CONTEXT

            The buttons I am designing will use the same language as political campaign buttons. Campaign buttons bear some similarity to bumper stickers, which are also used for political or other promotional messages. As a novelty item, campaign buttons are part of the hobby of collecting. For the past 100 years, slogans have been used to promote candidates and causes.

            The language of the 4-part campaign button – metal back, paper design, clear plastic cover, and metal pin – lends itself well to my project. The idea of pins as “retro” collectible novelty items enhances the idea of “green-washing” that is related to the piece. Green-washing, a corporation or business’s deceptive advertisement of a product or policy as “environmentally-friendly” or “green”, is a result of the commercialization of the recent surge in bright green environmentalism. The language of the pin suggests a consumer’s ability to acquire environmentalist status through collectible items.

PROCESS

            I will have to finalize the button design on Photoshop or InDesign, and then save the design as a PSD, PNG, PDF, AI, TIFF, JPG or EPS. I will then upload my design to justbuttons.org and order 50 2.25” metal pin-back buttons through this website for $35.00, plus shipping.

SCHEDULE

1.      Finalize button design on Photoshop and/or InDesign.

2.      Upload and order 50 2.25” metal pin-back buttons from justbuttons.org

3.      Receive buttons within a few weeks.

WHY?

The social interaction between the audience, social systems, and the artist through the distribution and receiving of the button pins, and the resulting room of people wearing these pins, is meant to inspire debate and catalyze social exchange. This piece is meant to engage the audience in thought and discussion about their roles as environmentally-conscious consumers in a time of extreme environmental crises. The circulation of the pins will lead to a circulation of questions throughout the audience, such as, “Am I pretending to be an environmentalist? What environmental issues am I aware of that I am not acting on? Are the simple things that I do, like recycling, not enough? Is it my responsibility to do more?” By offering a pin to every person in the audience, each individual will be confronted with the question of their personal environmental responsibility. Whether or not they choose to accept and wear the pin or reject the pin will be a direct reflection of themselves. To wear the pin is to accept responsibility for one’s personal environmental impacts; to reject the pin is to excuse oneself from this responsibility.

            As an environmentalist, the hardest thing for me has been accepting responsibility for all the choices I make as a consumer that contribute to pollution, depletion of resources, etc. However, after I did accept responsibility for my actions, I was able to make drastic lifestyle changes that have greatly minimized my negative impact on the environment. I still, however, have many more improvements to make. In a time of extreme environmental crises, humans must make rapid changes to our lifestyles. Desperate times call for desperate measures, and there is no time to waste. This inspired I Pretend To Care About the Environment as a social engagement piece. These buttons will serve as mirrors for self-assessment to the audience of consumers attending Senior Showcase. I will use Senior Showcase as a vehicle to distribute the pins and by extension the message of environmental consumer responsibility. Through this performance piece, I hope to inspire honest environmentalists from the audience to make more serious and dedicated choices for the betterment of the world.

 Title: I cant see

In this Performance I intended on showing the intentions of two people in my situation.
The two people being my mother and me , my mother who placed me in an environment
Which I could not escape because I had no power in this situation. I was blinded because I
Was not Entirely aware of the situation I was in , my mother who is pretending to be blind is
Entirely Aware of the situation and free to do as she please which is why I am bound to
The door and she is not. In this performance I am entirely blind and I can't see the strings that
Are tied around me so I cant see where to start to untie myself and the more I try the more it
Hurts , the door is a representation of my environment but also the entrance to a period in
My life.

"Weight of Time" Cody Graber

The downward pressure being exerted  from the weight of the cement acts as a catalyst by balancing the otherwise fragile wooden structure. The friction that is established when the cement cast is latched onto the structure, prevents any further movement from occurring, causing the wooden panels to lock in place. However, due to the positioning of the panels, if the cement cast were to stay in that position for an extensive period of time, the wood will eventually give in and collapse because of  the pressure being applied by the cement and gravity.  I compared this relationship to Alzheimer's and how it serves as an anchor to the mind and the individual,by immobilizing the capability to remember short and long term events causing the person with the disease to lose all sense of identity. Because of this, their conscious is then thrown into a state of limbo, in which they stagnate until the mind decays enough that the foundation can no longer support the weight of the disease. 

Scaffold Installation/ In progress

Materials:

-Bungee Cords

- Flexible material/cloth

- Belt/ Velcro material to create belts to attach to dancers to apply the cords to

-Projector-Extension Cords

Have to:

-Tie the dancers to the scaffold

-Play with the different levels (3)

- Outfit Nude Color or Neutral

-Playing with the Idea of restriction of being “stuck” will creating a sort of architectural sketches with the bungee cords. Not only restricting the dancers but space.

Figure 1 = Dancer stretching cord showing length in relation to structure

Figure 2= structure in relation to human scale.  Opportunity of using al three levels

 -Against the wall creates    opportunity to project

- Consider creating the opportunity to walk around/ under­­

"Alternate Sigil" Antonella Marshall

Materials: Wood, cardboard, tape, mesh, vinegar, art tissue, paint

               The Alternate Sigil is part of a series of sculptures that explores the concept of horror psychology through depictions of grotesque, organic material. The sculpture’s flesh-like material in the center is made of tape and art tissue, giving it the flexibility to fold back and reveal the sigil beneath. Warmer colors with a varnish coating were used to enforce the texture of the flesh areas of the sculpture.

               The outside of the sculpture, including the flesh, represents the exterior, while the grotesque area inside represents the interior. 

"Remembering Present" Jefferson McCarthy

Remembering present

Remembering present is a study of the influence of colors on my memories of the past. This specific green is a color I've unconsciously associated with periods of sanctity in my life. By recreating this color, I am trying to alter how I will remember my life now, in the future.

"Good As New" Stephanie Oyuela

MATERIALS:

Frog plush toy, decrepit bear plush toy, stuffing, ribbon and scissors

STATEMENT:

Through performance I wanted to depict how one day I will most likely have to give up the ability to have children and be left with an empty shell. The inability to bare children leaves some women with a void in them that they can not fill.