For our final Space project we were put into teams and assigned to construct a 3D model of anything we wanted using plastic and recycled plastic bags. We started by picking a smaller scale model so we could then scale it up and plan out how we were going to make it life-size. After many conversations we chose to do mother earth which we then would add the continents out of plastic bags to envision a globe. I was in charge of photo/video documentation and audio for the final presentation of our plastic earth. The team building the globe was very efficient and worked through all problems that came across. We used the plotter printers to scale up the continents according to the size of the earth model eventually completed with blue plastic table cloth. Once they constructed the earth with the table cloth and iron it was time to create the continents out of plastic bags which we were able to be constructed together with using the heat from the iron. Once the continents were put on the globe we ran into issues like holes throughout the plastic table cloth which affected how the globe would be inflated by the fan.
Because the final due date was getting close we knew that our globe wouldn’t be strong enough to just stand alone connected to a fan so we decided to put the globe in the trashcan. This theme of a “plastic earth” followed very strongly with the video and audio I created about how much to plastic is intoxicating our earth as a whole. For our final presentation we played the video in a small auditorium which had videos, pictures, and audio of different scenarios where plastic is endangering our earth. Midway through the video I added in a time-lapse of our process of constructing the earth which was also inflated during the final presentation with trash spewing out of the top of the earth as it inflated.
When I was watching various documentaries, looking at photos, and newscast about how dangerous plastic is to our earth it made me realize how we we really needed to show demonstrated this as a performance piece for the final. I believe it was seriously effective and empowering to see the video, hear the audio, and finally end with our globe inflate out of a trash can with trash falling down off of the earth. I was really happy with how it was all put together for the final outcome even if the plastic earth model wasn’t as strong as we wanted it to be… the rest of the final elements really tied it together.
Please click play to watch the video for our final below:
