The Imaginative Landscape - Recently Updated Pages

Ashleigh

biv0003 — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 02:28:52 CDT

Landscapes are not static, neutral places. We are able to transform them in our minds". Do you agree?

Our landscape is not a static and neutral place, it is an individuals perception of the world and the things in it. Throughout our experiences in life we are able to mould and transform its shape. it allows us to perceive something such as a sunset in a different way to the person next to us. One person may see it as a serene setting in which they can relax and kick back their feet, others may see it as a place for romance or a place that reminds them of heartbreak. Either way its is all different.

A persons imaginative landscape is an incredibly unique and personal experience. When we close our eyes at night, our dreams take us to whole new places. DId you ever ever realise that our dreams are part of our imaginative landscape??? The dreams of the night are our ability to bring our imagination to life. Although we know they aren't real, it is our way of connecting on a conscious level with hopes, aspirations, desires and fears that we may not take into account whilst we are awake. The imaginative landscape of a person whilst they are asleep opens up many avenues of thought that may not be considered during the day. Exploring our imaginative landscape is not only limited to when we are asleep, it takes part in every second of our day. We never lose a continuum of thought.

The mind of a person is so complex that is allows us to be influenced by imaginative landscape every second, minute and hour of the day. It can be described as a stream or river that flows constantly, the movement and flow never stops, it is continuously moving.
By using our imagination, the world is able to come to life, its not just a cluster of moving figures and objects in our visual field. Our imaginative landscape makes it personal and an intimate experience for each and every one of us. Without our imaginative landscape dreams and ideas wouldnt exist, and our world would remain in the same static position as back in caveman times. Soceity wouldnt develop and grown. Modern technologies such as mobile phones, internet and digital tv wouldnt exist. I doubt many people of a the younger generation could say that they could live without electricity and having the ability to turn on a light at the flick of a switch. Just think, none of this would or could have been possible if we didnt have an imaginative landscape that allows us to think above and beyond what we thought possible in the present time period.

Some thought provoking ideas here Ashleigh :)

"Sometimes seemingly peaceful landscapes can mask eerie and terrifying secrets". Discuss.

The landscape conceals many eerie and undesirable things; sugar coated in what we assume is beautiful. At first glance we may only perceive the serenity of our surroundings, and yet before we know it we are fooled. Just like our landscape, life stumbles us many times, it leads us on paths that seemingly are appealing and yet before we know it we wish we could go back. It is uncanny how our landscape can expose the very memories we wish we could erase, like the death of a child or mother, or a period in time where we proved to be at our weakest.

Just like our landscape, we as intelligent humans are able to mask on the surface who we really are. We can buy a new outfit, put on some makeup, or get a tattoo. It is so easy to change our physical appearance which people will automatically judge first, and yet to change our internal landscape we must draw from our experiences in life and allow them to mould our very thinkiing and the way we feel. It can almost be said that we have no control over our imaginative landscape, as for most of the time we are unaware of how it affects us.

The movie Jindabyne is the epitome of the statement above, what appears on the forefront to be a peaceful and tranquil town is riddled with predators and racial divisions. The opening scenes in the movie show a barb-wire fence, rusted from the harsh sun of the rural landscape that it divides, automatically we beg to question what it is either trying to hold in or what it is trying to fence out. In the background behind the fence we see a mass of boulders that conceal Gregory the haunting prsence that shadows over the whole movie. His murderous inclinations have tainted the lifes of the towns folk of Jindabyne, exposing the secrets they would rather forget.

“We make important connections with the landscape through our Imaginations”

"It is not what you look at that matters, it's what you see" (Henry David Thoreau)

The way in which we connect with our landscape is what ultimately effects what we see before us. Past experiences and memories are what enable us to reject or connect with the landscape, intepretting each detail into the meaningful landscapes that we see before us.

Calista

bui0001 — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 16:47:46 CDT

"Landscapes are not static, neutral places. We are able to transform them in our minds". Do you agree?

Landscapes are not neutral places, it is possible for us to transform our external landscape in our minds. Everyone has a different view on how a landscape is altered and many people imagine a different landscape everyday, we do it when we try to visual how an event will be set out, we transform the landscape when we renovate and we transform the landscape when we want to escape or are missing home. With the external landscape being changed every year from monderisation and from evironmental changes we can't say that landscapes are unchanging.

