The New Frontier~An Enclosed Garden

In an essay I wrote 15 years ago, I received the Dominic Bazzanella Award for Critical Analysis. I received it for my analysis of the Absolut Manhattan advertisement to the left. It is hard to see here, but I think you get the picture. New York's Central Park is shaped like a bottle of Absolut Vodka. Surrounding the park is a fortress of commerce, and in this bird's eye view skyscrapers appear as a mercurial silver computer grid. Surrounding the island of silver commerce is blue water.

In this award-winning essay, I pointed out the fascinating reversal of the frontier, creating a hortus conclusus or walled garden, with commerce feeding off the water but finding solace in the natural habitat.

Yes, Absolut is selling vodka. But Absolut is also selling the new frontier. This is a frontier that we will talk about today as we take up the first two parts of Richard Louv's book, Last Child in the Woods. See you at Thankful Memorial Episcopal Church at 8 a.m. today!