After the installation day passed I have had an opportunity to discuss this artwork with friends and peers and catch up on some much needed sleep.

When I get a chance to install this work again there are some changes that I will definitely make.  First, I will raise the letters up using my initial idea of cinder-blocks, and fill the bottom of the letters with an abundance of plastic packaging. This will give the piece more volume where it meets the ground and allow the letters to emerge from a sea of plastic. Second, I would like to fill the “ENCE” at the end all the way up with their plastic treatment.  Third, I would add even more plastics to all the letters so the plastics wrap around to the back side, allowing more depth.

I would also consider the place of future installations. The white color of the letters is currently site specific.  I would consider changing this based on each site.  I don’t know what the easiest way to do this is, but any light background would make this piece hard to read from a distance. Perhaps I could create a wall of painted plastics behind it, or I could add some color to the existing letters.

I really enjoyed the drone footage of the piece and will go back and further edit my video.  It was suggested to change up some of my transitions and to possibly add commentary.  I agree with the transitions, but I need to learn how to add commentary.  Commentary would allow me to remove most of the reading from the video and deliver a more pleasing experience to the viewer.

I plan on finding another place to install this piece and will promote it as an event or spectacle to be seen in person, inviting people to sign a petition to ban plastic bags/straws, etc, hand out flyers about ways to live with less plastics,  and

ask them to donate to the installation by bring there plastic problems to the installation.  All single use plastics brought in by viewers will be cleaned and added to the artwork daily.

I typically alter all the plastics I use in my artworks and found it strange to leave the materials raw for this installation.                                                                  I tried to keep any product labels hidden as to not call attention to any one company, because this problem is not any ones fault, but everyone’s.

This experience has taught me more about the power of a community involvement.  Grass roots projects are stepping stones and sparks to revolution and change. However, all ideas and small victories are not the end point, only the beginning. I have learned that through community outreach people will listen, people will help, people will be there. We just need to ask them.

I personally struggle with my rights as a creative being and me justifying why I should be heard as an artist.  I find it difficult to approach galleries and strangers because this creates levels of uncomfortable anxiety.  Most of my exhibits have happened through online submissions.  This work really pushed me beyond my comfort zone, by forcing me to reach out to strangers and speak up for my art.  I will use this experience as a reminder to myself that I am worth it and people are interested in what my art says.

 

Progress Report

Approval for installation has been granted by the state park officials and the site approved.  I was not granted permission directly on the beach, but one of my secondary options was approved.

Feedback for the installation has been positive, especially with the ambitious scale of the finished work.  Concerns have been made about the white letters not providing enough contrast in a beach setting.  I had worried about that myself.  I estimate that about 70 percent of the lettering will be against a green background and the other 30% may or may not need on site adjustments.  I have purchased a can of dark blue spray paint and once installed on site, if needed contrast can be made by adding some dark areas against the sand.

I will have my nephew operate the drone to take a short video (2-5 minutes) of the artwork.  I think having this perspective of the artwork will be important for documenting the scale of the piece.

As the deadline for installation approaches, I have made a few adjustments to my design.  The Letter “N” took nearly 5 hours to complete, so the remaining letters will not be covered completely. Instead the letters will receive a partial treatment from the bottom up to dive the appearance of being consumed by the plastics. The first three letters will be filled entirely with plastics and the remaining 8 letters will be consumed with less and less plastics as the letters move to the right.  See image below.

I originally wanted to overlay the word consequence over the word convenience to bring further depth to the statement, but I am very concerned about time.

As of 11:00 am on Sunday this is how my letters look.

Below is the prep work completed for the three letter “E’s”.  They will be wrapped as indicated above.

 

The stitching seems to take the longest and all letters that have been completed need a strategic second layering of items to give a more “full” look to the letters.  I have 20 hours to complete this prior to the install on Tuesday.

 

Artist Statement Rough Draft

Bullet Points

First, this is an extension of my mid term project. Addressing the growing concerns about the problems plastics are causing in the environment. The majority of the items found polluting the environment are products of convenience.  Single use plastic items should be avoided, yet society is not moving quickly enough to decrease the amount of plastic products being consumed daily.  The consequences of these convenient items has not been completely resolved.

• Pull some current statics about the plastic problem
• Construction:  wood sub structure: basic building supplies, sewed and ties together as the products are woven and tied into our daily lives.  In order for humans to decrease these plastic footprint they need to not only learn ways to reduce consumption of these products, but also to find sustainable alternatives to the commonly used product.
• Assembly: employed help of neighbors, family, and friends.
• Plastic contributions:  asked for people I associate with to donate plastics. By asking people to bring me there plastic trash, not only do they become a part of the artwork, but they also become more aware of using plastics in there life
• Installation Day:  World Environment day is June 5, and the theme this year is Beat plastics pollution.  Help of Sister and niece.  Nephew will bring his drone to video for me.
• Plastics:  nearly 1,00o pieces of one time use plastics were used in the making of this work. over 200 plastic bags, over three hundreds bottle caps and lids,   ___plastic drinking bottles, product packaging.
• Help in making this installation ages 3-80
• What happens day of event, how long was set up, did anything need to be altered, challenges,
• It too the many people to make this happen, thank-you
• Reflection on experience

Experiments in Installation Final Project Re-imagining Space: Transforming

FORM:

The installation art will be in the form of a word.  The typography of the word will be easy to read three-dimensional block letters.  The letters will read “convenience.”  The letters will be covered in one-time-use-plastics.

