In my group, we looked for things that were "dull" or not very noticeable in nature (not that many things are, but we managed to find some on the not-so exciting side). We wanted to be able to bring out the hidden details in these mundane structures and incorporate other pieces of nature in order to accentuate the object itself. Take the heart shaped dent in the sidewalk for example. It's something people pass everyday, they walk over it and step on it, but I doubt many people actually stop to investigate it. So, in order to make this interesting feature in the sidewalk much more prominent, my group decided to outline the heart with vibrant yellow dandelions. We chose to put dying, white dandelions in the center; it seemed like a good contrast between yellow and white, living and dying. This way, people would notice something that they may not have ever seen otherwise. Personally, I find it thrilling and intriguing to be able to make something stand out that was hardly anything of intrigue before. That's my motivation; art helps people notice the little things around them. I love that.
My group used a variety of materials throughout all of our projects; we mainly used flowers, rocks, and other vegetation (weeds, reeds, etc.). However, we also used dirt (the dry riverbed) and even animals (inchworm in the heart shaped sidewalk crack). Using many different materials is what makes the art interesting; if you continue to use the same things over and over, the art can sometimes get repetitive and boring (not always, but sometimes). In addition to our variety of materials, my group also used a variety of different tools. Our hands were definitely the main ones. We hand-picked the flowers and gathered the rocks. But during the dry riverbed project, we also used our feet to draw the curve in the sand. This proved the easiest way to make such a design; a stick would have made too thin a line and our hands would have gotten very dirty. The techniques we used during this unit varied from project to project. With the heart shaped crack project, as I described above, we used contrast to bring the art to life. With the dry riverbed, we used a flowing shape to represent the water that's supposed to be there, but wasn't when we visited. Then with the butterfly rock, we created nature with nature, a representation of something living surrounded by something
actually living.
I love being able to create something out of nothing (or almost nothing). Being resourceful and creative is something I really enjoy. That's why I liked this unit a lot. We created interesting structures in an everyday environment that I'm sure caught people's attention. Even though most of our designs got destroyed, they were still noticed by someone at some point in time. We made a mark on our world with this art, even for just a brief moment.
