging purchasers to buy again and sooner.

8. A leading brand cannot afford to resort to planned obsolescence, because of the prestige it maintains. At any rate it can always depend on its established customers.

9. The more we advance technologically, the more planned obsolescence will thrive.

10. Socialist societies like North Korea adopt one-policy programs, such as common dress code, common transport systems, and the like. This is not a practice in democratic societies.


11. There are batteries for electronic devices made of dangerous metals such as Cadmium, Mercury and Lithium, which after their use are left dangerously in the hands of the purchaser. There is not the responsibility of the producers.

Obsolete technology in sugarcane milling results in low output and heavy pollution. Calatagan, Batangas. Photo by the author.

12. We can economize on the use of flashlight and penlight – for electronics too - batteries if only there is a built-in meter, and that the price difference between disposable and rechargeable is afforded by ordinary users.

13. Every modern household faces a dilemma on how to dispose so many non-functional items – from underused notebooks, manuals, to unserviceable appliances to souvenir items we do not wish to part.

14. One solution is to organize garage sale independently or in group – as community project.

15. Altruism and benevolence can be tapped from our character and values if only we are courageous to part with our possessions that have very little value left. This is also to free us from the uncomfortable memories of having been a victim of planned obsolescence.

16. Purchases must be well planned. Customers must be meticulous. Buying can be programmed. Don’t make haste, haste is waste. Waste is the advance result of planned obsolescence.

17. “Waste is something we do not yet know its use.” So goes the saying. With planned obsolescence, waste is something you anticipate to happen when you buy an item.”

18. When buying a machine or equipment, beware of the catch. The machine is just a decoy that the purchaser becomes solely dependent on the supplier of that machine. Take as examples: color ink is many times more expensive than the printer; a brand new drum of a duplicating machine is more expensive than the machine itself. This is not only planned obsolescence, this is modus operandi. 

Many printers today are disposable in favor of evolving designs or systems.
 Not only that, their ink is exclusive to a particular brand and are very expensive.

19. If we are not willing victim of planned obsolescence go back to the province and live a simple life.

20. Whether we like it or not we have to adapt to postmodernism. We need ITM, we have PIN, we pass through monitoring systems, eat fast food, listen music on MP3 non-stop, take the LRT-MRT, have breakfast in Tokyo, lunch in the US. We are part of the whole complex system of capitalism, run by planned obsolescence in varying degrees and applications.

Chances are that batteries are discarded even if they are still good.  A built-in charge indicator would help users save millions of pesos worth of batteries. 

  21. If we make a thing very durable, some time, somehow we will be overtaken by newer, more efficient, versatile models. There are photographic equipment which simply became totally obsolete. So with audio-video equipment. This justifies planned obsolescence per se.

22. Style obsolescence makes old-looking clothing the "in-thing," colonial designs are coming back, the classics once more fill the air lane, Shakespeare and Da Vinci are still relevant, and the like.

23. There is the so-called National Obsolescence Center or NOC – to provide an easily accessible, proactive obsolescence management service – but this has no teeth, so to speak because of its pioneering nature and limited power and application.. We do not have such an office or organization in the Philippines.

  

 Children are ultimately the victims of planned obsolescence. Garbage dumps at Sta Fe, Argentina (left) and  New Delhi, India 

24. America is the most wasteful country in the world, from food to fuel, amount of waste generated. It is the origin of a wasteful life summed as “use-and-throw-away-society.” This Western model is losing support during economic crisis.

25. Planned obsolescence involves social and ethical responsibility. It is therefore a sin – a cardinal sin. Amendments to such sin is far reaching. First, "Love your Fellowmen," Second, "Don’t be a Waste Maker." Third, and the most basic, "Be truthful." This applies to all of us who have been given the honor and privilege to produce something for somebody to use. The imprimatur of a good name must go with the product and service. x x x

ANSWERS: False, 4, 5 (Britannica has stopped printing), 7, 8 (in the long run, it will lose in the competition), 19 F(We are still victims, but we can minimize the impact of planned obsolescence on our lives.), and 21 (the end does not justify the means), 22T (In 2004. Americans threw out 315 million computers, in 2005 – 100 million cell phones, most were still usable, and they contain permanent biological toxins.) ; True for the rest of the questions.
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“Waste is something we do not yet know its use.” So goes the saying. With planned obsolescence, waste is something you anticipate to happen when you buy an item.”
------------------------------------------------
RATING: 
23- 25 Outstanding - never a victim – resource person
20-22 Very Good - good model against PO
17-19 Good - discerning, analytical
14-16 Fair - potential victim
13 and below 13 - vulnerable victim to planned obsolescence. Listen to Paaralang Bayan.sa Himpapawid

Vocabulary Exercise: How many words can you build from OBSOLESCENCE? Minimum of three letters to a word.
 ----------------------------------------------
Planned obsolescence involves social and ethical responsibility. It is therefore a sin – a cardinal sin. Amendments to such sin is far reaching. 

• First, "Love your Fellowmen," 
• Second, "Don’t be a Waste Maker." 
• Third, and the most basic, "Be truthful." 