 

CONCEPT:

What are you trying to say with your piece?

The conceptual framework for this art installation is to raise awareness about the growing problems and concerns surrounding the use and disposal of plastics, specifically one-time-use items.  One-time-use plastics are made and used due to their convenience to consumers and cost effectiveness to the producers.   The result of the worlds mass consumption of plastics is causing a planetary problem, the consequences of which science has been uncovering over the last decade.  Plastics do not biodegrade. Plastics photo-degrade, which means that they only break up into smaller and smaller pieces. This is a huge problem for the food chain and for humans as evidence is building about the effects of plastic ingestion by marine animals.

This piece is important to make, because it brings attention to the human desire for convenience and our failure to foresee the consequences of our actions.

The installation is scheduled for March 5^th, World Environment Day.  This year’s theme is “beat plastic pollution”.  The site for this installation was selected because of its connection to the water and the availability of plastic debris found along its shoreline.  I am currently in negotiating the installation site with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection and the Florida State park Services.  I will learn if I receive approval to place this installation at the requested site on May 29^th.

I want this piece to grab the viewers attention from a distance and draw them in.  I want to use people sense of curiosity to attract them closer.  Once in front of the site, I want the viewers to gain a sense of responsibility for creating the problem and potentially push them to make even small changes.  I will be onsite all day and hand out information provided by the World Environment Day website to any one who approaches me.

MATERIALS / METHOD:

Letters will be cut from wood and painted white to provide a based to build from.  Each letter will be covered with one-time use plastics collected from every-where and anywhere I can find them.  The letters will be covered in one of two ways.  The letters that are decorated with larger plastics will be drilled full of holes and the plastics will be sewn on and the letters that are decorated with smaller plastics capable of falling off easily will be glued on.   Each letter will have two wooden stakes attached to them and go into a base consisting of a cynder block and sand to give stability while being exposed to the elements.   Materials will be left raw so that viewers can determine exactly what they are.

 

LOCATION:

At 48” tall the word should be readable at up to 2000 feet away. This will draw in boaters, beach goers, and air traffic.  The ideal site is less than 500 feet from the Fort Lauderdale Port where over a thousand boats come and go every day, including container ships and cruise ships.   The Fort Lauderdale international airport is also near by and the planes fly low enough that passengers can see it from their windows.

IDEAL SITE 

Alternate locations have been talked about, see below

Visible to planes and foot traffic, not visible to boaters, not on the water, large clearing visible to the public concession stand.

Visible to concession stand, some boaters who travel down whisky creek and use the boat marina at the park.

 

REFERENCES:

Inspiration for this work came from my personal care and concerns with the environment. My personal artwork deals with intercepting the waste stream and using end-of-life materials.  My love of the water, concerns about sustainability, and personal research has led me to create this piece.

 

   interested in bold block letters

   rolled plastic and paper products, stuck in a fence, but I do not have a fence to us

 

Use of plastic bags to create letters for a poster campaign

 

 

 

BUDGET:

Material	Qty	Resource	Cost
48 x 96 Plywood	4 sheets	2.5 FOUND BOARDS, Purchase 2 from Lowes	$14.98
White exterior paint	1 gallon	In stock	$0.00
3/8-1/2” drill bits	3	in stock till dull	$ TBD
Large Needles-Crochet	1-pack	Walmart	$1.69
36” Wooden Stakes	1-pack	Lowes	$13.97
3” chip Brush	2-4	2-In stock	$ TBD
Cotton Twine	2 Rolls	Walmart	$4.97
8 x8 x 16 Cynder Blocks	11-22	Lowes (1.22)	$15.00-30.00
1” Wood Screws	100 pack	Lowes	$4.76
One-time Use plastics	1,000 plus	Friends, Family, School	Free
Missed Work	1 day off for install	Sick Days	$155.00
Park Entrance Fee	1 day	State Park	$4.00
U-haul Truck Rental	24 hours	If items can not fit in vehicle-U-Haul	$30.00
Gas-Refill	Unknown	Cumberland farms	$15.00
			$259.37

 

TIMELINE:

