New Zealands Southern Alps were so named by Captain James Cook on 23rd March 1770 for their resemblance to the European Alps. The term alpine has become synonymous with the conditions and lifestyles of these beautiful and challenging landscapes. It has come to represent all that is associated with the dualities of mountain living. 

 

Hard/Soft

 

Starting with the given conditions of Hard and Soft I began to explore what they meant within the context of the Southern Alps. The conditions of hard and soft are relative to the scales of external forces that they are subject to, the two being measured relative to each other and one external gauge rather than an ultimate hard or soft condition. This is no-where more evident than in study of geomorphology. The hardness of rock has become an everyday benchmark from which humans indistinctly relate other materials to. It forms the natural foundation for the habitats of life on earth and its strength and density are the standard for their tangible measurements based on our senses alone. 

 

Thus the relative softness of the earths crust to the tectonic forces which manipulate it sets a new scale and forces us to question our perceptions of hard and soft and look more broadly at the hard landscapes generated by this relative softness of materials. 

 

Another connotation of the relationship of hard and soft is the implicit suggestion of a flow from one to the other. Not necessarily that one changes to the other but more so that there is an energy exchange when the two are brought into direct forced contact with each other- the pronounced effects being imprinted on the softer of the pair. The softness of the earths crust under pressure generates the dramatic mountain landscapes which ironically are those which most speak to us of the hardness and strength of this material. In a hard/soft relationship the softer of less powerful material becomes the representation of the force which defines the relative strength of each and in turn retains the imprint of this subjection.