This applies to all of us who have been given the honor and privilege to produce something for somebody to use. The imprimatur of a good name must go with the product and service.
------------------------------------------------
Living with Nature School on Blog
Lesson on former Paaralang Bayan.sa Himpapawid (School on Air) with Ms Melly C Tenorio 738 KHz AM 8 to 9 evening class, Monday to Friday

Ode to a painting: Take Me Back to the Country

                                                             Ode to a painting

Take Me Back to the Country

Happy Childhood in the Country

“Joyful moments of childhood are most precious, ephemeral yet eternal. The child in each one of us lives on to the golden years of life.” avr

Painting and Poem by Dr Abe V Rotor

Happy Childhood in the Country, acrylic on canvas (58” x 33”)

AVRotor 2019

Take me back to the country far away from the city,

where sound is music, nature's canvas the landscape,

where the mountains, meadows and rivers are green;

where there are no walls, roofs, and bars to escape.

Take me back to the country far away from the crowd,

where I'm not just a part, where I am myself again;

where there is no high rise, where the cottage reigns,

where home is nature as I open the window pane.

Take me back to the country far away from forgetting,

the cheerful child in me many, many years back;

flying kites at harvest time, fishing in the summer,

where school is far, yet learning is not what I lack.

Take me back to the country far away from the town,

where cars can't follow, where affluence has no place;

where commerce is simple, where wealth is not gold,

where living is not a show, where every meal a grace.

Take me back to the country far away from the race,

where I can compete best with myself, not with others;

where I can learn more the ways of nature, not of men;

where civilization begins once more at its borders. ~

October 2026 is Museum and Galleries Month: Theme “Bridging Divides: Preserving Traditions, Fostering Innovation”

October 2026 is Museum and Galleries Month

“Bridging Divides: Preserving Traditions, 

Fostering Innovation”

Dr Abe V Rotor

Living with Nature School on Blog

 

*Museum and Galleries Month is celebrated every October in the Philippines under Presidential Proclamation No. 798 (1991), highlighting the nation’s art, culture, and heritage through free exhibits, special programs, and nationwide museum events.

  

Part 1 - Farmers' Museum (NFA Grains Museum)
Part 2 - "A museum will, like any living thing, change and grow.” - Smithsonian
Part 3 - The Art of Diorama: Museum of Natural History, UPLB Laguna
Part 4 - UNP Students Visit the Living with Nature Center, San Vicente, Ilocos Sur 

Part 5 -  Relevance of Community Museum and Library Today

Part 6 - The Living with Nature Library

Part 7 - Rock Collection: Study and Hobby 

ANNEX - Famous Quotations about Museums

Part 1 - Farmers' Museum (NFA Grains Museum)

Museum in honor of the Filipino Farmer re-opened after 30 Years.

The ingenuity at the grassroots cannot be underestimated. Farmers' technology developed with the birth of agriculture in the Fertile Crescent thousands of years ago, and spread throughout the world to the present time. 

National Food Authority Grains Industry Museum

NFA Regional Office, Cabanatuan, Nueva Ecija 

NFA Museum at NFA Regional Office, Cabanatuan City

Mechanical dryer for palay, corn and beans

Prototype two-stroke diesel engine, prime mover for milling.

Donated by the late Bonifacio Tambot, Binalonan, Pangasinan

DIORAMA: The flagship of the Marcos administration Masagana 99, a nationwide

 rice production program that made the Philippines a net exporter of rice in the later part of the seventies to the eighties.

The re-opening of the museum signifies the revival of the original objectives of the museum, which the author envisioned and pursued as its first curator in the early 1980s.  

Featured in the Grains, official publication of the National Food Authority, the NFA Grains Industry Museum with address at the Regional Office in Cabanatuan City (NE) is now inviting students, scholars, researchers, and ordinary folks, even while restoration is on-going. 

The feature story is quoted in part, as follows:  (December 2016 Vol. 44, No. 4), written by Ms Lina G Reyes and Ms Josephine C Bacungan), 

"Old farm tools and artifacts had been sitting quietly, gathering dust at the dilapidated museum of the Central Luzon Regional office in Cabanatuan City. National Food Authority Grains Industry Museum was a brainchild of then NFA Extension Director Abercio V Rotor with a vision to highlight the evolution of the rice industry through various images on production, post-harvest activities, processing, storage and marketing /distribution of rice and other grains .  It was intended to serve as NFA's contribution to the preservation of cultural traditions particularly in the agricultural landscape.  It operated for sometime but was closed down due to lack of funds and trained personnel to maintain it.  But thanks to he history-loving team of Director Amadeo de Guzman and Assistant Regional Director Serafin Manalili, and then Asst Director Mar Alvarez, et al ... "(the whole staff of the NFA regional and NFA provincial offices.) 

Rare Artifacts   

Operated by hand this native rice mill made of wood and bamboo separates the husk from the grain, leaving the grain intact with its bran.