Date	Tasks	CONVENIENCE
5/24	o   Visit site and talk with Park officials o   Collect beach plastics for midterm, sort and clean o   Determine installation site o   Document site o   Begin cutting out letters (qty 2)
5/25	o   finalize project proposal and begin typing o   Cast plastic egg molds for midterm o   Purchase needed materials o   Cut more letters out (qty 6)
5/26	o   Finalize Proposal and submit to assignment and discussion o   Create blog submission o   Put eggs in container and document for midterm o   Cut out last of letters (qty 3)
5/27	o   Document day 2 of eggs drying, compose video for website o   Post Midterm project to website and share o   Mount stakes, drill holes in letters, and paint white (qty 11)
5/28	o   Respond to project posts o   Mount plastics to letter E’s (plastic bags) o   Sew plastics to one letter N	E,E,E, N
5/29	o   Respond to project posts o   Sew plastics to letter C and Glue plastics to Letter O o   Create letter I o   Create Long line of straws for consequence overlay.  S E Q U	O, I
5/30	o   Finalize both letter C’s o   Call Park to speak with Manager about confirming site o   Draft Artist Statement o   #6 Read/Write/Reflect Ephemeral Assignment	C, C   Would they like for me to create a press release?
5/31	o   Work on Letter V, and another N o   Finalize and submit #6 assignment
6/1	o   Finalize letter V and N o   Submit Ephemeral Experiment o   Final Arrangements for Son’s 5th Birthday	V, N
6/2	o   Day off-Son’s Birthday Party-Family in town o   Learn how to use Drone for recording
6/3	o   Make last N o   Mock install in back yard o   Add to piece where needed o   Attach SEQU to letters and determine color contrast, paint if needed o   Determine if U-haul is needed o   Submit Progress Report o   Draft artist statement due	N
6/4	o   Finalize work o   Practice flying Drone o   Print flyers for visitors about plastic pollution o   Make phone call to site for tomorrows install confirmation
6/5	o   Rent U-Haul o   Load and Install o   Take Day off work o   Document art o   Collect beach trash	Park opens at -8 am, closes at sundown (7pm)
6/6	o   Night off-catch up on sleep
6/7	o   Teacher Planning Day o   Upload all videos and Images to computer and begin editing o   Go to bed early
6/8	o   Edit Videos and begin website posting
6/9	o   Finalize website posting and submit assignment
6/10-14	o   Group Critiques begin 10-14th o   Respond to peers o   Create reflection Post
6/15	o   Submit Reflection Post

 

 

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Installation Date:   June 5th , World Environment Day  2018 theme, Link: Beat Plastic Pollution

Site, options:

State Park, will visit as a paid customer, Fishing Jetty is, and provides visibility to Port Everglades, park rangers

Dania Beach, public beach, has a wooden pier and restaurant, public bathrooms, docks, wooded area, quiet area

Fort Lauderdale Beach, public beach, small wooded area, public bathrooms, tourist area, lots of police

Type of Installation:

Temporary,  site specific, highly visible to international public,

Location Port: can easily be observed by thousands of people, large letters, material heavy…?..expensive base structure…one day event

Location Dania beach:  public setting, visible to 100 plus people, more intimate setting,  could leave up for a week or more

Location Fort Lauderdale beach:  public setting, visible to 500 plus people, one day event

Materials:

Items of convenience: plastic drinking straws, plastic cups, plastic plates, plastic bags, water bottles, etc. Needs some type of solid framework...Current estimated supplies: over  $250.00  how can I bring this down?

stakes for securing, wooden frames, paint, informational handout about plastics, rental of uhaul, hinges/screws, twine to hold it all together.

Methods of Construction:

Base material must contain some sort of frame work, perhaps old crab traps or fishing gear.  Initial thoughts about Crab traps has been canceled due to inability to obtain materials.  I have located  two 4 x 8 pieces of plywood, could use for letters.   Perhaps sewing it all together with fishing line.  Sign design would need to be A-framed or sandwich board type.  Bottoms will need to be weighted. Items will need to be secure and hold up to high winds and rain—can test in back yard with sprinklers and leaf blower.  How will the back of the letters look? How can they be aesthetically pleasing…

Find a fence to weave plastics into? Can this be done without being asked to stop?

Chicken wire? Visit junk yard? 

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Inspiration:

light weight, affordable, can build big, boring to look at up close

  nice secondary sign for larger install

  clever idea to have on evantage point, but not good for high impact from a far

nice visually, clever use of rolling plastic bags or magazines, smart to anchor to fencing. will not hold up to wind and rain, could use fencing or chicken wire as substructure–how much is cost? anchor letters to ground-how?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

above -can wheat paste hold plastic bags to wall?

spray paint directly on bags full of                    collected debris?  could this work visually, easy to fill                                  with site specific plastic trash..

 

 

 

nice exmples of letters and sizes

 

 

 

Documentation:

Images from the site, images of installation set up, drone footage, waterproof-go pro from water.

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Working it out, Sketchbook drawings.

Letter will be 4 foot by 2 foot each, in the spacing between the letters, a shadow will be painted that reads consequence

Prototype letter will be made weekend of 5/19-5/20

Estimated completed size of install 36 feet wide x 5 feet tall…

In the moment