Aquatic Environmentalism

The theme for our Found Art Project was Aquatic Environmentalism in the U.S. during the environmental movement era. As a group we put together many pieces of artwork that reflected the mood of the era and the need for a change in the U.S.'s treatment of its water. We covered the Pacific and Atlantic, and Gulf coasts of America as well as the Great Lakes, minor lakes, and rivers. Our project has many pictures of pollution in water as well as pictures of the bodies of water when they are untouched by humans. The contrast between the pictures is great and it allows the viewer to fully understand the need to preserve water in America, and what has been done to protect it.

 

            We chose articles that explained how people have helped to preserve America's bodies of water. We found that many Americans have dedicated their lives to help out with the environment. Because of their dedication, our national parks, lakes, rivers, and coasts are more beautiful than they were. A myriad of organizations (governmental and nongovernmental) have helped in this cause. We placed the logos of these organizations throughout our project to emphasize how much they have helped. We placed pictures of garbage to represent the garbage that is floating around in the Pacific Ocean and other parts. To represent the island of garbage we placed a plastic bottle and attached it to our project. We also placed a bottle of Pennzoil to represent the oil spills that are occurring in the oceans. Millions of tons of oil have been spilled leading to the deaths of many fish and seabirds. We placed pictures of these oil-covered birds on our project. We placed biographies and pictures of important people like Ken Salazar in order to give a face to the groups of people that have helped the environment. We also placed USGS maps of Lake Tahoe that show the dimensions and volume. With these pictures we hope to show how unique each of these bodies of water are and how they need to all be treated well.

 

            We obtained our found art by looking at popular art during the environmental movement. Ansel Adams is one example of an artist who was able to inspire pride in the environment by taking beautiful pictures. We found his post cards in a shop. The USGS maps were found on the official website and the pictures of the ocean were found online as well. In popular magazines we were able to find articles on places such as Sea Ranch, where architects built eco-friendly homes. Items like the Pennzoil and the plastic bottle were found in our garages and our garbage cans.

 

            If I were to do one thing differently in this project, I would make sure to start looking for the found art earlier on. It was hard to find items and our group was forced to scramble at the very end to find more art. In the end, everything came together well, but it would have been nice to have all of our items together a day before we put them on the boxes.

 

            I would tell next years class to start looking for found art everywhere that they can. I would also tell them to pick a topic that they are interested in. It makes the project much easier when you already have some of the art in your own home. For example, it was very convenient for me to have environmentalism as a topic because I have pictures from Ansel Adams in my home. I also recommend that next year’s class speak to their group everyday to make sure that everyone is on task.

 

Bryce Filler

Period E