Landscape Response

Among his overlapping views on landscape, W.J.T. Mitchell discusses in length the relationship between imperialism and landscape. He believes, through his research, that landscape is widely accepted as the imposed impression of what humans think that nature is. He is wary of this definition of landscape because of how widely it has been accepted and unchallenged. Since the western idea of landscape became evidenced, around the same time as imperialism and the age of exploration, it has been used as an attempt to understand the new territories in a way that the western masses could navigate. This point he questions by explaining that the Dutch began to paint landscapes in an attempt to glorify their home; there was no want to expand the territory of the Netherlands by these nationalistic painters.
By saying that "landscape is best understood as a medium of cultural expression, not a genre of painting or fine art", Mitchell is saying that the way a landscape is or is portrayed becomes a way for the viewer to see from the eyes of the artist; the viewer sees the landscape through the filters that this specific person places on the world, or nature specifically. To say that landscape is not a genre of painting or fine art is to say that is has no meaning beyond the aesthetic or visible layers. It is to say that the landscape as painting is more of a visual record of a space, that may or may not vary from reality, than something to be put on display. Should the painting be more what was wished to be seen than what was there, it becomes a different kind of record, but a record nonetheless- it is about the mindset of the people in the space, not just the space itself.
The "dark side of landscape" comes from the second kind of record referenced above. It changes the landscape to better fit the composition, or more drastically, to portray a new land as seen by invaders/imperialists. By forcing the new land into an old "frame" (as Mitchell said), the painting or other representation is assuming a kind of ownership over the land. Though the land cannot physically be owned by making a painting, representing something instantly gives the artist power over the object and can manipulate in any way he or she wishes.