Brown rice or pinawa dehusker made of bamboo and hardened earth with hardwood grinder displayed at the former Farmers' Museum of the National Food Authority in Cabanatuan City.c 1981 

The bran contains minerals, vitamins, oil, and digestible fiber which conventional rice mills removed during polishing. Polishing removes the bran leaving the grain white and polished. In the process, much of the grains is broken, particularly the defective and immature ones chalky and powdery.  It is the bran that gives the nutritious tiki-tiki which is extracted in the final boiling stage in cooking rice. Tiki-tiki was developed by a Filipino scientist, Dr. Manuel Zamora, a cheap and practical source of infant food supplement which saved thousands of babies during the second World War. It was later popularized as United Tiki-tiki. . 

 Biggest wooden harrow (suyod) with a span of two meters, more than twice the size of a typical harrow for upland farming.  



The harrow is of two designs and make. One with iron pegs (left) is used on wet paddy. It serves as harrow and leveler.  The second is made of bamboo with natural and embedded pegs used as harrow for the upland.  

Author demonstrates a rare wooden planter with a sliding wooden block at the middle. The block creates a tic-tac sound to let know the worker is busy on the job, while the deep sound warns birds and rodents to keep away from the newly planted seeds. The block vibrates the stake shaking off clinging soil and dirt before it is thrust to make the next hole. Whoever put this mechanism into multiple and unified uses must be a true genius. 

At the background are naturally shaped hame* made of bamboo.  At the foreground is the mould (cross section) showing the formed hame. The process involved is simple.  The mould is placed atop an emerging shoot.  The shoot grows through the mould and grows to maturity. One or two years after, the bamboo is cut with the mould, and cured and seasoned for durability all in the natural way.  (Hame is a curved harness that fits over the nape of a draft animal like carabao and bullock. Hame for the horse is made of two wooden pieces, padded and clamped together around its neck.) 

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All over the world there are similarities, based on a general pattern, save variations for ease and comfort in usage, which we call today ergonomics, Thus primitive farmers were the founders of this new science. Pride in the farmer can be read on face on discovering these simple tools displayed in the museum.   
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Native raincoats made of leaves of anahaw (Livistona rotundifolia), cowhide, and woven bamboo slats, with matching headgears likewise made of native materials.  Foreground: Sleds, one made of bamboo (left) and the other of wood. 

These sets of mortar and pestle in different designs came from different regions of the country, principally for dehusking palay into rice, and making rice flour. Other uses include  cracking beans such as mungo, and grinding corn into grits and bran. 

Photo below was taken just after the inauguration of the Museum (1982). The author (left) shows new collection to Dr Romualdo M del Rosario (in barong), deputy director of the National Museum, who helped in setting up the museum. 

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The ingenuity at the grassroots cannot be underestimated. Farmers' technology developed with the birth of agriculture in the Fertile Crescent thousands of years ago, and spread to many parts of the world. The commonality of inventions is more on function, rather than scientific explanation, the latter serving as basis in improvement and diversification.

Rice Industry Showcase
The Farmers' Museum of the then National Grains Authority, now National Food Authority, was put up in response to the administration's thrust in food self-sufficiency.  It was during the time the country gave emphasis on developing cultural pride as a nation and people, as evidenced by the expansion of the National Museum, the putting up of the Philippine Convention Center, and the National Art Center on Mt Makiling, among others, during the administration of the late President Ferdinand E Marcos. The Farmers' Museum occupied the right wing of the Regional NFA Building in Cabanatuan City for two decades, until it closed down.  It was once a pride of the agency, the centerpiece of visitation by foreign dignitaries, convention participants, tourists, professors and students, and most especially farmers who found the museum not only as a showcase of the agricultural industry, but as a hallmark of their being the "backbone of the nation." AVR   

There are six dioramas, four of these are shown in these old photographs. A wall mural meets the visitor on entering the museum.  Indigenous farm tools and implements are lined on the foreground.  The dioramas are grouped at the center of the cubicles.   

 Rice Industry Dioramas 
                           
                            One of the six dioramas, Rice farming on the Banaue rice terraces

Rainfed (sahod ulan) farming dominates the uplands and hillsides. 

Good harvest depends on generous amount and distribution of 

rainfall during the monsoon. Since ancient times festivals implore 

providence for bountiful harvest. This practice still exists especially 

among the  minorities like the Yakans.  

World famous rice terraces in Banaue in the Cordillera have been declared World Heritage by UNESCO. Rice farming on the terraces is as old as the terraces believed to be as old as the Pyramids of Egypt, and much older than the Great Wall of China. Science is still studying the sustainability of these terraces. 

 The Encomienda System dominated agriculture during Spanish rule over the

 islands for more than three centuries. The friars and Spanish officials were the encomienderos, similar to hacienderos.   Although the system underwent land reform, it still persists to this day under corporate umbrella such as the case of Del Monte pineapple plantation. Hacienda Luisita in Tarlac still retains some features of the system.                          

                  

This mural was destroyed when the wall it was painted on had to undergo 

major repairs.

