2010 art projects
Workshop held 26 April 2010.
Kenneth Drummond
Can You See?
Can you see, can you see?
What is becoming of our world,
Drying deserts,
Floods flooding.
Can you see, can you see?
That we put ourselves in this mess,
Exhausts exhaling,
Trees tumbling.
Can you see, can you see?
We can change for the better,
Our world,
Our responsibility.
Can You See?
The digital art shown is meant to represent a small amount of the causes and effects of global warming on society today in an artistic form.
The globe in the pupil in the eye represents the world in which we live which is suffering due to global warming which is being caused by a variety of sources.
The images which are faded into the eye are deliberately difficult to be seen. This reinforces the text and the images title “Can you see?”. This is due to the fact that a large majority of the general public are complacent with regards to the problem of global warming. Many take small journeys or travel to work when public transport is available. For example, if all commuters in the world left the car at home one day a week for the next year, we would save enough miles to travel to the moon and back 35,000 times.
The poem which accompanies the image reinforces the message that is conveyed in the image. The repetition of “Can You See” reinforces the question that the reader must ask themselves when reading so that they can realise that perhaps they can do something to change for the better. The alliteration used within the last two lines of the opening two stanzas emphasises the effects and our actions in the first and second stanzas respectively.
The last stanza is designed to make the reader think. Think about the effects on the world that we have caused and to realise that they ARE reversible.
The world is disintegrating, and only we can stop it.
Peter Lynn
Global Warming Poem
A place that once was so clean and free
The world for one and all
Endless sky and bottomless sea
No second chances should it fall
As we thrived from coal and steel
For all the air there was around
The world was choking
Not a single breath could be found
No sooner would we walk or run
Than flood the roads without a care
As the tar bubbles in the blistering sun
We find ourselves caught in the greenhouse's snare
Our hunger for power matched by our hunger for meat
The air heavy with the cow's methane
And the once lush land trampled at their feet
Unaware of natures pain
The damage is done and the effects are clear
As forests fall and the deserts creep
We are responsible for the dread and the fear
It's our fault the glaciers weep
Time moves on
But it does not forget
All the mistakes made
And outstanding debt
So how shall the price be paid?
By floods or fire or ice?
Perhaps change would be best
To put this issue to rest
Global Warming Poem
When writing this poem I tried to take a humane point of view. I wanted to express the fact that global warming is caused by human actions. In doing this I hoped to compel the reader to think about their lifestyle and the world they live in and what effects it may be having on the environment and climate change. It is easy to be detached from a subject when it does not affect your every day life. This poem confronts the reader with the problem and therefore forces them to think about it.
The most difficult part of solving a problem is getting people to realise that there is a problem. To do this we need to somehow get peoples attention, deliver the facts and engage them in finding a solution. This poem portrays that their will be adverse consequences that will occur if change is not made. The reader is then motivated to become involved in the situation rather than ignoring it.
Communication is key in developing answers to the questions surrounding climate change. It is also essential that people are able to express themselves about the topic. In order to get people involved and distribute various media to a wide audience, initiative must be taken. In the case of creative writing such as poetry, competitions could be held. This would give people an incentive to get involved and think about climate change. Other methods such as open microphone sessions or creative writing workshops would also help to promote expression about the problem at hand.
Kathleen Goldie
To communicate the effects of Global warming, I have chosen to portray them through a picture. The picture has been created using different forms of media: paint, stickers, digital from computer, and crepe paper to highlight all the different damages which come together to cause Global warming.
The picture shows the Earth placed on a lolly stick like an ice-cream, melting under the suns harmful rays due to the effect of Global warming.
The hands holding the lolly stick could be to represent that the Earth's future is on our hands, that it is our responsibility to try and stop the Earth from continuing to melt until it is destroyed, like you could put an ice lolly back in the freezer to stop it from being wasted. The hands could also represent a parents hands handing over the 'ice lolly' to their child. In other words, handing over the responsibility of trying to solve the problem of the to their children. Another thought could be that the hands are that of the 'creators', saddened by what humans are doing to the Earth they created, and the melts on the hand are not drips from the melting Earth but tears of sadness.
The drips are used to convey that the world is melting - melting suggests a process of dying slowly which highlights that there may still be time to stop Global warming, or to fix it. They could also represent that the polar ice caps are melting due to Global warming, which will cause flooding and peoples homes to be destroyed. Therefore, another thought would be again that the drips are not from the melting, but they represent tears of sadness.
Crepe paper is used to represent the ozone layer, where the hole is shown by the gap in the crepe paper. The hole is increased and caused by pollution and allows harmful rays to penetrate through the atmosphere into the Earth, again causing global warming.
The blank black card was used to represent space. It was chosen as this is typical of night sky and also to show that there is no pollution in space, as there are no humans to pollute it. The stars also represent the niceties of Space which is not being affected by Global warming. I feel that space has connotations of being linked to Physics, and so one could suggest that the cleanliness of 'not polluted space' would be an example of the way in which Physics could lead us forward in the hope for a cleaner world.
The orange lighting bolts coming from the Sun represent the rays which are penetrating the Earth's atmosphere and giving cause to Global warming through the Greenhouse effect. Although these rays are actually invisible, I chose to represent them as lightning bolts to represent the harmful effect they are having on our Planet, and that maybe if people could see these rays like this they would pay more attention to Global warming. The sun was also painted in an orangey-red colour to represent danger.
To conclude, I feel that my picture brings Global warming to the attention of the observer quite clearly, and could encourage people to find out how they can stop it, or even what will happen next to their 'melting Earth ice-lolly' if people continue to ignore Global warming.
