We are facilitating an environmental art lesson that uses materials found in nature or found-objects such as branches, leaves, and rocks to design a work of art. The art is ephemeral. Students will allow their creations to be reclaimed by nature. In so doing, the art is environmentally friendly and sustainable.
This is an environmental art lesson that uses recyclable and natural materials such as strawberries, blueberries, and spring leaves to make paint to be used on our paper made from newspaper pulp. The lesson will call to design a work of art that speaks out about a problem in the environment. By using only natural materials to make art, the student will start to have an appreciation for these materials and think about non-natural materials as well as their effects on the Earth.
The theme of the project will be using recyclable and natural materials to make art while having an appreciation and respect for these materials, the environment, and the Earth. In the Weintruab (2007) article “Paper Dreams,” the history of Chinese paper is revealed alongside the evident domino effect that this process had on the world. The environment is beautiful, but it is also in peril from a dangerous enemy. Who is this enemy? The answer is simple, easy, and scary; we are. The ecological footprint of the human race is large on this defenseless planet that has no say over its quickly diminishing natural resources. The purpose of this is to become more responsible resource users and to respect the Earth’s right to flourish during our species’ lifetime. For the span of this lesson, the students will be looking at artists who use recyclable materials as their resource for artmaking such as Julia Anne Goodman and Corine van der Werf.
The theme of the project will be reusing natural materials to make art while respecting nature and the environment.Ynestra King (1989) reported that the ecology movement, “attempts to speak for nature-the ‘other’ that has no voice,” so that it, “is not conceived of subjectively in our civilization” (p. 411). Nature cannot fend for itself in a human-dominated society. The preservation of nature is important because natural beauty would not exist if we didn’t take care of the environment. Our environment that surrounds us affects how we live. Students will be looking at examples of environmental artists and those that work with nature’s beauty such as Andy Goldsworthy, Robert Smithson, and Ana Mendieta to feel inspiration towards their own artwork. For example, Andy Goldsworthy, the British sculptor, photographer and environmentalist, creates artworks that are meant to decay naturally while, “explor[ing] the natural bonds and tensions that exist within the earth” (Andy Goldsworthy Digital Catalog, 2006). Students will examine the natural beauty of the environment and expand on it by using found objects like twigs, rocks, and leaves to form their own works of site-specific art.
Sustainability
Lesson 1: Ephemeral art
Lesson 2: paper & paint making
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