Sustained Investigation 3

Reflection

The idea that guided my creating this third investigation piece was again the question: "How can I tell the truth about climate change in a time of denial?" To answer this question I have so far explored the stunning beauty of the world, the loss of species, and now in this piece, the important issue of trash disposal and indifference. I am not as satisfied with this final piece as I was the first two in the investigation. I didn't pay as much attention to the size of the pieces of paper as I would have liked. However, I did learn about doing what you can and leaning into the experimentation part of art. In relation to the trash crisis, I know not what to say. There are statistics and facts, and yet they seem to do nothing to stop the incredible game of pretend, that it seems most everyone is willing to play. It is easier, simpler, and is the epitome of indifference. However, we are no longer at a time when we can afford to be indifferent to our individual and collective role.

The materials I used were oil pastel on canvas, pen on watercolor paper, and the netting from the bags that tangerines are sold in. All three of these combinations are a bit strange. The oil pastel on canvas was started as an experiment last year, and I choose to continue it for this piece. The pen on watercolor was because it was the only thick paper I had. Otherwise, bristol would have made more sense.

To get to my current piece I went through a process of sketches, revision, and experimentation. I started with a canvas that already had some basic marks on it from a project I had started but never finished. I quickly used oil pastel to fill this out and then researched when trash dumps and landfills look like. I cut of images of the landfills and tried to weave them into the piece, but it didn't work too well. Eventually. settled on just the netting. However, I felt that the message wasn't very clear, so I decided to add text. This part required a bit of revision, as I would come up with a few sentences and then change them either entirely or just keep single words or phrases. If I were to continue with or redo parts of the piece, I would make the words be bolder and work on the shape of the paper, especially the words on the top. Overall I wish for those who see this piece to how alone it feels to see something yet see the rest of the world stay silent.