The aim and intentions of this essay is to compare and contrast how the three artists (Michelle Lougee, Andy Goldsworthy, and Hermannsburg Potters) use their materials to communicate ideas about the natural environment.
Michelle Lougee is a well-known sculptor, ceramist, and environmental artist. Her artwork has been showcased in a number of New England museum exhibits and she also teaches drawing, sculpture, pottery, and ceramics to children and adults. Lougee has completed an M.F.A and a B.F.A. from Boston University and currently lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Michelle Lougee strives to reproduce the unique individuality that all living things hold. She believes that her job as an environmental artist is “to capture that beauty in
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Michelle Lougee’s signature material is the plastic bags as they are symbolic of the harmfulness brought to our environment. You can see her thorough incorporation of plastic bags in her Gyre exhibit. The Gyre exhibit is a collection of vivacious and interlaced sea creatures created from only plastic bags. The process of the artwork was to transform the plastic in yarn and then into the moulded shape of an octopus. The central piece in the exhibit is called Octoplas. This piece was made from over 500 post-consumer grocery bags. The idea that Michelle Lougee is exploring in this outstanding artwork is the destruction brought by humans polluting (with plastic bags) the natural environment. The significant octopus (Octoplas) is embodying how the marine life in the ocean are badly affected by the pollution of plastic bags, and how they end up dying due to misunderstanding of what their food is. The octoplas is symbolising an octopus which is a marine animal that lives in the coral reef. Lougee has intentionally created the octopus out of plastic bags to symbolise the deeper meaning. The deeper meaning is that the octopus is a symbol of all the other …show more content…
These particles become small enough for marine life living near to consume and eventually die due to lack of digestion. The octopus is made out of plastic bags which showcases how the animals consume the plastic bags/waste and unfortunately end up dying because they cannot digest it. Another one of Lougee’s artworks named Gray Coral. This piece also condemns the hardship and mistreatment that we are giving to our coral reefs and marine life. The pollution that gets hauled into our oceans are damaging the beautiful coral reefs. The pollution is killing the coral which takes away the beautiful vibrant and colourful colours, and makes the coral look miserable and grey. Pollution is stealing the natural beauty of this earth and Lougee represents that through using plastic bags to construct her meaningful artworks. Lougee uses the environment as a broad stimulus for her work. She discusses how taken back she was by the harsh pollution and its destruction brought to our world and she discovered a way to inform people and
Society is highly dependent on plastic. Unfortunately, eight tonnes of plastic are thrown away every year and most ends up in the ocean. The short documentary “A Plastic Tide” looks at various places throughout the world whose beaches are littered with plastic. Mumbai, India is one of the first places the documentary focuses on. They refer to the beach as a “plastic graveyard” because there is plastic everywhere causing almost no sand to be seen. Afroz Shah began the world’s biggest beach clean and inspired community members to take action. The documentary makes sure to point out that plastic is not the problem. While plastic may be convenient for us, it is not good for marine life. It is single-use plastic that is causing the most harm. Single-use plastics are discarded within the year and only about 5% of it is effectively recycled.
Which means their obviously bad for the aquatic marine life environment & are cause many different forms of damage for them & us as one. On p.g. 23 of The New York Times upfront magazine “Birds,fish, sea turtles, & others are getting tangled in plastic bags or mistake them for food & choke”. Someone else might argue that they could the plastic bags in landfills instead of oceans. But that counter- argument is flawed because you’re just polluting by burning plastic which is bad on our part we’re not doing our part to support & taking care of the earth. Plastic in the ocean isn't just bad for plants & animals but for humans too because of the food chain some of us eat animals as a meat source such as aqua marine life like fish. If the fishermen catch fish that have been eating plastic then it's in our food supply if we eat that fish it's gonna be bad for us so many will end up getting sick from the plastic inside of the fish then what will we do our aqua marine food supply will go down the drain we couldn’t eat the fish since it's basically contaminated with plastic that we’re dumping there instead of trying to fix it & getting rid of plastic bags for good for the good of the earth. We’re causing damage towards the earth by dumping all that plastic into the ocean which damages our water supply it’ll poison us although we clean the water it depends on how big the plastic particles are, it’ll make us sick & sense it’s been lying in the oceans could bring in new pathogens &
Andy Goldsworthy’s philosophy is that we, as a collective human species and as an individual are connected to the ecology of the planet Earth. He sees art as something that is constructed or man-made whereas the natural world or nature finds itself devoid of human intervention. Goldsworthy convenes with nature and the “natural” landscape and then re-arranges it to create his art.
