Ljalkaindirma By Alain De Botton

Our attachment to nature is represented in significant interactions that occur through events and situations. An individual’s value of nature may be challenged through their experiences and the obstacles they have encountered throughout their lives. Alain De Botton’s philosophical text The Art of Travel explores our attraction to nature and how it affects our inner being. This is also highlighted in Albert Namatjira’s painting Ljalkaindirma which conveys the artist’s links between his Aboriginal heritage and its culture. Both these texts explore humanity’s connection to landscapes and our own lives through their personal and imaginary insights which reflect their unique methods of representation.

Through travels and experiences an individual

Wordsworth describes the nature surrounding him as he conveys his connection when finding the beauty in mundane landscapes, thus affecting his philosophy of societies ignorance of nature, “That the pleasure we derive from our journeys is perhaps dependent more on the mindset with which we travel than the destination we travel to”, the didactic nature of this statement highlights that as individuals we need to continue our search for destinations that fulfil our connection between the landscape and our personal lives. Wordsworth was criticised for his simple poems, as responders at that time did not fully understand the true beauty of the natural world. Similarly, Albert Namatjira’s painting Ljalkaindirma is also a simplistic interpretation of the natural environment surrounding him, highlighted which, through his use of colour and

Philosopher Alain De Botton uses Vincent Van Gough to persuade his audiences into seeing and embracing our environments so that we can full understand the extent of their impact on society/us, “It was for Van Gogh the mark of every great painter to allow us to see certain aspects of the world more clearly” this evaluative statement highlights De Botton's and Van Gough's attempt to convince the respondents of their neglectfulness to their elements in their travels and everyday lives. As Van Gough’s distinct style of representing forms expresses his emotions of society, “Artists could paint a portion of the world and in consequence open the eyes of others to it”, said by Alain De Botton suggests that artists eyes are open to the world and it is those that we see it through. Like wise in Ljalkaindirma, Albert Namatjira uses his cultured beliefs of traditional Aboriginal customs demonstrated by his use of vector lines and light to give the painting depth and meaning connecting it to the traditional Aboriginal relationship between their land and culture. Namatjira builds upon this through his use of vector lines, which immediately draw the respondents towards the centre of the mountains allowing the respondents to allow themselves to identify the other aspects of the painting that extend the landscape