Interesting/Inspiring Eco Artists and Projects

The book i was looking through is called "Ecotopia". It was filled with many different environmental artists and descriptions of their work. The individual projects were very interesting to read about but i really liked learning about the intentions and ideas that the artists had behind the projects.

Jennifer Allora and Guillermo Calzadilla have collaborated together on several different environmental projects. I very much liked their mindset behind their work, which was to "fuse art and activism". They talked about the importance of creating artwork that is "in the public sphere" and getting the surrounding community involved. From reading my other blog posts, you can see that community involvement is also very important to me. Much of their artwork and environmental events "rely on audience involvement" and that is something that i would love to see our Eco Art class work towards. Its the best and most positive way to get everyone involved, raise the most awareness and have fun!

Another artists that caught my eye is Doug Aitken. In particular, his piece which is entitled "Plateau". He uses FedEx boxes to create an entire city of birdhouses. I think what draws me to a project like this is the use of materials that would have normally been disposed of to create a work of art. The created bird city is huge and each structure is unique and very patiently created. The aesthetic seems clustered and loud. This could be fixed by painting solid colors onto the colors, but i think it is important for the viewer to see and recognize the FedEx logo. Some other brands that Aitken has used are IBM, Macintosh and Coca-Cola.

The other book i searched through was called "Beyond green toward a sustainable art". Many of the artists and projects in this book were fascinating, but i was particularly interested in one called "Free Soil". Many different people from many different backgrounds formed this group together in 2004. The main belief of the group is that "art can be a catalyst for social awareness and change". I agree with this statement very strongly and i think our EcoArt class could benefit from adopting this idea and applying it to our projects. Aside from the art perspective, the "Free Soil" team also raises very important questions about living sustainably in terms of the foods we buy and eat. Some of those questions include "Do you know about the people who grow the produce you are buying and eating?", "Do you know how long this produse has been off the tree/vine/etc.?", "Do you know how much CO2 is produced to get this piece of produce to you?". Those are just a few examples, and we can think about many aspects of our life in this way. I know i have mentioned in previous posts about the disconnect that occurs with people and their recycling after they drop it off in recycling bins. Asking questions like these, finding the answers and spreading the word is one of the most important important ways to positively impact your community awareness.

Thinking more about "This I Believe" statement

My statement was talking about recycling and using recycled materials to create works of art. I believe that i already take part in reusing materials and recycling, but there are always ways to push an idea further. I live in an apartment now, so its a little more difficult to reach some of my environmental goals, but i would love to save and reuse rainwater. When i have a house of my own i plan on using rain buckets to collect water to reuse. I would also love to get a hybrid car one day. They are very expensive, but the environmental benefits of driving a low carbon dioxide emitting vehicle are numerous! One very important way to enact my beliefs about recycling is to gain more and more information and knowledge. Many people recycle and they think that's how they care for the environment. Not many people actually know where their recycling goes. We have this detachment from our trash or our recycling as soon as it leaves on the truck, but how do we know if it is actually being used the way we want it to be? It is so important to research your local recycling centers and make sure they are being used correctly, or used at all. Most of these ideas are more like long term goals. One change i have made right now was switching from bottled water to a Britta water filter. I fill up a reusable nalgene to bring to class instead of taking plastic water bottles. if everyone did this, water bottling companies would go out of business and there would be SO much less plastic bottles in the recycling. It saves tons of money and the planet! Another way i can be more ecologically mindful while at Elon, is by taking advantage of the Bio Bus. It comes to my apartment complex and i use it almost everyday. Its pretty sad though, because aside from certain busy times of the day, the bus is almost always empty! Its such a great option for students and i wish there was a way to promote Bio Bus use more. Maybe that's something we could do in this class. Sometimes they have competitions at the gym where you clock all the time you spend there for a week and the person with the most hours wins a prize. We could have the same thing with the Bio Bus. :)

3 sketches of my sacred object

Lodge Installation

I worked with Natalie on this day and we got our inspiration mostly from Andy Goldsworthy. A lot of his pieces show a shifting color change using leaves or rocks, etc. We decided to work in the parking lot -- right at the entrance. The line of leaves represents a crossing over from the man made world into the natural world. the leaves are held together with pine needles that we weaved through them. Instead of making a straight line, we decided to let the line form itself where the leaves wanted to naturally fall. As we saw at the end of our class, artwork like this is always temporary. After a truck drove across, it was hard to tell that the line had been there at all :)

More thoughts.. Independent research

During my research, I ran into a lot of projects that collaborated ecological artists with the surrounding community. This is something i am very much interested in. I think its so important and effective to step outside of the artists bubble or the environmentalists bubble and reach out to other people who may not know what they could do to give back to the earth. Aside from raising environmental awareness, group activities and projects really help to bond the community in a special way. I would love to do a collaborative project with Elon elementary school or maybe even with students at Elon University. Maybe having a recycling competition and using the materials to make things, or something along those lines. Its definitely an idea to further brainstorm.

Thoughts on EcoArt independent research

The first web page i looked at was the Eco Art Space blog. Its basically an archive of lots of different eco art exhibitions and projects that have been done over the recent years. One that caught my attention was done in September of 2010 and it was called Eco Art Fest. Lots of environmental artists came together and created different art pieces all along the Schuylkill river in Philadelphia. The purpose is to celebrate the environmental life along the river and to bring the community together. This project touches close to home for me because in my home town (Durham, NC) we have Eno Festival. The Eno river runs through Durham, and every summer we have a festival to honor the river and the wildlife of the river. All forms of art -- including lots of environmental art -- are represented at the festival, and its such a wonderful tradition and bond that the Durham community holds. I would love to do projects in this class that are similar to one of these examples. I wonder if the Haw river has a day to honor it?

Meet Jorge!

My "sacred object" is this monkey stuffed animal that i found in the forest. I decided to name him Jorge. Since last week, he has had a bath -- which he desperately needed!! When i found him, his fur was all wet and muddy. He still smells a little bit like earth despite his first bath. Jorge sits on the corner of the bar in our apartment, so anytime i'm in the kitchen or the living room, i see him. A lot of people have asked about him too (since he is one of the first things you see when you come in). Jorge is slowly becoming a fixture of our apartment and since i cleaned him up and cleared a place for him, i am getting more attached to him too. I'm glad hes not out in the woods anymore!

This I Believe...

My Hometown is a very liberal place. I grew up surrounded by earthy-crunchy hippies, gay and lesbian couples, organic foods and care for the environment. This, I believe, is why I think recycling is so important. At first, I never questioned the importance of recycling. To me, it was just another chore to do around the house. As I grew older I started to wonder why we recycled. My mother is a surgical nurse and she would come home with loads of unused hospital materials to donate to The Scrap Exchange. The Scrap Exchange is a nonprofit “reuse center” where people of all ages come together to create artwork out of materials that would have been thrown away. Not only does it promote recycling and creativity, it also raises environmental awareness about what we can do to help.

This organization is one that I grew up with. I was only allowed to go as a reward for doing something good and tons of my friends had their birthday parties at The Scrap Exchange, too. I always felt so special when I went with my mom to drop off all the materials from the hospital. It really made me feel important and like I was making a difference. Today, I don’t make as many deliveries with my mom but, I do use The Scrap Exchange in a different way; for ART! I believe in homemade Halloween costumes. I believe in making egg carton caterpillars with the kids I nanny for. I believe in turning toilet paper rolls into spyglasses or megaphones! I believe in making something beautiful out of something ordinary. One mans trash is another mans treasure, right?