The objective of this assignment was to write a 20 or so word "text" of any type and on any subject that uses "technologies" found in nature, around where you live, and/or created entirely by me. At first, I thought that this assignment would be relatively simple. Soon, I learned that there is nothing simple about nature or technology. Things that we often take for granted, such as paper and pencil, become very apparent in a short time.

My first idea was to create written text on rock surfaces. I was not sure what to use for the "ink". The first thing that came to my mind was a marker. This was not an acceptable tool to use in this project. The objective clearly states that we must use materials limited to "natural" setting. Where in my apartment complex would I find natural flowing ink? Nowhere. A marker is a technology itself. The ink is manufactured from major companies and the plastic coating which packages the ink cartridge is also a manufactured product. After brainstorming for a while, I thought of berry juice.

Berries are considered a "natural product". They can be found in brush areas, woods, along roads and even in some residential areas. I had no problem finding a berry bush close by. I picked the berries (about 10 of them I thought would be sufficient) and placed them into a cloth bag. I decided that I would crush the berries and take the juice from them to write one word on twenty rocks to complete the twenty-word requirement.

I found several problems with this experiment. The first difficulty-how would I crush the berries and retain the juice from them without a bowl? A bowl is, after all, a technology. I then decided to take the peel from the berry and place it on the end of a broken stick. This idea brough upon problem number two-the peel from the berry was not strong enough to hold the friction between the end of the stick and the hard surface of the rock. The peels quickly tore, and after a while I had to use up all ten of the berries that I collected and I had not completed a single letter.

I decided to use the rocks that I already had to make words rather than writing on the rocks. I had to collect about 300 rocks to complete the twenty-word requirement. I had several interesting encounters while collecting (such as being stopped by the police for collecting on the side of the road), but in time (about two hours later) I had enough rocks to write a few simple sentences. I chose rocks for several reasons: Permanence: Rocks are solid which protect them from rain and wind. This makes them more permanent then things like leaves that can blow away, or ink, which can be washed away. Reliability: Rocks can be rearranged to make other words;For example, if I had written an emergency message with rocks such as "HELP!" The rocks could be easily rearranged to make another word suck as "OK", or "FOUND". This could be a lifesaver. Legibility: Rocks (especially when using several small rocks) can make letters and numbers (perhaps even symbols) legibile. I used several rocks to complete the letters and the output was clear and visible. Availability: Rocks can be found almost anywhere (like mentioned earlier). They were easy to find and there are several assortments. Large, small, colored, non-colored, pebbles, and even oddly shaped.

I carefully assembled the rocks to form three simple sentences which read; HI I AM JEN, I AM 22. THIS IS MY PROJECT FOR ENG. 328. HOW DO YOU LIKE IT? It took about 45 minutes to write out the letters. It was a tedious experiment, one rock after another. I missed the convenience of the pencil and paper. With pencil and paper, letters can form into words, workds into sentences, sentences into paragraphs, and paragraphs into pages within minutes. Writing with rocks is not nearly as simple.

It took almost all of the rocks that I had collected to complete three sentences. I found that it was easier to write in capitol letters becuase it was harder to create letters that contained curves. I also found that to keep the letters from running together, I had to leave large spaces between words to make them distinct. I limited myself to a specific area (the dining room table), which caused another difficulty that I had not thought about prior to beginning the letter construction. I had to alter the size of the letters several times to make them fit as well as retain the legibility.

The project was complete. After approximately three hours I was able to create three simple sentences. I have truly learned the technology behind modern day technologies and the difference between technological and natural resources. If I was to do this project again, the only thing that I would change is the location of the finished product. The sentences were written on the table, due to the fact that it was raining outside. I feel that it would have been more effective had it been set in a "natural" environment.

Outside of the setting, there are still many problems with this way of writing. Although it was completed and successful, the message, had it been outside, could have easily been ruined by an earthquake, which would have shaken the rocks out of place, thus loosing the legibility of the message. It could have also been ruined by another person if they were to purposely move the rocks out of place, or simply walk through them or over them.

This experiment definately taught me that modern technologies are more suitable to this generation and less time consuming than 'natural' construction. Problems do exist in every technology after time though. For example, pencils can break, erasers can be used completely, pens can run out of ink, markers can run dry, and the all time favorite, computers, can break down. My rock experiment is definately a form of writing ultimately, even though it may not be the most convenient.

To see a picture of the finished product click HERE