Each person will have a different perspective on a landscape depending on the environment in which they were raised. When I say 'environment in which they were raised', I mean the financial perspective of being raised. If your raised in a high class society you would most likely view a landscape different from a person who was raised in a middle class society.

When an event is being planned like a formal or a charity event, decorators or event planners will first visualise how they see the hall being set up. The event planners will brainstorm from the imagines they have created in their minds. It would be very hard to plan an event without imagining it first. The same goes for when we plan to renovate a house or a room. Many of us would imagine how the room would look, we would all have an idea as to how we want it to look and would expand on the imagine in our head.

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"Sometimes seemingly peaceful landscapes can mask eerie and terrifying secrets". Discuss

This statement is true in so many ways. Peaceful, quiet places can hide weird and frightening stories and secrets about people and their past.

As demonstrated in Ray Lawrance's film, Jindabyne, the peaceful and beautiful Snowy Mountains was in fact hiding a dead body. If it wasn't for the annual fishing trip, in which Stewart discovered Susan's body, no one may have ever found her body. The town of Jindabyne was also a landscape which held a terrifying secret. The town and its community served as a mask for Susan's murdererl; to not draw attention to himself, he worked as a handyman helping people around the town such as fixing the burst pipes in the church. The image at the beginning of the movie seems quiet and peaceful but the music accompanying it suggests otherwise, as the camera zooms in the audience finds that an old man is hiding behind the large rocks ready to attack. To some of the younger innocent minds such as Tom's, Lake Jindabyne hides an errie secret. Stewart tell's Tom that there is a city at the bottom of the lake while Calyn Calandria elaborates on this fact and says that there are zombies and people who are still alive and living there. Tom's imagination runs wild and he is terrified of the lake after being told these stories. From the film Jindabyne it can be seen that even in a small community in rural Australia, peaceful landscapes can be used to hide terrifying secrets.

A physical landscape can be manipulated to conceal its past. Those who have witnessed horrifying events that had once occurred at a particular location will process the images and relive them in their imaginative landscape. However the memories that become stored in a persons mind can also be passed on to other people or to the next generation. Carl Jung suggested that on an unconscious level, people collect the images and stories of places and experiencess of other people through the vivid stories they are told; this is referred to as the collective unconscious. Conversley, individuals are able to collect memories through media and school teachings of historic events, which is referred to as the collective memory by Maurice Halbwachs. Both the collective unconsious and the collective memories can be used to expose the past that a peaceful landscape may hold. For example, the trenches and the holes from bombs which once dominated the outskirts of France in World War I have now been covered up and gardens built. Individuals who were once apart of the war may relive the events that occurred in the landscape while those who have collected images will feel as if they know very well of the secrets that this landscape holds.

Monique DeM...

dem0052 — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 16:47:29 CDT

"Landscapes are not static, neutral places. We are able to transform them in our minds". Do you agree?

Landscapes can be what ever you interperate them to be. Still, moving, rapidly changing or not changing at all. The strong imagination is something that you can change your own view and it can take you places further than the physical environment. A landscape is not static as it changes rapidly world wide.
Every place is different and changes through the eyes of the one viewing it. The landscapes are altered in our minds by an object, a memory or even a certain smell.
A landscape can be evolved into anything you imagine it to be.

"Sometimes seemingly peaceful landscapes can mask eerie and terrifying secrets". Discuss.

My parents were yelling and screaming and had been for hours. I needed to escape, escape from this harsh reality that i was living in. I felt like my room was closing in and it was getting darker. I ran out of the house with a bang, I had had enough of the yelling so I ran, I ran as far as I could untill i couldnt breath. I ran to my favourite place, the peaceful landscape which I escape to when these..... to be continued

Chanelle

wal0009 — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 16:47:17 CDT

"Landscapes are not static, neutral places. We are able to transform them in our minds". Do you agree?