It appears to me that pictures have been over-valued; held up by a blind admiration as ideal things, and almost as standards by which nature is to be judged rather than the reverse; and this false estimate has been sanctioned by the extravagant epithets that have been applied to painters, and "the divine," "the inspired," and so forth. Yet in reality, what are the most sublime productions of the pencil but selections of some of the forms of nature, and copies of a few of her evanescent effects, and this is the result, not of inspiration, but of long and patient study, under the instruction of much good sense…
Throughout the country one might find themselves seeing a plastic bag floating around or even stuck in a tree. This is a problem that most want to eliminate. A topic that Mangu-Ward writes about is the problem of plastic bags in marine life and other wildlife. For people the thought of animals dying angers them. These decisions that people are making currently are emotional decision as Mangu-Ward describes them. Many marine life animals have died from the cause of littering of the plastic bag. Mangu-Ward writes, “plastic bags make up 3.8 percent of beach litter”. Finding fish, turtles, and many more marine and wildlife animals with plastic bags either suck around their necks or in their throats is something that many do not like to see or hear. This evidence can also be supported when Mangu-Ward writes, “1 million birds and 100,000 marine mammals and sea turtles die each year from eating or getting entangled in plastic”. Mangu-Ward is currently giving evidence that plastic bags are bad for the
The main driving element in William Morris’s life has been the nature around him and the houses he lived in. The most prominent influence was the Kelmscott Manor. Therefore, I chose to go with Kelmscott Manor’s layout plan that exhibits the “inspirational garden “ that led to most of his design decisions, a map that depicts the pockets in the manor and how Morris was inspired by it. In addition to this, an original drawing of the Kelmscott Manor’s exterior that depicts how the manor amalgamated within the garden. To reinforce this, I picked a watercolor of the Kelmscott Manor and a photo that captivates the various perspectives of the garden in the manor. Moving on to his designs that interprets his love for nature I picked up the very first of his wallpaper design of the trellis that has a very naturalistic touch to it with the vines which seemed to be an extension of the “inspiration garden” on to the paper. Also chose one of the wallpapers he designed during the middle of his lifetime and one of his last designs as well. The underlying concept behind picking those was to outline the consistency in his design concept throughout his life. William Morris was a poet , whose poetry and compositions were also inspired by nature, and to depict his poetry in form of naturalism concept I picked a stance from one of his compositions that talks about forest, flora and fauna which directly ties to his underlying concept. Also the compositions he wrote always had engraved borders which was ...
When the plastics enter into the oceans, some young fish are drawn to them, and seem to think that it is food, and they end up preferring the plastic to their natural food sources which eventually starves them before they can reach their reproductive age. The microplastics have been found in the bodies of whales, seabirds, and fish. Marine organisms ingest the particles, but they are unable to digest them, this leads to a buildup in the digestive tracts of the animals which hinders the microorganisms from taking in more food, and it diminishes the organisms feeding stimulus which can lead to starvation (Fossi, M. C, 2014). Studies have proved that the physiological consequences of crabs taking up polystyrene microspheres through their gills are minimal. When the crabs inhale polystyrene microspheres into their gills chambers, it leads to a small but temporary change in ion regulation and oxygen
As I read this work of art, my mind was transported to my favorite place in the outdoors. My imagination was filled with the waving of the tall grass, the stillness of the trees, and the feeling that time is standing still and I’m the only one who notices. For example, it sparked the idea, or memory, of how much I love nature and the outdoors, and the great sense of peace it brings to me. In an instant, it showed me how far I had drifted from that mindset.
