Mapping Research

For our mapping assignment my group has chosen to focus on the trees shown on the tree work and discussing native versus non native foliage, comparing their locations on campus and re-asserting the purpose of the tree walk and Elon as a botanical garden as an educational tool. The next, and most important, step that we need to take is going on the tree walk and actually documenting the location of the respective trees on campus. We have already acquired a copy of the tree walk from which we are able to identify our subjects as native and non-native, however there are 90 types of trees on Elons campus so we must determine as a group which trees to focus on, currently we are thinking about exclusively mapping the trees that are labeled on campus, that way our results will illustrate which type of trees, native or non-native, Elon feels deserve to be labeled. I would hypothesize that there is a greater number of non-native trees labeled in comparison to native ones.

Our mapping project is concerned on re-directing the origin of the tree walk, setting it at the community garden to draw attention to the space that we will be renovating over the rest of the term. We also will be displaying facts and statistics juxtaposed with eco-friendly alternatives.

Thoughts on Japan

To say the recent destruction and devastation in Japan is saddening is a vast understatement. The images, stories and video footage of the earthquake and subsequent tsunami that struck Japan on March 11th off the coast of Sendai are bone-chillingly soul crushing. To see images of such intense chaos and sorrow is strange when those events took place such a far distance away, it is easy to feel a disconnect, to feel sympathetic but to remain unchanged in your daily life and concerns. And I will be the first to admit that in the past, when natural disasters have struck in foreign locations, I absorbed the information and moved on, no emotions, no worries, it was just another thing that had happened. But when I first heard about Japan and perused the images and videos online I could not stop the tears from streaming down my face. This cataclysmic event destroyed the lives of countless people, and it is the thought of these people that made me cry. The land that was destroyed, well, that is simply a part of nature- earthquakes are a natural phenomenon- and in time the earth will heal, but the lives taken and the lives that are irreversibly scarred by the happenings are of a permanent state.

Continuing to spend time with these images of devastation is a ever present reminder of the fickle nature of the environment, as well as the power it holds. My thoughts and prayers go out to Japan and all those effected by this disaster, there is a light at the end of the tunnel, it just might be a long tunnel.

Dinner Party

Sitting down to dinner, and by dinner I mean a bowl of cereal, with an inanimate object probably isn't the strangest thing I've done this week, but is definitely in the top five. Seeing as my sacred object is a leaf with tiny hole in it, there wasn't much conversation, but i think it was a nice gesture to spend 20 minutes with a leaf that would otherwise be lying in a pile of its dead foliage compatriots somewhere in the Elon Forest. Unfortunately my camera is currently on the fritz, but I will soon post a picture of my... unique experience.

Environmentalities: Linda Weintraub

Upon receiving the Linda Weintraub reading I must admit, I was less than elated to read a half inch thick stack of papers. But when i finally sat down to thumb through the reading I was pleasantly surprised to see examples of a wide range of ecological art sub-sections. As a painter I am constantly considering aesthetics, and in creating art that is poetic and ambiguous in a sense. Throughout this semester I have struggled to fully appreciate some of the work we have looked at because aesthetics are not the main concern of all ecological artists, for many the informative aspect is more important which makes it difficult for me to acknowledge those pieces as successful works of art, when they appear to me to be more like science projects. Linda Weintraub's article was incredibly informative, both in the information provided but also in the exercises proposed, they helped me to better appreciate ecological art that I had originally dismissed.

Weintraub has a really open attitude in regards to the art that she is discussing, not dismissing aesthetic eco-art just because it is not bettering the environment, and not preaching about the amazing-ness that is science based eco-art. And I must say, although I know we have discussed him greatly in class, Andy Goldsworthy is the artist discussed in the reading that I really respond to, the abstracted, simple nature of his work is something I truly admire.

Alternative Maps

The other day I came across a map by Chris Kenny called Grand Island that is a part of a series of maps depicting a fictional location. I think this map provides a good example of stepping out of the box and tackling alternative ways in which one can create a map.

Vertical Garden?

In my mindless stumbling through the interweb,  I happened across and amazing website called Flora Grubb Gardens. The site is a lot of flower arrangements and what not, but it had an epic item for sale; a vertical garden.

Though i would never purchase this, for the sole reason that I know i could make it myself, I thought it was a really interesting co-mingling of art and nature, perhaps an Elon friendly eco-art project?

Patricia Johanson

Patricia Johanson should be the poster child for the ecological art movement. Not only is her work superbly breathtaking, her work epitomizes the mixing of art making and earth saving. If I was to put Patricia'a work in a subsection of eco-art I would most likely term it reclamation work, though she does not necessarily re-enter a damaged area and restore it to its original state, she is rehabilitating a damaged ecosystem through the installation of her work while simultaneously fulfilling the needs of the human population. I find it a truly beautiful attribute of Johanson's work that she seeks to find a happy medium between the need of the reclaimed spaces natural ecosystem and humans, I feel it a wise choice to appease those with power while at the same time succeeding in her quest to help the environment.