I dont believe that Landscapes are still places that are neutral throughout the world, landscapes vary based on where you are and depending on your own use of imagination.
Landscapes throughout different continents have a different mood, sense of feeling and interpretation.
By the use of our own imagination and our minds we are able to create landscapes that we dream about going to, hope for in the future and sometimes its just a false creation.

The same Landscape can be viewed by people though it can be analysed in many different forms, for example if a group of tourists were scuba diving in the great barrier reef one might feel a sense of calmness, relaxation while swimming in the ocean and observing the sea life, where another might feel freaked out, scared and hyperventalate as a result of seeing large and colourful fish.

I LOVE PERSIANS

landscapes that are transformable in our minds means that they are not static or neutral places.

Jessica

rus0004 — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 16:47:05 CDT

"Landscapes are not static, neutral places. We are able to transform them in our minds". Do you agree?

Landscapes change. They are not exactly what we imagine and yet they take us by surprise. A landscape in the imaginary sense can be any shape, size or form. It can be anything at all, an object or a memory. An imaginary landscape is most likely a place in which you feel total relaxation and feel completly safe and comfortable. I believe that we are able to transform them in our mind to make them whatever we want. Its not often people dream, for instance, about things they are afraid of. They normally create a thought, or image in their mind in which they will dream about in order to have a peaceful sleep. Landscapes are all about the mind. No one else is able to see what we see and imagine. So of course landscapes change, they change to suit our moods, our feelings, our views, our current situation. Everything is part of the mental map of our imagination and the landscape we create.

did i do this right ?

Yes, good thoughts, Jessica! Just remember to say the 'imaginative landscape' when referring to the mind or the imagination. Ms. Bradbury :)

"Sometimes seemingly peaceful landscapes can mask eerie and terrifying secrets". Discuss.

A perfect paradise can turn into hell on earth within seconds. The Indonesian earthquake that created the Tsunami 2006 washed away honeymooners, famillies

Jacqui

nic0058 — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 16:46:57 CDT

"Landscapes are not static, neutral places. We are able to transform them in our minds". Do you agree?

I believe that our landscape is influenced by our imagination and perception. This is based on our life experiences, religious views, economic circumstances, emotions and relationships. Your culture and where you are born can also influence your perception. Our imagination offers insight into the human condition, allowing the minds to be transported to another place that you would rather be.

In Fly Away Peter, Jim was able to escape his life at war by taking the wetlands with him. He would imagine the birds and nature in his mind as a source of comfort, and this got him through the war.

In Jindabyne, Claire and Stewart were not native to the Jindabyne landscape, so they did not view or feel it in the same was as the locals. The Indigineous Australians believed that Stewart had interupted the journey of Susan's spirit wheras Stewart thought that it was superstitions.

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"Sometimes seemingly peaceful landscapes can mask eerie and terrifying secrets". Discuss.

Individuals perceive landscapes with different lenses and at first glance, their surroundings could be seen as peaceful and serene. However, landscapes can carry eerie and terrifying secrets. As evident in Jindaybne, the beauty of the Snowy Mountains was hiding Susan's dead body who was raped and murdered. In the aftermath of this tragedy, the peaceful landscape was stained with evil. The haunting music throughout the film reinforces the mysterious secrets of Jindabyne.

In Robert Frost's early poems, such as "The Road Not Taken", the natural world is a place where one can feel at home.

Ellyse

maz0003 — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 16:46:56 CDT

"Landscapes are not static, neutral places. We are able to transform them in our minds". Do you agree?
If a landscape is not a static neutral place and we are able to transform them in our minds then the landscapes only exists in our mind. If we are able to transform them in our minds then it is only possible for the landscape to not be static and neutral only in our minds. We are able to change our view on what we perceive in our mind to make us feel good and happy about the place we are in. The landscape becomes non static and neutral only in our minds. the 'real' landscape does not change in actual fact, though it changes for each person in their own minds. if it were to change in real life for everyone in which were perceiving it, it would constantly be changing its way to suit every body's needs and wishes.

