An hour with Peter Simpson

After class Thursday, I emailed Mr. Simpson for him to help me with our projects. Friday morning, I entered the woodshop not totally knowing what I wanted. After pitching back and forth ideas, Mr. Simpson and I came up with ways to show my piece with two blocks of wood. With his help, I sawed and sanded two 9x9 pieces of wood, and nailed them to the walls. With this new addition, I feel like I have been able to gain a better grasp of what I want to show the class for Tuesday's critique.

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Everglades Adventure

Over the Feb break, i went to Everglades National Park for a sea kayaking trip with W&L Outing Club. The trip let us embraced and appreciate the true wilderness and we learned to survive on an isolated island. Over the trip, we followed the "Leave no waste" rule from permaculture, which i think is really interesting. We used biodegradable dish washing liquid and other environmentally friendly products when we were on the island and we picked up all the trashes (from us and from other people who left trash and didn't pick them up after) Human leaves footprint wherever they go. What we can do to make our footprints sustainable is to be conscious about the waste we are making and recycle them. It is the same in permaculture design. When we try to build things and make progresses, we have to be conscious of our actions. We had campfire every night and everyone sit in a circle (and we burn the burnable trash such as orange peels and tissues to leave no waste). We also use...

Making my own paint

In this exploration of place, I have come to realize how much coffee is the essence of Coop. It is one of the most commonly ordered items on the menu. The smell permeates the space (and now my room). The sound of the coffee machine is the soundtrack underneath the conversation and laughter. When approaching this in progress critique, I struggled with how to bring that essence into the piece. A simple cup of coffee did not have the same effect, it was not overwhelming. Inspiration from my third visit inspired me to use the drink in a different way. I spent my weekend painting with coffee. I used a variety of "canvases" to see how the textures affected the way the "paint" dried. I used napkins, paper and cardstock. The varying degrees of thickness determined how quickly the material soaked up the liquid and the patterns it dried in. In addition to staining the surface, the coffee left behind the faint scent of Coop.

Photography Conference

I spent this past weekend at a photography conference in Philadelphia. The theme of the weekend was "Uncertain Times." I attended a panel by Byron Wolfe and Matt Klett about their most recent project, Drowned River . They spent several weeks documenting Glen Canyon and the effects of the Glen Canyon Dam. During their trip, they rephotographed sites shot by Eliot Porter back in 1963. I kept coming back to this idea of rephotography. While not specifically eco-art, their photographs demonstrate the change in environments over time. In Drowned River , they illustrate the negative impact the dam has had on the water. Specifically, the canyon that Porter photographed is now underwater. I am interested to hear how you all think eco-artists can engage with photography in their work. You can check out more of their work here: http://www.klettandwolfe.com/

Eco Art

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