                               

How primitive are farmers' tools and implements? The animal-drawn sled predates the wheel cart, and has not changed since its invention thousands of years ago.  It is still used in the remote countryside. 

 

Brain coral for shelling corn raises eyebrow to the city bred.  Biggest iron bar scale (timbangan), probably is another item for the Book of Guinness. 

“Education is the lifeblood of museums. Museum education has the power and the responsibility to do the challenging inner work of tackling tough topics and turning them into teachable moments... If we truly believe in the power of cultural institutions to impact communities and engage authentically with social justice issues, if we believe in museums’ capacity to bring about social change, improve cultural awareness, and even transform the world, than we must also believe that our internal practices have an impact, and must act according to the changes we seek.” ― Monica O Montgomery

“Closing a museum to save money is like holding your breath to save oxygen...” ― Nanette L. Avery 

 "A museum will, like any living thing, change and grow.”

“A visit to a museum is a search for beauty, truth, and meaning in our lives. Go to museums as often as you can.” – Maira Kalman

Dr Abe V Rotor 

                    “I paint flowers so they will not die.”– Frida Kahlo

Monet in Paris Museum, Brisbane Australia

Isn’t a museum something concerned with antiques and the things of the past?” A colleague once asked me.

“No, no.” I sounded defensive. Then I began scanning his thoughts. There I saw the image of past civilization and institutions. No wonder he was telling of the Egyptian museum, the Aztecs in the Mexican Museum, the American Indians in the Smithsonian, the Renaissance Gallery, and the dinosaurs in the Chinese Museum in Beijing. All these have long lost their glory and now they are remembered in glass cases and fossils. Then my thoughts turned to SPCQ. Why a museum on its 50th anniversary? My friend flashed a devilish smile.

He played the devil’s advocate; I played the student’s role. He raised the mercury, so with my enthusiasm. I did my assignment. There are museums like the giant Smithsonian Complex and the provincial Manitoba museum in Winnipeg that do not only focus on the past. The space museum projects man’s lofty dreams to conquer space. Hirschhorn is a gallery that is both subjective and prospective, veering from the traditional and classic. The Tel-Aviv museum features a documentary of the Iran-Iraq war. The trend of museums today is to link the past and the present, and beat the path for the future. In no other time in history have museums tried to project the fullest breadth of human accomplishments and potentials. They exude a touch of reverence to the Creator, reflecting his faith in the institutions which he built in spite of their imperfections, and man’s glory and admittance of failure – all these point out to one thing: that he is the most special creature that ever lived.

I remember Dr. Dillon Ripley’s words. “ if it is truly active and reflective of its own time, a museum will, like any living thing, change and grow.”

Dynamism lies in keeping abreast with the times - our fast changing modern times, when man in the last two centuries alone, has discovered more things than what all his ancestors probably did.

Humble Beginning of a Museum

In the mind of Dr. Ripley, of course, is one of the magnitude and prestige of the Smithsonian in which he had long been the curator and director. Or those of the internationally known institutions like the Chicago Museum of Natural History, or the Vatican Museum. Then there is Rikj Museum of Holland and the great Louvers of France. Name a country and you will see the finest of her culture in the native land’s museums. But the entire thing has had its early beginning - most probably like how the SPCQ museum got started.

The question is that, “How can a newly born show its worth?” But who does not love a baby? The baby itself is love. He holds the key of idealism in this world of ours. The great promise of God in man is mirrored in his smile and innocence. And he has all the potential that this world would be better to live in with him, as he grows, as he lightens the flame of idealism which in many of us adults had long been extinguished. The SPCQ museum is a baby that rekindles our heart, that tells us that this world will go on despite its imperfection – because we know how to start life again, though the rebirth of faith and hope. 

Note: Excerpt from an interview with the author during the inauguration of the SPCQ Museum in 1994

 

 

 

Queensland Museum of Natural History, Brisbane 2023

 

Seven Sisters, sculpture by Julie Lluch Dalena, detail; Life size icons 

at Museum's entrance greet visitor. Former SPUQC Museum 

 

           Rare starfish. Spines make a fine wind chime. Porcupine, endangered                                                                         indigenous animal

 The Art of Diorama: 

Museum of Natural History,

UPLB Laguna

  

A diorama is a miniature three-dimensional scene, for example, in a museum, in which models of figures are arranged against a background.

1. a miniature three-dimensional scene, in which models of figures are seen against a background

2. a picture made up of illuminated translucent curtains, viewed through an aperture

3. a museum display, as of an animal, of a specimen in its natural setting

4. cinema - a scene produced by the rearrangement of lighting effects Collins English Dictionary

Philippine Eagle lords over the vast landscape atop Mt Apo, its home. Fewer and fewer sightings tell us the bird may soon join the list of extinct animals - if we don't protect its remaining population estimated to be less than a thousand

The idea of a diorama is likened to a showcase in a mall. It is an enclosure of glass, multi-dimensional so that the viewer enjoys a natural panoramic scenery - foreground and background, ground and ceiling, and a spacious center view for the main subject. From one side to the other, and back, the viewer finds freedom of vision to explore the whole diorama.