Sometimes seemingly peaceful landscapes can mask eerie and terrifying secrets". Discuss
the place seemed calm and quiet, i was standing there wishing i was no where else. it was wonderful, its was possibly everything that i had wondered and nothing disappointed me, until it all came crashing down. This place of wonder, of dreams, of excitement were shot down like a can on the edge of a farm fence. It was gone, the whole

Lambros

mer0003 — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 16:45:34 CDT

"Landscapes are not static, neutral places. We are able to transform them in our minds". Do you agree?

I agree. I think that the landscapes we see are influenced by our imagination and our past experiences.

"Sometimes seemingly peaceful landscapes can mask eerie and terrifying secrets". Discuss.
hi lambros
hi dave

whats up?
not much dave, just trying to get some work done...
yeah i know hahahah can you do mine !

Sofia

Zophiar-Zaddel — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 16:42:42 CDT

"Landscapes are not static, neutral places. We are able to transform them in our minds". Do you agree?

Landscapes are definatly not neutral or static as the way we persive our landscape is drastically different from others. It is from our past experiances and through the cultural or religeous factors that we experiance that effect out perseption of the landscape. Only a minority of our landscape is physical the rest of our imaginative landscape we assosiate through our memories making each landscape an individual relm within our minds.

It is through our imagination and creativity that can change the world around us, and it is through our ineteractions with other people that we can influence our own as well as others landscapes.

"Sometimes seemingly peaceful landscapes can mask eerie and terrifying secrets". Discuss.

It is our Imaginative landscape that allows us to assess an environment. it is through our memories and the cultural and environmental factors that have impacted our lives that on that we may view a land as being Utopian or dystopian. if one person has a terrifying memory in one environment they may find links and connect those memories to the landscape and thus find it scary due to association. Many prisoners of war become claustrophobic after being confined to small places with a constant fear of death. it is this kind of tormenting memory that can haunt person for the duration of their life and associate one seemingly safe and peaceful environment with a life threatening situation. another example is when a person survives a devastating car crash that may have resulted in the death of a beloved, the person will often stop or refuse to drive as driving will always remind them of this tragic event. these interpretations people have are not always evident to others sharing the landscape. as one person may find the landscape serene and peaceful another may view it as a tainted memory.

another way people may view a dystopian environment as a utopia is due to the lack of knowledge of events that may have occurred on the land. Often when a traumatic event occurs and the residents find out about it the landscape is often tainted with the story. when i walked home from school i regularly went through a park with a large lake the trees where very tall and always had allot of birds and wildlife. the park was very small but there was so much wildlife that you would forget you where in the middle of the suburbs. However after several girls where raped at that lake, and police where looking for the rapist; the landscape was transformed for all the students. the landscape became scary and one began realising that the overgrowth of the land made it easy for rapist to hide. the overgrowth was no longer a wonderful escape from suburbia but had become a sight for a serial rapist who has still not been caught. Shortly after this event students would no longer wag school to hang out at the park, and would purposely spend ten extra minutes walk around the park in order to avoid it. In the past years younger students who have not heard of the story have started returning to the park and see it as a Utopian escape, however the older students still avoid it. this is an example of how some may avoid a place due to a traumatic event that has occurred yet others may still view it as a peaceful environment.

Casey

gol0004 — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 16:42:06 CDT

"Landscapes are not static, neutral places. We are able to transform them in our minds". Do you agree?

I would have to agree with this comment that landscapes are not static neutral places.

I believe that we can transform landscapes in our mind because we have individual thoughts

on what we enjoy and it also depends on our feelings at any point throughout our life.

There are many influences that impact our personal landscapes like past experiences, religious views, emotions and people around us.
These factors are changing throughout our whole life and no one will have the same landscape.

"Sometimes seemingly peaceful landscapes can mask eerie and terrifying secrets". Discuss

i believe that sometimes seemingly peaceful landscapes can mask eerie and terrifying secrets

Adam

lic0002 — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 16:40:23 CDT

"Landscapes are not static, neutral places. We are able to transform them in our minds". Do you agree?

The physical landscape that exists around us could be described as a neutral, emotionless, and isolated place. It only consists of mere wood, brick, and mortar; how can this be good? And how can this be bad? In every landscape that you are faced with your mind needs to interpret it. For example, if you were standing in front of the Niagara Falls – you could stand in awe of its beauty, and watch an outpouring of what seems like an infinite amount of water; or you can stand in fear of the abyss. The landscape neither needs to be transformed from a place of beauty to a negative place of death, for it awaits the mind to interpret its neutral stance. Without one’s initial thought (interpretation) the landscape is neutral.

