“Art and design often explore relationships between humans and non-humans, the environment and ecology. How can contemporary art and design propose new possibilities for imagining the ‘human’ and the environment”.
I haven’t managed to return back to my home country since I was five. If someone were to ask me what I remembered most during my time there, it would be the strong stench of fuel that permeated the atmosphere.
The issue of air pollution has been constantly raised in the news, but I never really paid much attention to it. Maybe it’s because I live in Australia where I’m fortunate enough to see blue skies and take that for granted. However, undertaking this project has forced me to focus more on the issue of air pollution and its devastating effects across the globe. Air pollution is a global crisis that is not just restricted to developing nations. It was reported this year that the crisis is killing more than 6 million people, primarily due to breathing difficulties in vulnerable people, including children and the elderly.
My final work is heavily influenced by the rise of bottled air businesses. I remember stumbling upon an online article covering this phenomenon a year ago, back then I thought to myself, “what on earth was the world coming to?” I now realize that the success of these once bizarre businesses highlights a significant issue that is often ignored by people, like myself unfortunately. The fact that air has become a valuable commodity indicates the gravity of the crisis, when the environment has always provided air freely. With the increasing fascination towards technological advancement and innovations, humans have ignorantly sacrificed the very things that sustain life. Exhaust from factories and industries, agricultural activities and mining operations have all contributed greatly to air pollutions, all three aspects that power consumerism and consumption.
Air Inhaler is exactly what the name implies, composed of an unused asmol inhaler and an empty plastic bottle; it imitates the function of an asthma inhaler. Yet, it does not seek to relieve asthma, but provide fresh air in a future dystopia where breathable air has become scarce. Conceptually, it would inhale the toxic air through its perforated holes and transform it into oxygen. In a way, the inhaler would double as a filter as well. The work is a tongue-in-cheek solution to the issue of air pollution since plants possess the same function of Air Inhaler, which is purifying and providing clean air. This is demonstrated through my final work with my decision to mimic the appearance of trees with the leaves and the balsa wood (create the illusion of a tree trunk). However, it is not intended to make fun of the issue, but rather create awareness through the work’s bizarre nature. With bottled air businesses booming, I’d hazard to say that some individuals might actually buy a product possessing this concept. It Is not due to stupidity, but the fact that individuals have neglected the environment and failed to realize its importance to our lives. This ignorance is highlighted in Air Inhaler through the use of leaves from my dying plants. My decision to specifically incorporate these leaves, when I had trees well and still truly alive in my backyard, symbolizes my ignorance towards the environment. This is further exemplified with the balsa wood, where wood had become a commodity for me to use and discard after I had completed a studio exercise. Like many out there, I am guilty of neglecting the need to preserve our ecosystem, just like how I had left my plants to wither or my willingness to discard the balsa wood after it’s use.
After I came to the idea of making a sort of ‘inhaler-with-a-filter’ I was stuck with trying to make my final work look more than just a DIY project.
Taking inspiration from the fact that trees are the actual filters in our environment, I thought it might be interesting to try and have my final work resemble a tree.
To do this, I plucked some leaves from my dying plants to wrap around the bottle. I also used the balsa wood shavings that came from my previous experiments to create the trunk (which was basically just covering the amsol inhaler with the shavings).
I thought spraying primer would somehow make the leaves and wood adhere better with the pva glue, but it didn’t really make a difference. It got really messy with the pva glue and at some point, I regret not filling the bottle with the leaves instead.
Originally, I wanted to completely wrap the plastic bottle in leaves, but it was incredbly hard trying to get them to stick on. I was worried that it would fall apart later on if I kept on piling the leaves on top of one another. In the end, I decided to fill the gaps with green watercolour, using a drip effect that I always loved doing with my watercolours.
Another artist that has used their art to respond to air pollution is chinese performance artist, Wang Rezheng (also know as Brother Nut).
In 2015, Rezheng attempted to eliminate the smog in China by sucking it up with a 1,000-watt vacuum cleaner.
The vacuum was able to collect over 100g of pollutants, which was then mixed with clay in a mold to turn in to an average looking brick. By doing so, Rezheng was able to transform the pollution into a tangible object. Quite often, people do not take notice of air pollution as it is often considered intangible.