My favorite project of Johanson's (at least in an aesthetic sense) is Fair Park Lagoon in Dallas, Texas

The Lagoon was not only made to help the ecosystem of the site, but was actually modeled after two plants native to the area; the Delta Duck-Potato and the Texas Fern.

You Are Here

For our first project this semester we have been considering the idea of maps, and alternative, artistic approaches to the creation of them. In our most recent reading "You Are Here, Personal Geographies and Other Maps of the Imagination" by Katharine Harmon, I found a map done by Susan Hiller concerned with (and titled as) "Individual Dreamers' Maps and Composite Map".

 

I also found myself very drawn to the work of Denis Wood:

The reason I am so drawn to the work of both Killer and Wood, is that both the subject matter and the map that came as a result, do not appear as a "normal" map. Hiller adopts the topic of dreams, which is in itself an abstract idea, then depicts the mapped out dream in a deconstructed, almost basic manor. Wood adopts mapping topics that are not necessarily abstract in concept, but displays his findings in a simplistic and abstracted manner, which is something that I respond to on a visual level.

Ultimately as an artist I am constantly more concerned with vissual aesthetic over factual information, which is undoubtedly why I took to Susan Hiller and Denis Wood's immediately upon seeing their work. Seeing these examples has definitely made me a lot more excited about the mapping project, initially I was unable to grasp the connection between mapping and art, but I am swiftly learning that the two fit together superbly well, like peanut butter and jelly.

Now That's What I Call a Love Ballad vol. 1

Born of the Earth's soil,
Once vibrant, electric, green,
thriving in the warmth

Crisp-edged, dried from sun,

Delicate decay, steady,

Sheer, thin, crystalline.

The Appropriate Seating Arrangement

Recently in class we have been discussing ways in which to construct chairs and other seating sort of what nots to place outside of the art building as a place of congregation and relaxation on the sculpture patio. My recent research (ie. googling) has turned up with several promising prospects of eco-friendly seating options:

News paper stools:

Bundle chair (made with old chair legs):

Stacked chair:

  

Recycled cardboard tube chair:

Looking back on "This I Believe"

As several weeks have passed since the writing of my "This I Believe" statement, it seems appropriate to take a moment and reflect on the statements I made. My statement was not that of fact and distinctly activist based calls to action, but instead was a compilation of defining moments and instances that spurred my passion for the environment. Looking back on what I wrote a few short weeks ago, I maintain absolute truth and honesty in each sentence I so consciously penned on paper (then subsequently typed on the interweb). Though I acknowledge the quick-changing nature of opinions and stances on current issues, of which the environment is one, I chose to write not about my opinions but about my experiences, experiences that will forever be a part of me.

The past few weeks in Ecological Art have opened my eyes to various aspects of the practice, and though informative I would say as far as my core beliefs and thoughts regarding the environment are concerned, I remain steadfast in my pre-existing thoughts. That is not to say i have yet to learn anything (because of course I have) nor is it to say that what I have learned is not influential (because it is), instead I am stating that what I wrote in my statement several weeks back is based in experiences that deeply moved and impacted me, and that those experiences and resulting emotional influence will always remain truths.

So here I stand, a few weeks post-"This I Believe"-statement-writing, content in what I wrote, and confident that what I wrote will not be changing anytime soon. Although...  there is always room for more experiences...

Initial experiments with ecological art

Making art about the environment, and inspired by the environment is a continual trend in my artwork but making art exclusively form found objects in nature is not a commonplace for me. While exploring the space surrounding the Elon Lodge it seemed that the most common color of foliage, was dead. However in our meandering of the property, Kyle and I discovered a few vibrant colors that stood out against the dreary gray overtone that the environment seems to adopt during the winter, and it is these vibrant colors that we chose to base our site-specific piece on. We didn't have a specific purpose or motive in what we ultimately created, we simply reacted to the found objects and constructed something that was not simply pleasing to the eye, but something that challenged the common perception of what sculptures should look like, or what they should be made of.

This I Believe

There a lot of things that I believe, here are some of them;

I believe that time spent outside is time well spent. I believe that riding your bike to work isn’t just a way to save the environment, but a way to experience it. I believe in what author Ken Kesey once wrote, “you’ve got to get out and pray to the sky to appreciate the sunshine.” I believe that the summer nights I spent sleeping on the sands of Assateague under the stars were my Sunday morning church services. I believe in the cleansing nature of fresh mountain air. I believe in hiking in a skirt and flip-flops if it comes to it, clothes are clothes, but sunshine is a blessing. I believe that everyone should plant a garden, green thumb or not. I believe that when daisies bloom in spring the whole world becomes a little happier. I believe that I know little to nothing about the science of, or the current events surrounding, the environment, but nevertheless remain gravely concerned with its wellbeing. I believe that spinning in circles under the gently pouring water at YS falls was not simply interacting with nature, but communing with it. I believe that my love of nature is one that comes as a result of aesthetic infatuation and emotional connections. I believe that living on the top of a hill, in a rural mountain town is worth the snowy, quarter mile hike to the house, because the view from the porch looks like the front of a postcard. I believe that when snow falls, the damaged lands that we so deeply mourn over, appear, at least for a short time, healed.