It is the imaginative landscape of others that make us requestion whether a physical landscape is good or bad.

"Sometimes seemingly peaceful landscapes can mask eerie and terrifying secrets". Discuss.

The notion of beautiful places holding hidden misfortunes can also be referred to as a façade. Yet these places may not be deceptive as such. Sometimes suffering and terrible things must take place in order for such beauty to develop. Take the creation of pearls as an example; when a pearl is created a sand grain (piece of dirt) gets into the clam, and when this happens the clam goes through great suffering. The clam then releases a form of ‘saliva’ to ease its pain, and the clam will continuously saturate this sand grain with its ‘saliva’. We all know at the end of this process we end up with a beautiful creation that is even taken in as jewellery. The pearl is an example of how our lives may be, of course peaceful areas, landscapes, and people can mask eerie and terrifying secrets. It is almost expected for such peaceful and beautiful things to have such pain and hurt behind them.

Pegah

asa0003 — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 16:25:27 CDT

"Landscapes are not static, neutral places. We are able to transform them in our minds". Do you agree?

Yes, I agree that landscapes are what we are able to transform in our mind, because they are our emotions that we evoke and therefore it helps us to alter new ideas into our minds. Landscapes are what we perceive from the outside world. our own views and perception. The phenomenon of taking your mind and soul away from the external world to a better setting can be very powerful. you can reminisce and Fantasise a creative scene.

James

wal0008 — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 07:48:45 CDT

"Landscapes are not static, neutral places. We are able to transform them in our minds". Do you agree?
i believe that landscapes are ever changing for one day to the next, they are formed in our own minds due to the previous experiences which we have en counted as well as the emotional state we are in at the time. From one day you may be feeling on top of the world and see life as an opportunity to enjoy what you have, and the next day you may feel done and dusted, and see your self as nothing but a burden to those around you. our perceptions also strongly change with age, growing up is a big factor in how we view the world. with experience and knowledge comes a ever growing and understanding perception of what we see from day to day.
Landscapes are neither static nor neutral, as life is spontaneous and random to each individual.
Good to see you visited here James :)

"Sometimes seemingly peaceful landscapes can mask eerie and terrifying secrets". Discuss.
landscapes which seem to portray peaceful settings can have an underlying tone, we may see something that may be the complete opposite of we may experience or expect later, as an example of this specific scenario we see the differences of the landscape and how they can ultimately alter our mind and persuade us to think differently as we are tricked and decieved due to our own expectations, in Jindabyne we are tricked into thinking that lake jindabyne was a peaceful, tranquil place where the four men go to escape the daily hassles of life, they visit the lake to relax and take time out from their families and work, but we soon learn that this peceful landscape has been contaminated and distorted with the findings of a young teenage girl who has been murdered. this proves that beautiful, peaceful landscapes which we can experience pleasently, can mask eerie and terrifying secrets which can dramatically change our perception on the landscape.

"the imaginative landscape can be more terrifying than reality".
throughout the bush fires of this year or for any year,they have always had the power to move a counrty emotionally. From events that have taken place, they have left a lasting mark on many people who have experienced it first hand or through a family member or friend, people have been traumatised and left with haunting memories and overwhelming images, that being their imaginative landscape of the forests that once burnt. Although a burnt forest may symbolise a traumatic and horrific scene, on the contrary it would also be interpreted as a chance for rebirth, and an opportunity for a new life.

Claude Monet
“For me, a landscape does not exist in its own right, since its appearance changes at every moment; but the surrounding atmosphere brings it to life - the light and the air which vary continually. For me, it is only the surrounding atmosphere which gives subjects their true value.

“We make important connections with the landscape through our Imaginations”

wal0008 — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 05:49:54 CDT

Throughout our lives we come to relate certain aspects and events back to a song, feeling or landscape. Quite often we will see something in our surroundings which just triggers an emotion or memory of a past event or experience. In the Film Jindabyne, produced by Ray Lawrence, he is able to connect the audience to an eerie landscape with the combination of music, symbolism and expectations of the viewer, in doing so shows how we make important connections with the landscape through our imaginations.