Natural history dioramas gain attention to naturalness. The stuff animals look real, a pond reveals the secret of its bottom. Water always looks fresh and invigorating. Trees and the whole vegetation retain their freshness. Depth of field leads the eye to the farthest point disappearing in thin air.

Emphasis is given to interaction of the living with the non-living world, the interrelationships of organisms in food chains and food webs, and by the flow of energy from one organism to another.

A diorama artist is multi-skilled: he is a sculptor, a painter and an architect. Above all, he is a scientist who understands the working of biology and ecology. He must be a naturalist, and being one, must uphold the philosophy of reverence for life that makes man the custodian of creation.

The Museum of Natural History is an educational center with a sprawling natural setting - Mt. Makiling, a tropical rainforest reached in three hours from Manila. It is a world-famous center of studies and researches in agriculture, environment and many related sciences, including humanities.

I recommend the place for a whole day educational field trip. An itinerary includes the Mt Makiling Botanical Garden, tour of UPLB campus (agriculture and forestry) and the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI). Special lectures and guided tours may be arranged. Packed lunch under the trees is a rare experience. Nature photography, is at its best - so with on-the-spot composition (drawing, musical sketch, poetry).

“If you don’t know history, then you don’t know anything. You are a leaf that doesn’t know it is part of a tree.” – Michael Crichton

The Hornbill is another endangered Philippine bird. The first and last time I saw hornbills was in the seventies at the tip of Luzon along the treacherous Patapat road joining the Ilocos Region and Cagayan Valley. They are a closely knit family moving on the forest canopy. Their call is heard far and wide. It is resonated by their big hollow bills and echoed by big trees and cliffs.

Cave bats in a simulated habitat. Being nocturnal, the bats hunt from flying insects in the dark locating their prey through echolocation, the principle of the radar.Their droppings make a huge guano deposit mined for agriculture.

A rare rodent that lives on trees in Palawan, the last bastion of rare 

animal species, among them the porcupine, mouse deer and anteater.

Nesting pigeons keep vigil for intruders and predators. Masters of camouflage they blend with the surroundings and remain extremely quiet and still at the sign of danger. But when imminent, the mother bird stealthily dashes to another place and decoys away the attention of the enemy.

Instead of a diorama, the actual skeleton, and replica, of a whale are displayed for anatomical and morphological study. In the Smithsonian the blue whale, the biggest creature that ever lived on earth spans the length of a hall the size of a typical chapel.

Tree mushroom garden

A cluster of nature dioramas, each an ecosystem pristine and unspoiled.

Centennial celebration of UPLB, pictorials at the museum's lobby.

                           Author and wife are among the countless visitors.

“The best introduction to art is to stroll through a museum.

The more art you see, the more you’ll learn to define your own taste.”

– Jeanne Frank

 University of Northern Philippines

    Students Visit the Living with Nature Center 

San Vicente, Ilocos Sur        

 

Students in fine art at the University of Northern Philippines visit 

the author's family art gallery, museum and reading center.

 

 

Representative works of the author showing conventional and modern art.

 

 

Lighter moments at the Art Gallery and Botanical Garden (arboretum and fishpond)

            

                                                                         

The Green House 

(Side Gate and Street Corner Views}

“It's a fort of green trees around,

that buffer against noise and wind,

filter dusts and glare of the sun,

residence for austere living” - avr

 

Integrated Children's Workshop at the San Vicente Botanical Garden , San Vicente, Ilocos Sur.

On-the-Spot Workshop at the Botanical Garden and Arboretum 

"Take time out from TV, computer, malling;

life's so dull, busy yet empty;

The left brain's overworked, the right idle,

growing up is a sad story." - avr

"Every man's life ends the same way. It is only the details of how he lived and how he died that distinguish one man from another. Never confuse movement with action. The best people possess a feeling for beauty, the courage to take risks, the discipline to tell the truth, the capacity for sacrifice." - Ernest Hemingway, The Old Man and the Sea

A visit to an 18th century Basi wine cellar 

San Vicente, Ilocos Sur 

 

Original basi wine cellar and jars (burnay) date back to the

 18th century across six generations of continuous operation, 

interrupted only by the Second World War for five years. 

 

The cellar attracts researchers, students and tourists for its historical 

significance with the Spanish Galleon Trade, and technology of 

the old folks in making basi and its related products, principally 

vinegar (sukang Iloko).  

By now this jar of basi is 13 years old.  Unless opened, it remains longer 

in aging. The general rule is, the longer wine is aged, the more mellow it 

becomes.  It's not really so.  There are other factors to consider like 

damaged clay cap and leaching.  And there's the basic rule that "only 

good wine mellows with age" (So with man, they add.) 

Crystalline golden color and pleasant wine aroma meet the happy

connoisseur after the desired aging period is reached (at least two 

years in the case of Rotor Basi). Fresh and direct from the jar, the 

harvest is bottled, sealed and labelled (as shown below), according

 to customers' specifications intended for an occasion like

 wedding, Christmas, exhibit, and the like. 

