Project Statement
My research topic for Seminar was about how plastic pollution in the ocean can impact marine animals and eventually the human consumption. As I was brainstorming for Bridge Project 4, I came across a green artist called Paulo Grangeon who creates installations to raise awareness about animal endangerment. He is famous for his 1,600 pandas sculpture, and each one represents one of only 1,600 pandas that are left in the wild, and these pandas look like a crowd when assembled in a city square. I thought it would be interesting to also create a sculpture on endangered species today. However, I want this sculpture to be imagined in a public space, so I created this digitally with a photo I took of Central Park. I researched and found the most endangered species to be black rhino, sea turtles, gorilla, orangutans, elephants, Sumatran tiger, and freshwater dolphin.
My design is based on how endangered they are. The bottom animal is the least endangered while the top animal is the most endangered. The darkness of the color also classifies it. Since the animals are stacked together, it is hard to tell which animal is which, so I included a label holder next to the sculpture where it consists of the types of animals and some small facts about each of them.
Through this project, I learned that human is the reason why animals are becoming extinct and it is really important that we preserve the habitat for animals. Recently, there was news that addresses animal extinction. According to CNN, scientists warned that “one million of the planet’s eight million species are threatened with extinction by humans, in what is described as the most comprehensive assessment of global nature loss ever.”
Inspiration
I was inspired to create a digital sculpture from the artist discovery research I did a few weeks ago. When I found that there are green artists that protect the environment through art, I thought it was very meaningful and that I have to use it in my Bridge 4. Paulo Grangeon’s panda sculptures are very unique and it inspired me to research on the most endangered species today. Furthermore, the reason I created it digitally is that I wish for the sculpture to be built in real-life. Obviously, it is impossible to build such a big sculpture alone. Therefore, I thought it would be nice to create the sculpture digitally with a real-life background to make the artwork seem realistic and similar to what architects would do before they have the developer build the structure.
Research Thesis: Plastic can leave a huge impact on marine animals by harming their health, disrupting the food chain, and eventually affecting human consumption.
This project is connected to Bridge 3. In Bridge 3, I created a box that consists of visuals that symbolize how sea debris is damaging marine animals’ well-being. Using the same idea in Bridge 4, I wanted to focus on endangered animals in general, not just sea animals. Moreover, I wanted to raise awareness instead of just reporting the situation.
Visual Documentation
Sketches
This is my initial sketch. However, I decided to change the order of how I want the animals to be stacked. At first, I wanted the most endangered animal to be on the bottom and the least endangered to be on the top. However, after discussing with everyone else in the Zoom meeting, they suggested I have the most endangered animals to be on the top because it would show how the size are small and far from saving them if we do not do something to help the animal. Moreover, I researched more on the animals and a more specific species to be included in the sculpture.
Photo from Bridge 3 reflecting on the effects of plastic pollution on marine animals and the food chain.
I did not photograph/save the file of the animals I have drawn separately. However, these are traced on Illustrator using the pen tool. I traced that particular animal’s structure and extrude it with using the 3D tool. After that, I copied the animal and pasted on Photoshop where I have my Central Park image. After finish stacking each animal, I added an art panel to show that there is a description on this piece.
Near Sheep Meadow in Central Park.
After completing the sculpture, I made a presentation slide on Powerpoint where I labeled the animal species on the sculpture. This description is also what would appear on the art description panel. I also included some facts I have found on these species.
Since I want this sculpture to reach as many people as possible no matter what the time is, I thought it would be nice to have the sculpture to illuminate during nighttime. To create the night scene using the same Central Park image, I used the magic wand tool on Photoshop and select the sky and select mask mode to adjust the saturation, hue, and lightness. After that, I created stars by adding noise, selecting the Gaussian Blur filter, and adjusting the curves.
Daytime View