Our imaginative landscape is how we perceive and interpret the world around us, thus meaning that the possibilities are endless and our limitations are in our own hands. The way we build our imaginative landscape is through the influences and interaction of those around us, as well as the experience of what the world has to offer, whether it be how we are brought up into this world, our religious beliefs, or our cultural background. In this world everyone has a unique perspective on things and everyone has had their own personal experiences, but when faced with combining stimulus of a fearful scene and eerie music we are forces to think in a more general sense and understand what we are being presented with, which is exactly what Ray Lawrence presents as a producer.

In the opening scenes of Jindabyne we are first presented with the rusty Barbwire fence in the middle of nowhere, to most this symbolises pain and struggle, and what we come to realise later in the film is that it also is representative of the division of cultures, being the Indigenous Australians, and the Australian migrants. What assures the viewer of the tone of this scene is the music that follows, being ominous, and eerie. What Lawrence shows us with this scene, is that we are able to cast judgment based on not what is said, but what is seen and heard, showing that our imaginative landscape is not built independently on the bases of what we can see, but of our sense too. As the scene proceeds we are confirmed of our suspicions with the introduction of Gregory and the isolating and vulnerable feelings cast by the landscape.

Throughout the film we are presented with the knowledge of the drowned town of Old Jindabyne, which occurred in the 1960’s. In the film this event not only symbolises the depth of the many submerged secrets amongst the community, but also the dwelling secrets still left to arise. When we are introduced to Gregory we automatically view him as a predator hiding and waiting for his pray, Susan.

Bo-Chen

dua0001 — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 17:47:12 CDT

"Sometimes seemingly peaceful landscapes can mask eerie and terrifying secrets". Discuss.

It is often through peaceful places that horrifying and strange secrets are revealed. A particular landscape may be perceived as calm and serene, but in reality, what lies behind it is frequently the opposite. The exquisiteness of a landscape can never be regarded as just beauty and splendid. We experience the landscape not only through our senses but also our imagination. By transforming these landscapes through our imagination and mind, we can reveal intimidating secrets and understand it from a different perspective.

With myself immigrating from a foreign country, transformation of a particular landscape can show dark secrets that are even unknown to me. Going from the landscape I once adapted for so long, the sudden shift to a new landscape made it rather significant to me. The new landscape I was in made me felt isolated at first, as everything were new to me. It made me feel alienated as I had to start everything from the beginning, especially not knowing anyone at all. The realization of this made me see the things I was scared of, the frightening secrets revealed. Although the Australian peaceful landscape astonished me due to its magnificence, this new landscape forced me to see my inner secrets in a broader view, rather than avoiding it. This new landscape showed the secrets I was afraid to think, scared to see. It therefore signifies how a particular landscape

"Landscapes are not static, neutral places. We are able to transform them in our minds". Do you agree?

Landscapes are not just there for us to perceive. They are also there for us to think, engaging our feelings and thoughts. Everyone in the world is different, being individually unique in some ways. By creating an imaginative landscape, it leads us to conceive about ourselves and our personal individuality. Each person has their own idiosyncrasy and imaginative landscape. It is made up of our mental images generated through memories and experiences. By transforming them into our minds, we are not only able to understand ourselves in a deeper and more meaningful way, we can eventuate the fact that landscapes are not just 'motionless' and are transformable into our minds.

"The imaginative landscape can be more terrifying than reality"

alicia92 — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 17:46:55 CDT

Ones imaginative landscape is infinite of possibilities, it can encompass literally anything you want, it is endless. A persons ability to take a landscape and trasform it from a place of terror to one in which they can find comfort is determined by events in their own life, such as past experiences, upbringing and influential people.

