Exhibition Statement

Introduction

According to the World Wildlife Fund, the current extinction rate is 1,000 to 10,000 times higher than the natural, pre-human extinction rate. Animals around the world are threatened by human action and are in need of protection and conservation efforts. The capstone will present three animated gif digital art pieces that each represent different critically endangered animals such as the Amur leopard, Sumatran rhino, and Axolotl. The animation shows a transition between their ideal environment to an issue their habitat faces presently. There will also be business cards displayed featuring the still life piece and a QR code to the infographic website pages. Throughout the project, it aims to emphasize and help encourage different ways to protect endangered species while also portraying the different detrimental factors that affect these animals through the artworks by contrasting their current and ideal environments. Ultimately, the capstone will help expose the audience to the conditions endangered animals are currently in but also connect the viewer to resources to act on this issue.

Literature Review

Habitation Salvation emphasizes the drastic importance and need to protect endangered animals. The project references the different ways critically endangered animals are threatened specifically focusing on the Amur Leopard, Sumatran Rhino and Axolotl. From the World Wildlife Fund and different animal conservation sites, the artist incorporated the imagery into her animated gifs. 

In the work it references the different ways awareness can be spread though art pieces. Like the Walt Disney awareness exhibition and the Selfridges’ Ocean Project, the capstone will entice and interest the audience leading to educating them about different endangered animals and ways they can personally support the species. Through utilization of high contrast visuals, it will engage the viewers to interact with the project. They can then learn about the different endangered animals and the importance of their conservation. Similarly, on March 8, 2022, The Walt Disney Family Museum debuted its first Cause Awareness exhibition, Creative Conservation: The Art of Endangered Animals where they featured painted creations by rescued and rehabilitated and wildlife inspired artwork by human collaborators (Creative conservation). They brought awareness to the plight that so many animals in their film are facing today, brought funding to the wildlife sanctuaries and brought a broader understanding of many ways endangered animals are being threatened and what to do to help. 

This is similar to what the capstone achieves by connecting to my audience with visuals and then leading to informing my audience of ways they can support endangered species through different conservation efforts.

Methods

For the capstone, Emma utilized digital art and animation practices. She followed the respective tutorials for Adobe Animate to add the transitions in my pieces. She also incorporated a more painterly style to the works with detailed linework for the featured endangered animal. She conducted main informational research about each endangered animal. she utilized different scholarly sources and reputable animal organizations to conduct my research. The main area she wanted to focus on were the different threats each animal faced and different ways organizations combat these issues.

Audience & Impact

This is significant in bringing greater funding and awareness to the general public that animals such as the Amur leopard can benefit from. Greater attention could result in the restoration of different species and overall biodiversity for our planet.

Habitation Restoration is mainly for a general audience because it is geared towards spreading awareness about endangered animals and the damage humans are causing to their environments. The objective is to spread the central message to as many people as possible to help different organizations gain support and funding. The desired impact is to have my audience learn more about endangered animals and ways they can help which would ultimately lead to helping the species survive. By incorporating business cards and social media post examples, the project can generate awareness and help species that we have brought the harm to. Creating the project has been beneficial in improving Emma's animation skills and become aware of how intricate and tedious the process can be. She also has created a work to initiate the start of other works she plans on creating to bring awareness to different issues.

References

Creative conservation: The art of endangered animals. Creative Conservation: The Art of Endangered Animals | The Walt Disney Family Museum. (2022, March 8). Retrieved November 28, 2022, from https://www.waltdisney.org/press-room/creative-conservation-art-endangered-animals

Project Ocean. ZSL. (n.d.). Retrieved April 4, 2023, from https://www.zsl.org/what-we-do/projects/project-ocean

Acknowledgements

Thank you to the all the faculty advisors, Harold, Heather and Gabi for assisting with the development of Emma's capstone. She also wants to acknowledge her peers in CPSA250 for their feedback in my project as well.