Posted at Mar 24/2006 01:48PM:
Sebastian De Vivo: Courtney, who could've though that something so banal as a lawnmower could gather so many fascinating connections? I was especially intrigued by the obvious connections with identity (gender, class, etc.), which you drew out throughout your project. Thanks for sharing this with us! I'll remember to be extra-nice when I see you on Mondays...
by Courtney Roby
The lawn. It's that emerald-green, close-trimmed, picture-perfect, oddly untouchable swath of grass that surrounds the suburban house on every side. It's a peculiarly American landscape, but it gained popularity through its psychological associations with English estate homes. It's the pride and joy of the suburban homeowner, even if he pays someone to take care of it so he doesn't have to spend the time mowing, weeding, and keeping those edges razor-sharp.
At the center of lawn culture is, of course, the lawn mower. In this project, we'll look at the development of the lawn mower and how it was marketed to push the once unheard-of lawn aesthetic into popularity, and even into ubiquity. We'll see how lawn mowers developed from the original reel models (which are still around) to power mowers, riding mowers, and even robot mowers.
Lawn Mower Project Proposal
Front-Yard Arcadia: the development of the lawn aesthetic
Lawn Mowers: history and prehistory
Who's running this thing, anyway?
Perfect Edges: defining lawnspace
Lawn Mower Races: taking the mower out of the lawn
Making things personal: my lawn mower and I
Lawn Mower Bibliography
Posted at Feb 13/2006 12:21AM:
Michael Shanks: long term genealogy - scythes
Posted at Feb 21/2006 11:12AM:
Kome: This is a really interesting topic...one thing you may consider asking yourself is what does the physical design of the lawn mower reflect. Is it odd, if not, how is it, why is it normal for you?
Posted at Feb 21/2006 11:31AM:
[klfsong]: People who mow their own lawn vs. those who pay people to do it for them?
Posted at Feb 27/2006 04:43PM:
Brenden Lane: I think the main attraction of a lawn for me is a sense of space. I don't like taking care of a lawn, but I do like having some space between myself and the road, or myself and my neighbors. There are practical reasons for this, like not wanting their noise to bother me or my noise to bother them. And there is some mental element of claustrophobia too, in that I would prefer it if I weren't absolutely surrounded by people all of the time.
Posted at Feb 27/2006 04:45PM:
Arielle Lasky: one thing Id look at is the almost perverse competition in suburbia to make your lawn "nice." people take real pride in their lawns... why?
Posted at Mar 02/2006 12:15AM:
Evan Pivonka: this all looks awesome courtney... i really like the arcadia stuff! in your "man vs. nature" section, are you planning on talking about the act of mowing a lawn as man
conquering nature? i know my grandpa, dad, and now myself feel a certain twinge of asserting our role in subordinating nature mixed with the joy of experiencing nature at the same time... it's a weird thing and probably worth exploring (kind of like the worse examples of weird mania in hunting or cutting trees down)...
Posted at Mar 07/2006 01:28AM:
Diana Medina: Something to think about is the weight of lawn mowers and the strength required to use one. At least in my experience using lawn mowers, they are pretty darn heavy and require quite a bit of power to move. Given these qualities of the lawn mower, my parents think it a drag to have to use it and have now converted what used to be a large piece lawn into mostly cement. This has greatly minimized the amount the lawn mower is used in our family. I guess my question is why are lawn mowers (unless there are lighter ones now) so heavy? What are the gender expectations that its weight implies?
Posted at Mar 07/2006 10:04AM:
Jennifer Ladd: These ads, plus the comment you made on the previous page (about tidying one's yard so it doesn't look worse than the neighbors), remind me of those of the washing machine. Here too, the ads made washing seem like some sort of fun activity and created guilt if one's clothes were spotted. Dirty clothing signified bad parenting...just as an unkempt lawn seems to signify indolence or a general lack of care about appearances.
Posted at Mar 07/2006 10:52AM:
Kome: It's interesting that you say there has been a transition of mowing lawns, i.e. from a gardner's job to the home owner's job. I will have to say that this may be more applicable in the west. In other cultures it is not necessarily the same thing. Specifically in Nigeria, it is vice versa;it started out with the homeowners taking care of their gardens to what is today an organized form of gardners and care-takers for one's garden. In fact, it would be quite embarassing to see one's father mowing the lawn. Nevertheless, I still believe that no matter the culture it is always kind of okay to have a woman go in the garden and pick flowers etc. You may want to delve into the cultural aspects and or gender issues of gardening and mowing the lawn