Like Kegang, Rezheng wanted to raise awareness about the diminishing air quality in China and encourage Chinese residents to take action.
Linking this artwork back to assignment 2, I thought it might be interesting to conceptually create an inhaler that could filter toxic air and cleanse it to create the very thing sold in bottled air.
After reading up on the issue of air pollution, I thought of making something akin to an inhaler. To do so, I used my old asmol inhaler and a plastic bottle.
It’s unfortunate that the development of technology has hindered our greatest need, oxygen. The fact that people desire something as simple as bottled air, despite all the high-tech products available on the market, demonstrates the extent of the damage the environment has incurred from our actions.
Liang Kegang may not have created aesthetically pleasing artworks, but he has piqued my interest with his bizarre approach to China’s air pollution problem. After returning home from his vacation in Provence, Kegang auctioned off a jar of fresh air to a group of collectors and artists. The fact that is managed to sell for quite a high price at $860 indicates the gravity of the issue in China.
Kegang had intended to sell the jar as a conceptual artwork, which was meant to remind Chinese residents that “air should be the most valueless commodity.”
However, due to the worsening smog in China, air has now become a valuable commodity. This is evident with the rise of bottled air businesses.
Australian Entrepreneurs, John Dickinson and Theo Ruygrok have developed technology to capture air from certain locations in Australia. Although these bottles were originally intended as a novelty souvenir for tourists to take home, Chinese buyers had actually bought them for its health aspects. The bottled air sells for $18.80.
Another similar bottled air business is Moses Lam’s company, Vitality Air. Rather than Australia, the air originates from Canada. Like Dickinson’s and Ruygrok’s business, Lam’s business is booming with the company’s Chinese websites constantly crashing. Since last October, Vitality Air had sold atleast 12,000 bottles in China. Lam says that the smog in China is “definitely our best advertising.”
Another idea I had was creating a mini city in a water bottle from wood.
This idea occurred to me as I was reading an article on the hidden water crisis, where millions of gallons of water have been to create the products we consumed.
For this idea, I thought of filling the bottle with water and allow the balsa to eventually absorb the water. But the idea was too vague for me and the glue I used for the balsa wood was water soluble.
I went back and considered the question I was doing more carefully since I felt my thoughts were deviating from answering the actual question.
How can contemporary art and design propose new possibilities for imagining the ‘human’ and the environment?
From this, I spent some time researching artists who have used their works to raise awarness about environmental issues.
Blue Trees Project in Pyrmont
Installation artist, Konstantin Dimopoulos recruited children from Ultimo Public School to paint around 40 trees in Pirrama Park bright blue. Dimopoulos intended to use this project to change people’s thoughts about deforestation. By painting the trees blue, a strange colour that is not naturally seen on tree trunks, he wanted to force the community to reflect on the act of destroying actual living things.
Red Polar Bear
Visual artist Bjargey Ólafsdóttir has used red organic food dye to show how polar bears are in danger, as a result of climate change.
Chroma
Artist John Sabraw has created paintings out toxic chemicals. Sabraw extracts chemicals, like iron oxide, from biologically dead streams located in the souther part of Ohio. He has collaborate with University professor Guy Riefler to create viable pigments from the toxic sludge.
Not only has he created these painting to emphasise the effects of coal mining pollution, but the funds raised from selling his work have been used to support the continued remediation of the streams.
The main word that I keep returning to when I combine the words, wood and environment is deforestation.
I looked up the drivers of deforestation and found that one of the main reasons is to make more land available for urbanisation and production, which is something quite widely known already.
However, from this, I thought of using wood to recreate the very things that trees are destroyed for.
For my first piece, I wanted to try and create a motherboard out of the balsa wood. Since motherboard = technology, it seemed like a good starting point.
For assignment two, I honestly have no idea what I am doing.
However, what I do know is that i’d like to work with wood and continue the theme of technology as a response to the question I have chosen.
I found that after working on my assignment for my other course, SDES1002, I liked the appearance of wood.
I thought of working with pine dressed wood again, but since i’m thinking of working with a miniature pieces, pine dressed might be too thick to use.
Instead, I thought balsa wood might be a better option as it is commonly used to make models as well.