In Jindabyne when Claire goes for a quick swim to the middle of the lake, we see her disappear under the water for a number of seconds. The music in this shot combined with the camera angle where it zooms in, makes us as an auidience think that she has drowned or some mysterious creature under the water has taken her down. Our imaginations create a scenario which is highly unlikely because even though we know there isn't anything living under the water we still think of the worst. Given the eerie scenery at the lake, and throughout the whole town of Jundabyne, we imagine that Claire has just died even though she is simply going for a dive. Furthermore when Claire begins to swim back to the shore she see's a strange man approach Tom. She becomes very paranoid and starts to yell out his name and swim back faster. By the time she gets to Tom the man has laft and we see that he was harmless. The recent murder of Susan in the town of Jindabyne has changed Claire's imagination so that she is more fearful and anxious when faced with a situtaion that isn't part of the norm.

Dana

cha0106 — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 17:46:31 CDT

"Landscapes are not static, neutral places. We are able to transform them in our minds". Do you agree?

Much of the world around us is a product of our imaginations. Our landscapes are continually changing and are immensely different from one another. The ways in which we perceive life are influenced by our past experiences and the environment in which we are in. Our mind is a place where anything can happen and it is able to alter the ways we perceive life, even in situations where the real landscape is not where we really want to be, we could just transform them in our minds however we like. Our minds are like a comforting zone, as even when times are difficult, our internal thoughts can transfer ourselves to a better, more secure environment, mentally.

Our interpretation of landscapes are determined by our imagination, however, the wide range of influences on what we imagine enable us to interpret the world in a more personal manner compared to others. The way in which we add creativity to what we see also gives us a personal interpretation. Our minds are like a device where we can escape to a better place. This is demonstrated through Jim Saddler in "Fly Away Peter" by David Malouf, where the intense and dramatically different life in the warzone for Jim was not powerful enough to disrupt Jim's imagination, as he was still able to break away from his physical environment and go somewhere where he found calming. (birds)

Good ideas Dana, keep them coming :)

"Sometimes seemingly peaceful landscapes can mask eerie and terrifying secrets". Discuss

The soothing external beauty of the landscape may be misleading, concealing the true secrets that lay beneath. Deceiving sites may hold frightening consequences, in which what may seem beautiful and peaceful, may truly be the ultimate opposite. This is portrayed through the movie 'Jindabyne', where even though the landscape presents a comforting and welcoming signal, this suddenly becomes questionable, as the opening scene of barbed-wire evokes an unsolicited feeling by the reader, where the wire is represented as a division of two sides, which soon the viewer recognises that it is the separation betwen two cultures, the Indigenous Australians and the White Australians.

Jindabyne also portrays how the interpretation of such serene and calm landscapes could change immediately into a horrifying and creepy setting when the men go to their fishing trip, unexpectedly discovering a female dead body, which had also uncovered the true ugliness of what they previously thought of as beauty. Calin-Calandria is another example that supports the fact that even though some scenes are perceived as disturbing and frightening by different individuals, others may interpret it in a completely different manner, which is why Calin-Calandria's approach to life after her mother's death is unusual to others, yet completely normal to herself, as it is a different way for her to cope with the challenges in her life, which is through learning about life and death. The Australian bush is such a forceful presence that it may even be described as a character, with distinctive moods and characteristics within the narrative. The landscape impacts on relationship between characters, instigating crises to emerge. This reveals to us why each individuals life is filled with problems.

The landscape is not presented as having a singular, consistent meaning, This meaning is made through experience.
Even if a land is witnessed to be mind-blowing and attractive, the truth underneath may reveal the total opposite, for example, with the beauty of different cities in Germany, the unbelievably tainting past memories of the holocaust still remain to haunt those who have experienced this traumatising event, shaping their ideas when re-visiting these environments in a more pessimistic approach.

"The landscape can be more terrifying than reality"

Jessie

lim0009 — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 17:46:13 CDT

"Landscapes are not static, neutral places. We are able to transform them in our minds". Do you agree?

As Henry David Thoreau said, 'the world is but a canvas to the imagination'. Landscapes are what we make of them and can be everything and anything we want them to be. Being purely in the mind, we are able to transform a simple thought into our wildest dreams. The beauty of the landscapes we can produce in our minds, is that it is limitless, bounded only to when we want to let the dream end. As our fantasies are influenced by our surroundings and the people whom effect our lives whether it be in a positive or negative way, their presence can determine the way we percieve certain settings.