House guest picks a fruit wine of his choice,  Fruit wine making 

follows the basic fermentation-aging process in basi making.

There are 20 kinds of fruit wine developed in this cellar from different 

fruits growing locally like macopa, aratiles, duhat and guyabano. 

Green Tunnel to the Living Room

(Floor-Wall-Ceiling Mural) 

"When life becomes unbearable living in a jungle of concrete;

when pressure of work is taking its toll and you may be the next,

don't tarry, reach out for the green tunnel." - avr 

 

Listen to the sea in a conch, dead the creature maybe;

Wash away your worries and anxiety.

For life is real, yet in scenes like these, is but fantasy;

It is how we live that holds the key. 

"The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, 

but in rising every time we fall." -Nelson Mandela

 

Modern art works by the author: Relief still life in acrylic, palette knife 

and hand painting; double-surface aquarium scene in acrylic on glass. 

 

 

Experimental paintings on glass by the author. Top left, clockwise: Telescopic view of  red sun under a huge tree; school of fish (How many fish can you count?); cinders after a brush fire; red seaweeds (Porphyra or gamet Ilk) under a magnifying lens.

 

Art is not a mirror held up to reality, but a hammer with which to shape it.

— Berthold Brecht

 

  

Expressionism - gateway of Impressionism to Abstract art

 

 

Discreet Nature in four views (Left, top, clockwise: Microscopic Volvox; juvenile seaweeds; meadow comes alive after the first rain in May; fungal mycelia on hamburger 

Vincent Van Gogh was both an impressionist and an expressionist. At the time, he would have considered himself to be an impressionist. Today, however, Van Gogh is considered one of the pioneers and founders of the expressionism movement.

 

Keyhole perspective appears to viewers in natural frames.

 It has a magnifying, as well as telescopic effect.

   

 

Details of wall mural painted by the author.  Left, a pair of kalaw or hornbill birds perched across a forest stream; upland landscape showing young hikers 

dwarfed by trees. 

 Conventional or traditional art gives a true picture of Nature as seen by the naked eye, viewed either as landscapes or ecosystems with details and special effects as influenced by the elements, season, and place. 

Green Tunnel 

Mural and Verse by Dr Abe V Rotor

When life becomes unbearable living in a jungle of concrete;

when pressure of work is taking its toll and you may be the next,

don't tarry, reach out for the green tunnel;

when the air is filled with smog and you hardly can breathe;

when crime grips the street, you feel you're no longer safe,

don't tarry, reach out for the green tunnel;

when you are losing your friends and you feel sad and lonely;

when you are no longer enjoying the so-called Good Life, 

don't tarry, reach out for the green tunnel;

when you ponder over the promise of afterlife as a tunnel, too; 

when there is time on earth to seek its living counterpart,

don't tarry, reach out for the green tunnel;

when you shall have found your way to this heaven on earth;

when and where man once found peace and contentment,

look back, but revere this green tunnel.

Exit door from the art gallery.

Country life mural graces the second floor of San Vicente municipal hall.  

                               

Students in fine art at the University of Northern Philippines visit 

the author's family art gallery, museum and reading center.

“Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain 

an artist once you we grow up.” – Pablo Picasso

 

Homage to an 18th century icon of the Resurrection.  

“It’s not a museum. It’s not a place of artifacts; it’s a place of ideas.”

– Jeanie Kahnke

*Abercio V Rotor, Ph.D. is the award-winning author of Living with Nature Handbook (Gintong Aklat Award 203), Living with Nature in Our Times (National Book Award 2006), and radio instructor of People’s School on Air (Paaralang Bayan sa Himpapawid, Gawad Oscar Florentino Award for Development Communication on radio). He is also author of other books in essays and poetry, and textbooks in Humanities and Literature. Dr Rotor is a professor at UST, a former director of NFA and consultant of the Philippine Senate. He is married to Cecilia A Rojas, CPA, MBA, CESO3, with whom they have three children: Matthew Marlo, Anna Christina, and Leo Carlo. The family hails from San Vicente, Ilocos Sur. 

Part 5

Relevance of Community Museum 

and Library Today

Original title: Books - the Greatest Treasure of Mankind

Dr Abe V Rotor

Author inspects books for his home library in San Vicente, Ilocos Sur.

 

 

Books are  the greatest treasure of mankind; reverence the greatest in heart and mind. ~

Author's Note: Expand your home library by linking it with online libraries here and abroad. A simplified digital system would make access easier and wider, and for purposes of saving old books electronically, among other advantages. Create a conducive-to-learn  "library" ambiance with properly arranged and catalogued materials. (Internet photos) ~

Books, once the privilege of a few in pre-printing machine era, each page painstakingly handwritten, each book a well-kept treasure.

Books, the authority, the final say, unquestioned, un-refuted, else any one rising contrary faces punishment, including death or damnation.

Books, the diary, the ledger, the document of conquest and discovery, of battles fought, often in favor of the writer and party.