Michelle Charisse Munyer was born on October 26th, 1978 in Sacramento, CA and has lived in the bay area since she was 12. She has been attending classes at BCC since 2010, after she suffered an accident, which left her unable to work. Although she never graduated from High School, she is graduating from BCC with two AA’s in Fine Art and Liberal Art’s A&H.
Tara Donovan is an American artist from Brooklyn, New York who creates sculptural installation art pieces out of everyday simple objects, such as plastic cups, paper plates, pencils, straws, and polyester film. Donovan transforms these ordinary everyday objects into large-scale installations which in some cases create a depiction of nature resembling landscape scenes, including mountains glaciers, icicles, rocks, and more. When Donovan was interviewed by Daniel Comiskey, he asked her, “Why use materials like electrical cable and plastic cups?” Donovan’s response was, “Everyday materials are easy to get and inexpensive. It's not really a commentary on the materials themselves.
European Interest in the New World The New World sparked an interest to many Europeans because it was a land full of opportunity. Many Europeans, however, were not eager to start exploring and colonizing straight away.
Plastic or paper, is a choice that people face when going to the grocery stores. Plastic bags are often the choice that is made. A controversial issue in the world today is the use of plastic bags. Plastic bags are used because of the convenience they give, by being able to carry several items at once. However, in the article, “Banning Bans, Not Bags”, Jennifer Schultz claims, “Plastic bags clog up local waterways, litter roadways, and get swallowed up by unsuspecting fish” (6). Plastic bags are used once, then are discarded or, littered all over the place. When they are littered all over they become problems for more than just humans. These plastic bags pose a big hazard for animals on land and in especially the ocean. Humans eat land and
Research from the University of California San Diego Scripps Institution of Oceanography said that species in the ocean consume a projected 12,000 to 24,000 tons of plastic every year in the Pacific Ocean (Nall, 2014). Pollution of recyclable materials in the oceans is one of the leading causes of why some marine species are nearing extinction. Many authors of articles and books analyzing this topic tend to agree that pollution of our oceans is a problem. The future of this problem is where their ideas tend to differ. The following four literature reviews attempt to demonstrate and support my belief that pollution is getting worse in the ocean and more marine life ecosystems are being affected, but there are things that we as humans can do to change this. Imagine a world where we didn’t have to constantly worry about the vicious cycle of humans affecting animals and then animals in turn affecting us through consumption.
Although plastic bags appear to be fragile and light, their negative environmental effect is devastating. Plastic bags may cause large amounts of pollution in every step of their limited life cycle, from the extraction of raw materials, production, transportation, and recycling or disposal. Plastic bags can be defined as the most damaging form of environmental pollution. They can have a damaging effect on marine animals and wildlife in addition to the aesthetic effects on beaches, parks, and trees. Plastic bags are potentially one of the main causes of death to marine animals (Harbor keepers,2008). Up to one hundred thousand marine animals or more die each year from eating plastic bags which are mistaken for food. This can result in blocking the animal’s intestines and possibly lead to the animal’s death. Another possible situation is that wildlife, such as birds, can get tangled in plastic bags causing choking and immobility, which may eventually lead to death. (Senior, 2008) and (Citizen Campaign, 2010). In other situations, after plastic bags photo degrade they remain toxic and could be eaten by fish, shellfish or any other marine life and survive this allows the toxins to enter our food chain through bioaccumulation (Puget Soundkeeper Alliance, 2011).
More than fifty species of birds are known to ingest plastic. When they eat plastic, they feel full, so some of them die of starvation. Algal blooms are another thing that kills marine life. Algal blooms are sea scum, whale food, and sea sawdust. Algal blooms are bundles of fine threads, rusty brown, they have a fishy smell, and are common in August through December.