Mapping Project Cont.

Today in class, my mapping group got together and went on the Elon tree walk! We are focusing our map on the tree walk so we wanted to check it out and see how up-to-date and accurate it is. We found that some of the trees had been moved to other locations while others were missing all together. It was also good to see for ourselves so we could pick up on patterns like how many of the trees Elon has and where on campus they are located in terms of student traffic and visibility from the main roads. Our next step is to further research the types of native and non-native trees included in the tree walk.

Japan Research

For my spring break I went on a cruise so it was hard to stay up-to-date with the events going on in Japan. I didn’t have internet access at all, but there were TVs on the ship with somewhat reliable connection. :)

When I got home I was able to do further research online:

MAR. 20

http://articles.cnn.com/2011-03-20/world/japan.nuclear.food_1_iodine-fukushima-prefecture-spinach?_s=PM:WORLD

A lot of what I tried to notice about this research is how much the information changed over the course of a week. This article is talking about how they are starting to find traces of radioactive material in the water and some foods, but that the amounts aren’t posing any health threats. How much will this change during the week?

MAR. 21

http://articles.cnn.com/2011-03-21/world/japan.quake.tsunami.funeral_1_young-friends-tsunami-rikuzentakata?_s=PM:WORLD

I almost didn’t post this article because its so sad and I got pretty emotional reading it. I think its really important to think about the individuals who lost their lives due to this natural disaster. Its easy to think about it as one large sum... 10,000 people dead. But who were those people? Each of them was an individual with a family and friends and hobbies and goals. Take a moment to reflect on this crisis. Maybe even put yourself in the shoes of a mother who lost a son, a soccer player who lost a teammate, a sibling who lost a brother. If 10,000 people are dead, think about the number of people who are affected by those deaths...

MAR. 23

http://articles.cnn.com/2011-03-23/us/colorado.oregon.radiation_1_radioactive-material-amounts-of-radioactive-iodine-radioactive-particles?_s=PM:US

Radiation particles travel 5000 miles to the west coast of the U.S.

MAR. 24

http://articles.cnn.com/2011-03-24/world/japan.nuclear.reactors_1_nuclear-plant-fuel-pool-fuel-rods/2?_s=PM:WORLD

This is another article that is hard for me to read. The whole time I was reading it I kept thinking about these men that are working in the nuclear plant to try and fix this mess. They are basically committing suicide to try and save their country. They are being exposed to high amounts of radiation everyday and risking their own health to better Japan. I kept thinking about their families and if it were my husband or my father that was going in to work at the plant everyday. There is no way I would let them do it. Everyday they leave their houses and their families have no idea if they will be coming home. I can’t even begin to imagine what that’s like.

MAR. 26

http://gu.com/p/2nyqb (i tried to post this video directly to the blog, but i couldn't figure out how, so here is the link... its worth checking out.. some of the best... worst? amateur footage I've found of the devastation..

MAR. 27

Linda Weintraub

At first, the packet from Linda Weintraub’s book was a little daunting to pick up and start reading because it was so big! However, once I started reading it, it was quite interesting. I really liked that way she organized her thoughts into smaller sections instead of one huge body of writing. I’m not a huge reader and this made reading the packet a lot more enjoyable and easy to follow.

Brandon Ballengee is one of the artists that Weintraub talks about and I thought his ideas of “love motels” for bugs were so cute! I’m not in the insect group for the community garden project, but I think they should look into Ballengee’s work for some inspiration.

At Linda’s lecture, she talked about many more interesting artists. She started with Spencer Tunick who photographed 600 naked humans on top of glaciers in Switzerland. These glaciers are being radically affected by global warming – hence the humans being naked without freezing to death. I thought this was a very interesting and unique way to convey the message of global warming awareness.

Linda talked about the Austrian Art Collective who created the giant pick bunny rabbit that is made up entirely of biodegradable materials. The group is focusing in decay and how the environment naturally recycles itself. They question the idea of  “appealing” with the cute pink bunny, and “repulsive” with the process of letting it decompose and be eaten by the creatures around it.

My two favorite projects Linda talked about were the “Disembodied Cusine” project and the “Repainted Painted Trees” project. It’s funny to me that these were my favorites because the first was the most in-depth and complicated one she discussed and the second is the simplest project she discussed. The “Disembodied Cusine” project is exploring the idea of creating edible meat without the environmental effects of animal waste. The team of scientists collect muscle cells from animals and literally grow their own steaks! The part that really blew my mind was when she said they are trying to figure out a way to exercise the meat cells so that they become muscular instead of just floppy meat. If this research ever goes into effect, the meat industry is going to drastically change! So many farmers would be out of work and the population of livestock would decrease immensely. Pretty crazy to think about.

The “Repainted Painted Trees” project was done by a woman names Shai Zakai. She lives in an area inhabited heavily by trees. One day, she noticed men from the city walking around her house painting bright orange “X’s” on the trees they wanted to be chopped down. After the men left, Zakai went out and painted over the “X’s” to make it look like regular bark again. Sure enough, the workers didn’t cut down the trees! I loved this project because its so simble and beautiful and anyone could do something like this. It’s a breath of fresh air when people stand up to the government about things like this. Its also a reminder that everyone can leave their mark and help the environment in little ways as well as big ways. 

Dinner with Jeorge

The week before spring break was a very hectic and stressful one for me. I had a lot of deadlines to meet and work to get done in order to take a week long break. Most of my meals were very quick stops at my apartment or food that I got on campus. The dinner that I had with my sacred object was a night when I brought home chic-fil-a from campus. Although it wasn’t as intimate and special as I had hoped, we still had a nice time together, Neither of my roommates were home, so I was able to focus on Jeorge. He loved his nuggets...

“Art Can Heal the Earth”

While researching Patricia Johanson, I came across the quote that I used to title this blog post. This is an idea that Johanson tried to stick to when creating her artwork and it really resonates with me as well. Johanson focuses a lot of her work on landscape and the environment around her. When creating an installation, Johanson  considers the entire environment around her – especially the ecosystem. Her installations provide a livable habitat for many different species in the area. Oftentimes targeting endangered species.

One aspect to Johansons work that I love is that she reaches out to the surrounding community with her projects. I think that getting the community involved makes this type of art so much more personal and effective. I think we can use her as inspiration when trying to re-vamp the Elon community garden. Getting campus involvement, focusing on creating an ecological-friendly space in a somewhat urban area, and keeping in mind the needs of the plant, insect, and animal community are all ideas that our Eco-Art class share with Patricia Johanson’s work. 

 Fair Park Lagoon - Dallas, Texas

Favorite Maps

After looking through the handout of maps, i picked my 2 favorites. The first one was the map of the air routes. I think this map was very appealing me me aesthetically. I liked it because you cant tell what it's a map of (or that it's a map at all) by just looking at it. I like how all the different straight and curved lines come together heavily in some place and in other places, only a single line passes through.
The other map i liked was the one called "A dogs idea of an ideal country estate". This is such a fun, silly map and i really like the imagination that went into creating it. I think doing a map like this for Elon would be hilarious and would be so well received by the Elon students. We could poke fun about Elon traditions, locations, stereotypes, etc. Oftentimes, a less traditional approach can be the most successful!

A Few Hikus for Jorge:

Grumpy gorilla
Surveying brush and grassland
Where'd you leave your fruit?

Coat shimmering brown
Furrowed brow, deep thoughts swelling
King of all the apes

Say it isn't so!
Gorillas - gone forever??
End poaching today!

:]