This outdoor piece is named “Hypatia Rising.” It is constructed out of scrap metal parts such as tops of grills, stoves, and other railing material. This piece addresses sustainability through it showing aspects of beauty using recycled material, giving them life once again instead of being regarded as trash and sent to landfills where they take up space and cause health concerns for the environment. I personally think that using recyclable materials to build works of art is truly an amazing skill demonstrated by the artist. This shows that people don’t always need to use new materials to create shiny artworks, and a true artist is able to express themselves through any form of media.
This piece named “Behind the Mac” is in my opinion, the strongest piece to impact me of all I’ve seen that day at the exhibitions. “Behind the Mac” addresses the environmental sustainability topic directly, through the use of silicone, human hair, clay teeth, glass, and handmade resin. It is an artwork of great skill and deep meaning. The artist is concerned with the current society’s usage of lithium in our daily technologies, which is causing conflict mining, a huge problem in underdeveloped countries such as the DRC and Uganda where children are the employees at work. This piece communicates to raise awareness about the issue. This piece’s composition is eye catching, with faces that make up the Apple inc. logo. The faces are realistic upon first glance, and the human hair makes the viewer believe the piece’s message through realism.
By the same creator as “Behind the Mac,” “The Gas Mask” is another piece constructed to directly address current environmental sustainability issues of the world today. The disturbing factors draw the viewer in to the piece and make them understand the severity of these environmental issues. The piece addresses the issue of Methane gas and greenhouse gas emissions, which is caused by the process of refining beef for consumption by humans. If these gas levels continue to raise, the world’s ecosystems will be affected and sustainability in nature will fail. The composition of taxidermy cows, which are bodies of cows preserved well since their death at the factories. These parts are what remained of a cow after “useful” components are harvested for food or raw materials. The artist pieced together a symbol of uneasiness, almost like a crucifix.
This piece doesn’t have a name, or that it is written somewhere else out of sight. This piece is constructed of used saddles, cardboard, hair, and roping. The entire composition is hung on a wooden rectangular prism frame, dangling from top down, making it almost look like the torso and legs of a horse or another large animal. I wasn’t sure what this piece is hoping to express, though I could see the environmental sustainability aspect within it. Using old materials that probably was used by the creator of this piece, perhaps they were trying to piece together something from their memories using the exact materials that were part of the memory. Again relating back to the point I made about garbage or waste being respected as long as someone is there to make them look good by giving them a new form.
