In his essay, author, W.J.T. Mitchell, designates a section in which distinguishes between a landscape painting and a landscape itself. For me, thesis #4: “Landscape is a natural scene mediated by culture… both represented and presented space, both a signifier and a signified, both a frame and what a frame contain…” presents a unique perspective on what a landscape as a both a physical and metaphysical space. In a similar vein, Allen Island, as a landscape, is a “physical and multisensory medium… in which cultural meanings and values are encoded.”(Mitchell 169). To me Allen Island sort of an indescribable place. When we were there I was amazed by the natural beauty of the place, but at the end of the trip when Ben had told us that most of the vegetation was put there purposely by Betsy Wyatt, I was surprised. Why is it that the place lost some of its meaning once I had realized it was planned? Perhaps its because I was now aware of the power that was encoded into the landscape. Inexplicably, once I was aware of how human power was affecting the landscape, it changed the landscape. That is not to say that nature has no power or that human ability has triumphed over this power, but for this specific instance, the landscape was changed. I think it’s just a matter of trying to be aware of how different types of power affect a landscape and the culture that makes up a landscape. In addition, it is important to breakdown the framework/lens through which we view these types of power and the construct of landscape.