Books, the novels that carry the greatest stories of all times are called classics, for which they are regarded timeless for their universal values.

Books, the epics of Homer, stories of the Grimm Brothers distilled from oral literature passed through generations to the present.

Books, written ahead of their time - Galileo's astronomy, Darwin's evolution, Martin Luther's Protestantism ignited dis-pleasured of the Church.

Books, bedtime stories, baby's introduction to the world, legends and fantasies that take young ones to the land of make believe.

Books, the record of ultimate scholarship, are the epitome of the greatest minds in

thesis and dissertation, theories and principles.

Books, the precursor of the Internet, the framework of the i-Pod, Tablet, Galaxy, and other gadgets that man becomes a walking encyclopedia.

Books, the progeny of the earliest forms of writing like the cuneiform, hieroglyphics, caves drawings, etchings, scrolls of the Dead Sea.

Books, that gave the idea and structure of the Wonders of the Ancient World, and the significance and belief for which they were built.

Books, that grew with knowledge, brought new schools and movements in arts and philosophy, in unending search for truth.

Books, the most widely read, the Bible; the shortest, Albert Einstein’s e=mc2, and book-to-cinema versions of Spielberg, Lucas, Cecile de Mills et al.

Books, the greatest treasure of mankind, its collective attributes as humanity, the very stimulus of man's rationality to rise above other creatures - and himself.

Books, that brought about man's disobedience to his creator, playing god, and questioning if god made man, or that man made god.

Books that enlighten man to care for the environment, guide the young and future generations to a better future, and lead man to save his own species from extinction.
-----------------
Author's Note: Herein below is one of the lists of top 100 books of the world. There is no standard for comparison, only preferences by different sources. However, there are books that consistently appear in many lists.

100 Most Influential Books Ever Written
by Martin Seymour-Smith

Note: This list is in chronological order. I've gotten e-mails from people who complain that there are too many religious books on the list. Say what you want, but you cannot deny that religion has been influential in human history. I'm sure that's what Seymour-Smith had in mind

1. The I Ching
2. The Old Testament
3. The Iliad and The Odyssey by Homer
4. The Upanishads
5. The Way and Its Power, Lao-tzu

6. The Avesta
7. Analects, Confucius
8. History of the Peloponnesian War, Thucydides
9. Works, Hippocrates
10. Works, Aristotle

11. History, Herodotus
12. The Republic, Plato
13. Elements, Euclid
14. The Dhammapada
15. Aeneid, Virgil

16. On the Nature of Reality, Lucretius
17. Allegorical Expositions of the Holy Laws, Philo of Alexandria
18. The New Testament
19. Lives, Plutarch
20. Annals, from the Death of the Divine Augustus, Cornelius Tacitus

21. The Gospel of Truth
22. Meditations, Marcus Aurelius
23. Outlines of Pyrrhonism, Sextus Empiricus
24. Enneads, Plotinus
25. Confessions, Augustine of Hippo

26. The Koran
27. Guide for the Perplexed, Moses Maimonides
28. The Kabbalah
29. Summa Theologicae, Thomas Aquinas
30. The Divine Comedy, Dante Alighieri

31. In Praise of Folly, Desiderius Erasmus
32. The Prince, Niccolò Machiavelli
33. On the Babylonian Captivity of the Church, Martin Luther
34. Gargantua and Pantagruel, François Rabelais
35. Institutes of the Christian Religion, John Calvin

36. On the Revolution of the Celestial Orbs, Nicolaus Copernicus
37. Essays, Michel Eyquem de Montaigne
38. Don Quixote, Parts I and II, Miguel de Cervantes
39. The Harmony of the World, Johannes Kepler
40. Novum Organum, Francis Bacon

41. The First Folio [Works], William Shakespeare
42. Dialogue Concerning Two New Chief World Systems, Galileo Galilei
43. Discourse on Method, René Descartes
44. Leviathan, Thomas Hobbes
45. Works, Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz

46. Pensées, Blaise Pascal
47. Ethics, Baruch de Spinoza
48. Pilgrim's Progress, John Bunyan
49. Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy, Isaac Newton
50. Essay Concerning Human Understanding, John Locke

51. The Principles of Human Knowledge, George Berkeley
52. The New Science, Giambattista Vico
53. A Treatise of Human Nature, David Hume
54. The Encyclopedia, Denis Diderot, ed
55. A Dictionary of the English Language, Samuel Johnson

56. Candide, François-Marie de Voltaire
57. Common Sense, Thomas Paine
58. An Enquiry Into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, Adam Smith
59. The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Edward Gibbon
60. Critique of Pure Reason, Immanuel Kant

61. Confessions, Jean-Jacques Rousseau
62. Reflections on the Revolution in France, Edmund Burke
63. Vindication of the Rights of Women, Mary Wollstonecraft
64. An Enquiry Concerning Political Justice, William Godwin
65. An Essay on the Principle of Population, Thomas Robert Malthus

66. Phenomenology of Spirit, George Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel

67. The World as Will and Idea, Arthur Schopenhauer
68. Course in the Positivist Philosophy, Auguste Comte
69. On War, Carl Marie von Clausewitz
70. Either/Or, Søren Kierkegaard