As we contemplate reality with imagination in our mind, it is easy to get lost and confused.
It is our own creativity that helps us envision what inspires us, what frightens us.

Our imagination is centralised in our minds; an insight to who we are, what we believe and how we see things.

different places, different thoughts.....
We can dream of places but in other peoples mind they are just

Good ideas Jessie, keep going with these thoughts :)

"sometimes seemingly peaceful landscapes can mask eerie and terrifying secrets"
Although places in our mind and landscapes around us may appear serene and undisturbed by interferring negative aspects of life, at times they can be hiding the darkest secret of all.
Lanscapes can be whatever beyond our imagination and more.

serenity
the bad can intwine with the good, as no place is purely good.
however, we can

people can seem so normal
in our landscpae and mind, we may have
but they can be darker than we think they are.

in jindabyne, claire thinks she knows stewart well, but he touches the dead girl.

jindabyne explores the serenity and beauty of several rural landscapes in Australia.
Although the vibrantly coloured water, soft moss
the music during the movie
panning of the camera across the landscape capture the vastness and beauty and uncovers the purity of the land.

"the imaginative landscapre can be more terrifying than reality."
Our reality can be shaped by our imaginative landscape, however our mind may conjure more terrifying than
reality exists independently of all other things and from which all other things derive.

The totality of all things possessing actuality, existence, or essence.

hearing sounds in the dark might onlly be

the anticipation when waiting for results.
for tests, exams, hospital, hearing from people.

swine flu.. relatives

dreams and it feels like its real, but its only a dream

people may seem scary, but they arent as bad as we previously thought.

Taylor

bur0063 — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 17:46:02 CDT

"Landscapes are not static, neutral places. We are able to transform them in our minds". Do you agree?

Landscapes aren't static and neutral places; they are places that can change throughout our lives depending on our experiences and surrounding environments. Imaginative landscapes will be different for everyone as everyone has different experiences and surrounding environments. Throughout our lives we are able to transform them in our minds as they are places that we make up and have control over. An example of my imaginative landscape is at the beach with all my friends around, riding on the jet skis and wrestling with my mates. This landscape has changed for me as my life has gone on. When I meet new people and become friends with them I include them in my landscape, so it continually grows and becomes an even better place.

Keep the good ideas flowing Taylor :)

"Sometimes seemingly peaceful landscapes can mask eerie and terrifying secrets". Discuss.

Imaginative landscapes are places that we make up and have conrol of. They are usually happy places where we feel safe and secure. We go to these places in our mind when times in the real world are tough. These made up happy places that people create can and do mask our secrets so when we go to these places we dont feel like we have to worry about our secrets and so we feel comfortable.

Kate

cle0005 — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 17:45:55 CDT

"Landscapes are not static, neutral places. We are able to transform them in our minds". Do you agree?

I believe that we infact are able to transform landscapes in our minds. They may be the external environment around us or our internal state of mind, whether it be daydreaming or thinking. They constantly change due to our emotional state and our previous experiences we may come in contact with. Our landscapes may be static or unchanging but the majority of the time we transform them.

Everyone has a different view on how a landscape is altered and many people imagine a different landscape everyday. We may use our own imagination to escape from reality and escape to a place where we feel comfortable and safe.

"Sometimes seemingly peaceful landscapes can mask eerie and terrifying secrets". Discuss.

Landscapes which seem to portray peaceful settings can have an underlying tone, we may see something that may be the complete opposite of we may experience or expect later, as an example of this specific scenario we see the differences of the landscape and how they can ultimately alter our mind and persuade us to think differently as we are tricked and decieved due to our own expectations.

In Jindabyne we are tricked into thinking that lake Jindabyne was a peaceful, tranquil place where the four men go to escape the daily hassles of life, they visit the lake to relax and take time out from their families and work, but we soon learn that this peaceful landscape has been contaminated and distorted with the findings of a young teenage girl who has been murdered. This proves that beautiful, peaceful landscapes which we can experience pleasently, can mask eerie and terrifying secrets which can dramatically change our perception on the landscape.

"The Imaginative landscape can be more terrifying than reality." Discuss.

Imaginative Landscapes are sometimes places which we can