Yesterday was my last class with Dr Christl Berg. I cant remember the exact title of the class but in a nutshell Christl’s class was all about developing ourselves as artists as well as learning to look at art critically. It was a valuable experience as we had lots of presentations from established artists describing their own art practices.
Our last presentation yesterday was from visual artist, Glen Dunn and I had a lightbulb moment during his presentation when Glen said,”That in essence, artists are thinking in public.” I realised that is what I am doing, I am thinking in public, I am having a public conversation with you. I know it looks glaringly obvious but I hadnt actually thought about it that way before. A couple of pieces of the puzzle clicked loudly into place yesterday and my mind is buzzing.
My proposal for the sculpture trail has been accepted by the friends of Chauncy Vale committee and I am really excited and terrified at the same time. Now I have to do more than actually think about making the eggs, I have to produce them. Eeek.
Just to add more excitement and terror to the mix, yesterday Glen also suggested that I should film the whole process. I was going to photo document everything anyway but making a short film has captured my imagination. I have absolutely no idea how I am going to go about it at all but the thought of making a film is really exciting.
Now back to the idea of thinking in public. I hadn’t really thought much about the oil spill in the gulf of Mexico other than general, “gosh that’s awful” type of thoughts until I followed a link on twitter to the Boston.com’s Big Picture, News stories in photographs and the images truly brought home to me the devastating impact of this massive environmental disaster.
The dragon eggs are a very public thought. The dead albatross bowls are very public thoughts. And now I want to make a couple of oily dragonfly plates. This dragonfly is trying to clean itself while it is perched on an oil soaked blade of grass. I cant get the idea out of my head that to the executives of companies like BP and Monsanto we are as worthless to them as insects.That the destruction of our environments dont matter as long as they get their fat paychecks and the shareholders get theirs.
How can BP compensate the world for the loss of a dragonfly? How much is a dragonfly worth?
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Dragonflies and damselflies are older than the dinosaurs, with one in five facing extinction in the Mediterranean.
I love these beautiful dancing critters, looking forward to seeing your plates.
Wow. I just looked through all the pictures on the Boston site. I’ve avoided doing this until now because I haven’t wanted to face the images. I just feel sick from this. We are such a parasite on this planet, honestly.
You are so right. How does one begin to compensate for a dragonfly. For a stand of grass or a pool of salt water teeming with life?
And all we can do is consume less, protest where possible and hope!
Well now look what you’ve done:
http://www.wanderlustlust.com/2010/05/what-hangs-in-balance.html
In my opinion shareholders have a lot to answer for. Because they’ve bought shares naturally they want to see “their” company make large profits so that they can have their share of the $$$$. So the big companies, who sold the shares in the first place are driven to create huge profits any way they can, in order to generate enough profit to keep the company viable AND pay the shareholders. For this reason I’ve vowed to never buy any shares in any company, even Coles shares which are currently on offer to us.
In this case, its the dragonfly beating wings that is causing a breeze elsewhere in the world. The interconnectedness of life in this world is so poorly appreciated by so many.
In today’s Sydney Morning Herald, there’s a report of a traditional land owner who refuses to sell his tribal lands to uranium miners. He’s pushing for the government to have his area included in the Kakadu National Park. I hope his trust is not misplaced.
Hi frogpondsrock,
Glad the lecture was of some value to you.
I highly recommend the link below. The blogger is a former student of mine. PJ is preparing for an exhibition at the MCA. His work will be a permanent, communal food garden, right in the heart of Sydney. Click on the heading AAF. (Artist As Family)
Best
Glen.
http://www.permapoesis.blogspot.com/
Kim–GO for it. Do it.
The dragonfly. Trying to clean itself when the resources around it are all foul. What a picture.