71. The Manifesto of the Communist Party, Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels
72. "Civil Disobedience," Henry David Thoreau
73. The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, Charles Darwin
74. On Liberty, John Stuart Mill
75. First Principles, Herbert Spencer

76. "Experiments with Plant Hybrids," Gregor Mendel
77. War and Peace, Leo Tolstoy
78. Treatise on Electricity and Magnetism, James Clerk Maxwell
79. Thus Spake Zarathustra, Friedrich Nietzsche
80. The Interpretation of Dreams, Sigmund Freud

81. Pragmatism, William James
82. Relativity, Albert Einstein
83. The Mind and Society, Vilfredo Pareto
84. Psychological Types, Carl Gustav Jung
85. I and Thou, Martin Buber

86. The Trial, Franz Kafka
87. The Logic of Scientific Discovery, Karl Popper
88. The General Theory of Employment, Interest, and Money, John Maynard Keynes
89. Being and Nothingness, Jean-Paul Sartre
90. The Road to Serfdom, Friedrich von Hayek

91. The Second Sex, Simone de Beauvoir
92. Cybernetics, Norbert Wiener
93. Nineteen Eighty-Four, George Orwell
94. Beelzebub's Tales to His Grandson, George Ivanovitch Gurdjieff
95. Philosophical Investigations, Ludwig Wittgenstein

96. Syntactic Structures, Noam Chomsky
97. The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, T. S. Kuhn
98. The Feminine Mystique, Betty Friedan
99. Quotations from Chairman Mao Tse-tung [The Little Red Book], Mao Zedong
100. Beyond Freedom and Dignity, B. F. Skinner

Source: Seymour-Smith, Martin. 100 Most Influential Books Ever Written. Secaucus, N.J.: Citadel Press, 1998. © 1998 Martin Seymour-Smith. List from the Internet ~

Part 6 - The Living with Nature Center Library

Collection of Books and References

  

  

  

  

   

 Rock Collection: Study and Hobby 

"All the lessons are in nature. You look at the way rocks are formed - the wind and the water hitting them, shaping them, making them what they are. Things take time, you know?" - Diane Lane

Dr Abe V Rotor

Petrified or fossilized wood.  Carbon dating process traces

the origin, age, and habitat of the specimen. 

Resin, exudate of Pine tree undergoing metamorphism into amber

Aggregate rocks in various compositions and structures. 

Unidentified layered rock, indicating geologic

history.  

This is not a fossil, but broken glazed jar often used to store sacred 

objects and remains, like an urn in earlier times. 

Soft wood fossil broken into two to find out what is really its interior made of.

Not so perfectly round but it served as canon ball in early times.

Picked from a dry river bed, this specimen is a result of continuous

and even abrasion as it travelled downstream.

Fo

Limestone undergoing metamorphism into marble which 

may take a very long time under favorable conditions.

Rock collection of a student attracted by the diversity of the specimens.

Brain coral in its early stage of fossilization.

Operculum of a large seashell undergoing erosion by the elements.

Note the counterclockwise spiral, a unique find. 

Shades of opal and glitter often make this petrified wood look 

valuable when cut and polished, and made into fancy jewelry.

This chalky fossil looks like elephant's task.

 Did elephants roam the countryside in prehistoric times? 

Early stone age tools, crude and unpolished,

but they served the purpose of hunting.

Mt Pinatubo's pyroclastic  rock mounted for the museum.  

The rock formed while still very hot, forming a porous texture. ~

 Floral arrangement of stones gathered from Bacnotan, La Union beach. 

A collection of rock samples at author's home,  

ANNEX - Famous Quotations about Museums

“The best introduction to art is to stroll through a museum.

The more art you see, the more you’ll learn to define your own taste.”

– Jeanne Frank

“I paint flowers so they will not die.”

– Frida Kahlo

“Painter, you are not a speaker! Paint so and be silent!”

– Salvador Dali

“It’s not a museum. It’s not a place of artifacts; it’s a place of ideas.”

– Jeanie Kahnke

“The modern world thinks of art as very important:

something close to the meaning of life.”

– Alain de Botton

“Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once you we grow up.”

– Pablo Picasso

“I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free.”

– Michelangelo

“I want to make of Impressionism an art as solid as that of the museums.”

– Paul Cézanne

“If you don’t know history, then you don’t know anything.

You are a leaf that doesn’t know it is part of a tree.”

– Michael Crichton

“Immature poets imitate; mature poets steal.”

– T. S. Eliot

“Which painting in the National Gallery would I save if there was a fire? The one nearest the door of course.”

– George Bernard Shaw

“What you are doing does not matter so much as what you are learning from doing it.

It is better not to know and to know that one does not know than presumptuously to attribute some random meaning to symbols.”

– Ancient Egyptian Proverb

“Art is limitation. The essence of every picture is the frame.”

– G. K. Chesterton

(More lessons are found in avrotornaturalism.blogspot.com)