The book, Weintraub, Linda To life! Eco art in pursuit of a sustainable planet, opened my eyes as a reminder to take better care of our environment and as an educator, I feel obligated to share my concerns. I have run miles and miles on the same dirt roads for 20 years. In that time, streets and houses have been built, oil rigs pop up overnight, but I usually observe the bunnies, sunrises, clouds, and plants. I never paid much attention to the litter, but after reading Weintrab’s book, everywhere I look is another pile of trash, especially plastic waste. I have planned the project to show the amount of trash in our community, direct students to create art about plastic waste, and provoke inquisitive thinking from faculty, staff, and students.
Thursday, December 3, 2015
Plastic Curtain
Objective:
Show awareness of plastic pollution in our area and how it doesn’t disintegrate or disappear, but becomes an annoyance and an eyesore to those who are left to deal with the rubbish.
We discussed Bright Ugochukwa Eke and watch a Youtube about him. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nxTRS6VSMgA
Ripples and Storm i, 2011.
Plastic water bottles, wire.
Dimensions variable
Installation: Environment and Object: Recent African Art.
Tang Museum, Skidmore College, New York
http://u-bright.blogspot.com/2011/02/ripples-and-storm-i-2011-environment.htmlPlastic water bottles, wire.
Dimensions variable
Installation: Environment and Object: Recent African Art.
Tang Museum, Skidmore College, New York
One of my students had the honor to work at the Ellen Noel Art Museum in Odessa at the Teen Artist Residence Program in the summer of 2013. She worked with the artist, Bryan Holsenbeck creating "Purified, A River in the Desert" using plastic bottles and cutting them similar to our curtain. On Holsenbeck's website, http://www.bryantholsenbeck.com, she stated,
"For over a decade now, I have been documenting the 'stuff" of our society that we use once and throw away, Americans continue to create more garbage, per capita, than any other culture, yet we are blind to our waste. I believe this is a function of our wealth, and the vastness of our country. We have the room to hide our waste, and the money to make more."
She also has a blog "The Last Straw: A reluctant Year without Disposable Plastic". documenting the full year in 2010 she lived without using a single-use plastic.
We, the students and I, collected plastic bottles laying around the school campus and out in our communities.
On the plastic bottle we created designs depicting frustration, fear, anger or secret the artists wanted to release. As the artists worked, we had discussions about the artwork. Some of the topics were hurt feelings from friends, controlling parents, fear of life after high school graduation, and general school stress. Since many of the bottle art was secret, I mentioned topics of self image, depression, and fear.
The process of cutting the bottles gave the students satisfaction, a feeling of letting go. They enjoyed the process of cutting and hearing the cackle of the plastic as they cut the bottle into a long spiral. I had a number of students come in during lunch and after school to create more bottles just to cut them up.
The bottles were mounted on a piece of wood I found discarded on the side of the road. To make the biggest impact on the Trinity School population, the curtain was hung from
the gate crossbar outside the gym. The gate leads to playground, cafeteria, and the Upper School from the main campus.
Art Making a Statement About Trash
We, the students and I, photographed the trash we found and photographed self portraits. In Adobe Photoshop, the artists combined the photographs and manipulated them to create the statements about trash, recycling, and the environment we found important.
In my piece, "Trapped in a World of Plastic," I blended the photograph of my face smashed against a piece of clear plastic and an abandoned plastic bottle found on a dirt running trail. Running for me is an escape from daily stress and to absorb harmony with nature. When I see trash laying around, I get the reaction we are ruining our natural environment quicker than nature can possibly heal itself. What a trapped feeling.
In my piece, "Trapped in a World of Plastic," I blended the photograph of my face smashed against a piece of clear plastic and an abandoned plastic bottle found on a dirt running trail. Running for me is an escape from daily stress and to absorb harmony with nature. When I see trash laying around, I get the reaction we are ruining our natural environment quicker than nature can possibly heal itself. What a trapped feeling.
Displayed below is a photograph of a toy car dumped in the same area I run. People enjoy painting graffiti on it and throwing it around. Why I chose to photograph the car is because, the plants inside and around show nature fighting back with grace.
Reflection
The Director or Keep Midland Beautiful will speak for a few minutes with ideas on how students can continue to be active participants in protecting our environment. She has also brought over recycling bins and offered to help start a school recycling program.
As I set up the plastic curtain, the reactions and comment were very positive.
- The Administration has been very supportive and willing to make changes to help the school be more proactive in reducing, reusing, recycling plastic.
- Teachers K-5 through 12 have asked me to explain the curtain to their students.
- The Upper School visual art students who helped build it, are now bringing bottles to the recycle receptacle near my room.
- An eleventh grade girl came to me asking if I would help her plan an Earth Day event
- A teacher/mom said, "I think it is beautiful and we are going to make Christmas decorations for our tree the same way."
"That plastic thing is really annoying Mrs. Gates, " one exasperated student complained to me after the third day of the installation.
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