Unhgreenart’s Blog

i really like the sketch of the figure that julie posted, and i agree that we should try to keep it simple and not over think it too much.

i was thinking of materials that we could use.  i think we should try to use all recyclable materials.  maybe the world, or whatever sort of weighty object we have the figure holding, could be made out of all different materials (i.e. aluminum, cardboard, paper).  and i’ve sort of been picturing the figure being  made out of transparent materials (i.e. plastic bottles, glass).  i guess i’m kind of stuck on the idea from the Tom Birch article about the ”invisible poor.”

Kind of working with everyone’s idea about figures and such, I was thinking that it would be interesting working with the idea of how Josh talked about the ‘weight’ of it all… Maybe we could use materials underneath the object that they are carrying be biodegradable. This way in the first week or days of the project the sculpture is holding strong, and maintaining to keep the heavy object up… then as rain, snow, or wind comes along the weaker pieces of the figure sculpture give out and the heavy object slowly comes down on top of the figure. The change in the art piece will get peoples attention. 

I feel like we are almost making this project harder then it has to be, I know we are artists and want it to be our work and take a certain pride in it, but if you think about all the other examples given of Austin Green Art they were all these simple incredibly easy art projects that still came out impressive and got the message across.

So I thought I’d just eleborate on an idea I had in class yesterday about junk mail.  If thinking in smaller terms, and this may not be povert but just bankruptcy, but I believe that Americans easily get caught up in the “spend more” attitude.  Our whole economy is based on how much Americans spend and saveing seems frowned upon.  I remember on the news when Bush’s tax rebate was coming in that economists and politicians were worried that the failing economy would have Americans save that money rather then spend it like they were supposed to.  In any case, I beleive that our need to shop and have all the latest gadgets may play a part in the foreclosures, jobloss, and bankruptcy seeming to happen everywhere.  I’m sure more than a few people have neighbors that have to foreclose on theur house, but have three new cars and a boat in the front lawn.  This could be tied in to the national dept problem being over a trillion now.  This may not really fall under poverty, but I think its an important message for today’s age and that American citizens and the government must learn to curb spending and save or the entire nation may someday be in poverty and we may be forced into another great depression.

So in artistic terms, I figured if we use junk mail (and recyclye it after?) as a mediam (with paper mache of some sort maybe) it would be pretty sustainable, and our message would be both environmental and social.  I thought of constructing a giant credit card, maybe we can use a mastercard symbol but ave them be pie graphs that show how much people are in debt as of 2008, or even capitalize on student debt…will could bring up questions about “liveing on credit” which seems what most students do for a could chunk of their adult lives.  Is livineing on credit really translate to wealth in this country?  What if there was no credit? or loans? What if we had debtors prison like Engalnd had for so long?  Is being in debt still shamful anymore? Or do people just not care?

Ok, sorry this is sooo long!

I like the idea of making a figurative sculpture, I especially like Josh’s idea of the figure or figures trying to do “the impossible”. This may be an interesting concept to think about, cause to those struggling from poverty, often see certain things that we take for granted as “impossible.” On the terms of materials, I was thinking maybe we could uses some sort of reflective material for part of it, so that the viewers reflection is captured within the sculpture.

I was thinking today about a sorta futurist sculpture and Ayn Rand’s “Atlas Shrugged”.  Those without opportunities being crushed, maybe just squished, under the wieght of the world they support.  I know that is not at all what atlas shrugged is about but the cover of my copy made me think on it andi like the image of a big fella (or a team of a buncha little fellas) struggleing to carry (aka: produce for) a world they cant take part in.  Little flattening recycled people burdened by just a fraction of the rich’s golden dome.

on the other hand someone should read this essay:

http://art-bin.com/art/omodest.html

food for thought…

Hello all,

just wanted to let you know that the UNH Discovery Program is now on Facebook.  I have created an album just for UNH Green Art (which you all can add to) and this blog is also regularly updated in the notes.

Let me know if you have anything to add (meeting times, events, etc)  Thanks for your input.

Kristi
UNH Discovery Program
discovery.program@unh.edu

The idea Amartya Sen was quoted as developing in the essay “Who Shall Assist the Poor?” states that poverty should measure a failure to provide resources and opportunities necessary for social participation, not simply measure deficiencies of income. I agree, and it for this reason that I think simply statistics alone will not provide the impact necessary for such a broad and deep topic. I think we need to find some way to illuminate the idea that both essays touched on that poverty is not simply a lack of money, but a lack of opportunity. The problem is bringing such a huge idea down to a physically viable scale that somehow informs people and triggers there curiosity. I think an effective way to do this would be to create one or multiple things that don’t overtly push the poverty issue into peoples faces, but instead draws them in to figure out what this thing might be. Only then will they be confronted with the message. This could make the project less preachy and more artistic, and in turn more memorable and meaningful to the viewer. I just don’t know what this could be yet.

I really have no specific ideas about this project yet, but I figured I’d make my post.

Basically I like the idea of something sculptural to be displayed somewhere on campus even if it is temporary. I wouldn’t mind an event though as a second choice.

So, I am interested in the statistics and possibly trying to make something out of sustainable materials that shows these statistics. Seeing as we are all art majors I think it would be more beneficial to make something. Rather than put together some charity drive (not that I dont think there wonderful), but I see this project more as sending out a message. The idea of having the figures around campus sounds like a good idea to me.

As far as the content, I am not sure as to what direction I think we should take this project. Right now the largest concern seems to be deciding whether to have one large piece or multiple smaller pieces. If we do decide to go with multiple smaller pieces I think that in order for the project to be successful each smaller piece would need to be just as effective on its own as in the larger scale of the project. Otherwise we would have to assume that people are going to interact with every single part of the project, leading to an understanding of the venture as a whole. I don’t think that’s realistic. If we are going to split the project into pieces each piece will have to be adequate by itself, which makes me wonder if we might be more productive working on one complete piece.