Billboard

 

Non-Sign II is an installation piece by artists collective Lead Pencil Studio. The piece is constructed from small steel beams which work like 3-dimensional lines to create density and transparency. The installation is meant to imitate the shape and size of a billboard, but instead of advertising something, and distracting you from the landscape, the negative space of the billboard works to frame the landscape and redirect our focus back onto nature.

The group has done similar installations with the same process of using steel beams, and also done other takes on billboards. Most of their pieces are large scale installations which focus on redirecting our attention and encouraging a feeling of awe.

Environmental Issues Tour

We took a field trip around Louisville to learn about the history of sustainability in the area-- the huge strides we have taken since the 30's, and the persisting shortcomings in the present. Our first stop was the Bourbon stockyard in Butchertown, now unused. The stockyards were used to hold cows in the city before they were butchered and sold. At the time of establishment, there were no effective means of preservation so meat had to be bought fresh daily. But the high concentration of animals in such a small space was unsustainable and created large amounts of waste. The waste was, creatively, dumped into the Ohio River, until residents complained of the smell. The solution was to reroute the stream which was carrying the waste. Not to reduce the waste, or develop a more effective means of removing it.

Although the stockyards are now closed, the Swift Packaging plant across the street is fully operational. The plant kills and packages pig products, to be sold in supermarkets. In the 15-20 minutes or so we were discussing the stockyard and the waste issue caused by mass production of meat, we saw multiple truckloads of pigs pull into the factory lot. A small metal barn, partly open, is used to hold the animals and slaughter them. As we stood across the street we could hear the screams of pigs as they were being killed. Honestly, this disgusts me. While I know this kind of mass killing is common across the US, I have never been blatantly confronted with it. If I wasn't already a vegetarian that experience would have been enough to make me one.

I could talk about injustice in the meat and dairy industry until my mouth falls off, but if you're interested in learning more about the industry I'd recommend Diet For A New America by John Robbins, and an old classic The Jungle by Upton Sinclair. While both of these are not entirely contemporary works, they shed light on the industry that provides most of America's food, and I think you'd be surprised to learn how much of this still goes on.

The main focus of the tour was on waste disposal (landfills and sewage systems), and how our current methods have made some places nearly uninhabitable, and inducing widespread health issues to the people working in chemical plants and rubber plants, and those living around them.

Sustainability Walk

Technology and Isolation

http://www.npr.org/2012/02/20/147041182/our-media-ourselves-are-we-headed-for-a-matrix

As technology becomes a more convenient and efficient way to consume media, such as music, videos, and literature, we accumulate less physical objects. Some see this as a loss of identity. If you walk into someone's house, you don't see a bookshelf to tell you what they like to read. To suggest that this is a loss of identity, or that we have less individuality because we all carry laptops is ridiculous. You can look up virtually anyone you meet  on facebook and learn way more than you ever would looking at their books. In fact, they probably have their favorite books listed on their profile. The loss of objects does not represent a loss of identity, simply a shift in how we define and present our identities.

The article suggests "when it comes to the arts and entertainment, we can do without the actual object that is the object of our affection." To this I ask: When did the book become the story? When did the DVD become the movie? When did the CD become the music? None of these things are truly tangible, and the "object of my affection" is not, and never was, a disk in a box, or a stack of papers. While there is something to say for these forms and how they can be used, they are not the things we love, but the carriers of the things we love. And it turns out, the internet is a better way to transmit this information.

But the article does reach an interesting conclusion, which is that this fear of isolation, which is played out repeatedly in science fiction movies, is not related to the development of technology. The article includes sections of a sci-fi story by E.M. Forster, which predates modern developments in technology, and deals with these same issues of isolation and loss of identity. It is interesting to think that this fear is "primordial," and to see how it is used by sci-fi, and subsequently abused as a way to critique technology.

Andrea Polli

http://www.andreapolli.com/


e-Oculus from Andrea Polli on Vimeo

Andrea Polli creates visual representations of data for public display, as a way to communicate otherwise invisible information such as the amount of pollutants in the atmosphere, or in the case of e-Oculus the rise and fall of the stock market. What makes her work so unique is the real-time aspect of her work. Her visual installations are programmed to react to the information as they are receiving it. Her work is concept driven, with a desire to communicate information in a way which encourages you to look with a different perspective.

Polli has done many digital installations such as the one above (just look at her Vimeo channel to see more) but she has also done some sound work, like Sonic Antarctica. Sonic Antarctica is a collection of sounds heard while she was in Antarctica, both natural and technological, compiled into a soundtrack of sorts. This soundtrack highlights the unique political and cultural situation of Antarctica, being a collective of scientists virtually outside of those systems, and also to bring attention to the rapidly changing climate of the Antarctic. Polli's work always involves collaboration, from scientists to programmers to industrial workers, and these two works highlight that.

On Site

For my on site artwork this week, I wove long blades of grass together. I didn't bring anything into the site, and tried not to tear any of the blades while I was working, although for convenience purposes I did have to rip some. The effect was subtle and intimate. The weaving is definitely temporary and will come loose. I took the photos directly after I did the weaving and there were already starting to slip apart. I could certainly do this on a larger scale, but it is a somewhat frustrating and difficult process so I kept it on a small scale for the weekly project.

from my purse

 

Loose objects found in my purse. Normally, I carry a lot of extra bits of paper, loose coins, wrappers, and other little bits of garbage around in my purse. I had recently cleaned mine out, but this was what I found tonight when I cleaned out my purse. Two candy wrappers, a penny, and a Kroger receipt.

This was inspired by the artist we looked at in class who collected a small piece of garbage every day, scanned it into his computer, and displayed it on a blog. So here's a variation on that. This could turn into a project where the contents of my purse (or anyone else) is emptied of stray papers and garbage regularly and scanned to make an art piece.

I really like the high clarity you get when you scan something. I think it looks really appealing, and there is a lot of opportunity for play with this method of image making.

Banning Bottled Water

Battling the Bottle

Discouraging the use of bottled water seems like a pretty straightforward issue to me. I'm surprised anyone would take the time to contest it, unless of course those people are the International Bottled Water Association (yes, this exists). Student activists are encouraging their Universities to stop selling bottled water on campus,  instead selling reusable bottles and installing more water fountains and refill zones. The issues is one of environmentalism and economy. Water bottles make up a large portion of waste, and paying for water always seemed kind of ridiculous to me (not that I haven't done it).

The IBWA is not too fond of the water bottle bans, however, and has countered by arguing that bottled water is safer than tap water, the bottles are easy to recycle, and that activists would be better off spending their time on larger social justice issues. Unfortunately for IBWA, bottled water is not inherently safer than tap water, and many water bottles go un-recycled daily. IBWA president Joe Doss says it's just an issue of freedom of choice. "It's not a tap water versus bottled water issue," the industry just wants students to have the option. But Clare Pillsbury, one of the student activists, sums up the issue by saying "these companies are creating a product that we don't need."

Perdita Phillips

Perdita Phillips is an Australian artist who works across all different media. Her works range in form from installation, environmental, sound, sculpture, photography and drawing. Despite the disparate list of media, all of her work addresses sustainability and environmental concepts. Like Steve Peters, who I wrote about in last weeks blog, Phillips work is environmental in concept because it encourages us to see the mundane. To see the things we overlook.

Her piece Pasture. Synechdoche.  This piece consists of glass structures, such as were used by Pasteur in his biological experiments proving the microbial origins of decay, and placed inside are images, mostly postcards, from the 50s and 60s. This juxtaposition of recognizable imagery asks us so reconsider them. By placing the commercial images in the glass for display, we are encouraged to take an anthropological view of the things they depict. The images selected for this project were mostly images of nature in the United States, or the highway system. Placing images of nature in a scientific container associated with decay suggests quite clearly that our natural environment is suffering. The other images selected, the highway system, tells us the origin of that suffering: unsustainable industrialization.

This is just one example of Phillips work on environmentalism. Check out her website for more.

Natural Gas and Renewable Energy

Could Cheap Natural Gas Slow Growth of Renewable Energy?

Although natural gas is a cleaner and cheaper source of energy than coal, it may end up preventing the growth of renewable energy sources such as wind and solar energy. Natural gas may prove to be a boost for the economy, providing cheaper energy, and many are looking at natural gas as a 'bridge' to cleaner energy. However, Henry Jacoby, an economist at the Center for Energy and Environmental Policy Research at MIT, reminds us "You'd better be thinking about a landing of the bridge at the other end. If there's no landing at the other end, it's just a bridge to nowhere." But how do we ensure there is a landing at the other end? Jacoby says the main factor in continuing pursuit of renewable energy is policy, according to Trevor Houser, energy analyst for the Rhodium Group. There has to be concern about environmentalism in order to encourage politicians to enforce renewable energy policies.

This is capitalism at work, where immediate profit outweighs long term sustainability. Companies need to start adjusting their business models in order to promote more sustainability. And in order to get them there, government intervention may be necessary.

Steve Peters

Steve Peters

Steve Peters is an environmental artist that uses sound installations and site specific artwork to encourage viewers to appreciate the world around them, and all the details we overlook daily.

 

 A piece I was particularly interested in was Delicate Arasions, a 12-channel sound installation made from sounds the artist collected in an abandoned shack. The sounds are from a place most people would avoid, multiplying the viewers distance from the sounds. In his artist's statement, Peters discusses how we train ourselves to filter out sounds, and his work is about learning to hear them again. We are an increasingly visual culture, and tend to neglect our hearing.

His work reminds me that a side effect of being efficient and focused is often an inability to consider alternate options. You have to be open to experiences, and paying attention to the sounds around you is just one example of learning to be more open.

ungredients

When trying to make something out of organic materials, I found that I was easily able to think of things to make, but I had a hard time finding ways to make them 'art'; to have them say something. I started from the idea of making a commercial product known to be bad for our health and the environment, and remaking it with organic materials. I looked at recipes for soap, kitchen cleaners, bathroom cleaners, cosmetics, hair spray, air freshener you name it. But many of these recipes were complicated, or to be made on an as-needed basis. But I did find a simple recipe for something I use every day: lip balm.
On the tag for the lip balm, I have listed the 'ungredients' and the 'ingredients.' The ungredients are the chemicals, petrol based oils, parabens, and unnatural dyes which can be found in your average tube of Chapstick. The ingredients are the natural products I used to create my lip balm.
Cosmetics, aside from being bad for your health, often use chemicals which are not biodegradable, and petroleum derived from crude oil. Also, cosmetics are not recyclable and many women (myself included) toss the plastic containers, brushes, and tubes in the garbage to sit in landfills.
By making your own cosmetics you can save money, keep your body healthier, reduce waste and contribute to a more sustainable planet.

(I will definitely continue to experiment with making my own cosmetics and household cleaners.)