Final Project Proposal-Integrative Studio 1: Shift

 

 

Featured Image: Produced by organization Second Nature, Bondi Beach, AUS taken by Sarah DiMichele

My first prototype is a short film where I would incorporate different clips of people involving themselves in nature, whether positive or negative. For example, surfing, hiking, fracking, and pollution. In the background, I would include a narrative of someone talking about the connectivity of nature and humans, including facts about climate change or ways people help the Earth in small organizations and what we can do to treat our home the way it should be treated. Also, it would be ideal to include rituals people have where parts of their religions/life revolve around nature and incorporate how it works in the narrative. Although I think the short film would be successful, I think it would overlap my research paper in Seminar such as this statement from my first draft of the paper,

“Many of us take the natural world for granted and don’t appreciate what it has given us. It is time to give back, there are some of us who’ve already started. Immerse yourself with the World of Life, there is only one and it is ours. There are many ways to connect with nature and what you believe in. Go find yours” (DiMichele 5). 

Although this is my final statement in my conclusion, the short film would include progressive assertions in order to grab viewers attention to understand the purpose and production of the film. I think the project I choose in Studio should be more symbolic and conceptual rather than factual; that is what the essay is for. The materials I would need is footage of people in nature, time-lapse footage of plants growing, and people effecting our planet in a negative way. I also think that this footage would be difficult to capture and a lot of the information and footage would come from other sources. For this final project, I want everything to be produced and created by myself.

My second prototype is a mixed media piece. I would need paint, old magazine clippings, recycled things from Nature (leaves, matches, etc.), and canvas. So far, my research paper includes environmentalism, naturalism, and herbalism. Depending on how I organize my final paper, I’m unsure how I would translate these concepts into one piece. I think I would either design a triptych of the three concepts and how they connect nature and humans or focus on one concept to study further in-depth in order to make one strong piece. I think this prototype is something I am more capable of doing (realistically) with the right materials and the design. The way the materials are used would be my own craft or come from inspiration which is what I want to accomplish for this assignment. This prototype supports my draft when I wrote, “Then, once a crystal is bought, it is to be cleansed under water and set outside for a few hours. After, he/she should set goals and work with the crystal daily whether it is placed on the designated chakra, under a pillow, or held during meditation. Although this is a spiritual practice and spirituality is based on believing something above any tangible idea, there was a study on crystal’s energy” (DiMichele 3). The design around the person in my sketch is symbolic of the belief of Nature and how we originated from it. This sketch supports this text in the way that people rely on nature so much that without it, life would be fatal. 

My last prototype is a garden. The design to scale would be quite large. On one side it includes different types of trees, a pond with frogs, fish, and turtles, and different types of flowers. On the other side, there would be weeds, dead plants, ugly, smelly plants, dead trees, and a dirty, foggy pond. The design was inspired by a yin yang; the good and the bad. This prototype symbolically is really strong but it would be extremely difficult to get the materials I needed and at this size. If I were to choose this prototype I could change the size and simplify the materials but I would want the idea to be strong and clear. Even if I were to do a design of the garden, a lot of research would need to be involved. The plants incorporated would need to be stable in the same environment and conditions. Everything would need to be botanically correct. This supports my essay when I used this supporting quote, “From the University of Maryland Medical Center, Steven D. Ehrlich, “Herbal Medicine”, University of Maryland Medical Center, 06 Nov. 2015 found some information on the large population of people that rely on plant based medicines. Ehrlich wrote, ‘World Health Organization estimated that 80% of people worldwide rely on herbal medicines for some part of their primary health care. In Germany, about 600 to 700 plant based medicines are available and are prescribed by some 70% of German physicians.'” The garden would be a perfect symbol and representation of what could happen if we don’t change our habits and how we take Nature for granted, even though as this quote states, we rely on nature to survive.  

FINAL PROJECT PROPOSAL

As of now, I think my final project for this assignment will be the garden design. I am leaning towards environmentalism in my essay and I think the garden would best symbolize the purpose of my paper and the definition of “Nature” that I chose. Although the sketch provided is quick, I want to work with the shape of a circle as it is the shape of our Earth and I can work with a circle in many different ways as I play and learn about the design of gardening through this process. I will continue researching plants and their environments to make sure my design is sustainable and botanically correct in order to make my design efficient and creative. Also, researching and looking at garden designs like The Botanical Gardens and artists such as Mel Chin will help make my design successful. I’m looking forward to creating something that corresponds to my research in Seminar and what I learned through researching our environment and what we can do to improve our footprints in society.

MATERIALS:

18×24 inch paper

pens

colored pencils

straight edge

references of plants to draw from

If I were to create the actual garden I would need:

Mulch

All of the flowers/plants I plan on using

Water

Rocks

Seeds

Pots

Cement/Tile & materials to make patios/ paths