The arts or the sciences? Right-brain or left-brain? Abstract or physical?
The binary questions above are limiting. Yet, this limitation doesn’t ignite rebellion. Rather, the majority of us pledge allegiance to either the arts or sciences and so it goes. This happens at a relatively young age. These questions flare up again during the college application process and through all four years of undergraduate study. Subconsciously, students create neat mental maps of reality by which to organize their peers and those who fall in the blank space between art and science cause our minds to send out an “Error” signal. Even within our own CUNY system, the CUNY BA program remains somewhat of a mystery. Those individuals, whose brains have right and left sides that peacefully coexist, are possibly the best advocates of positive change because they can appeal to both the artist and the scientist. Well-known residents of the gray area between art and science include artists like Chris Jordan, Mindy Barker and Pamela Longobardi. Despite being labeled “artists” these individuals use their artistic projects to raise awareness about man’s detrimental effect on the environment. Their work was displayed eariler this year in an exhibit entitled “Gyre: The Plastic Ocean” at Anchorage Museum.
The most well-known of these artists is Chris Jordan, an American photographer, who has been labeled the “it” artist of the green movement. Earlier this year, we rang in the semester with a close examination and open discussion of photographs from Jordan’s “Midway: Message from the Gyre” collection. The collection featured several photographic images of decaying Midway albatross carcasses with large volumes of plastic lodged in their internal organs. Marine plastic pollution is a recurring them in Jordan’s work. In his “Running the Numbers” collections, Jordan arranges plastic items to create a overall large scale image. One cannot experience the style and depth of Jordan’s work from the images below. Instead, please visit: http://www.chrisjordan.com/gallery/rtn/#silent-spring.
Gyre, 2009 “Depicts 2.4 million pieces of plastic, equal to the estimated number of pounds of plastic pollution that enter the world’s oceans every hour. All of the plastic in this image was collected from the Pacific Ocean.” Artist: Chris Jordan
Venus, 2011 ” Depicts 240,000 plastic bags, equal to the estimated number of plastic bags consumed around the world every ten seconds.” Artist: Chris Jordan
Whale, 2011 “Depicts 50,000 plastic bags, equal to the estimated number of pieces of floating plastic in every square mile in the world’s oceans.” Artist: Chris Jordan
Mandy Barker is a photographer, most famous for her “SOUP” collection. The collection features a series of still photographs of marine debris arranged in an aesthetically pleasing way. The images, however, are not meant to visually please but rather to mentally alarm. The idea behind “SOUP” is similar to Chris Jordan’s style. However, the work of both artists evokes different responses to the same environmental issue: marine plastic debris.
“Turtle; Ingredients; plastic turtles that have circled and existed in The North Pacific gyre for 16 years.” Mandy Barker Photography
“Nurdles;
Ingredients: the industrial raw material of plastic, collected from six different beaches.” Mandy Barker Photography
Pam Longobardi is an American artist, who also the founded “The Drifters Project” in 2006. The project’s mission statement (found here: http://driftersproject.net/about) involves Longobardi ” removing thousands of pounds of material from the natural environment and re-situating it within the cultural context for examination.” For Longbardi, the materials she finds, specifically plastic, reflect human culture and her installations and artwork ironically, make discarded plastic culture objects once again.
“Bounty, Pilfered” made of plastics, steel armature, drift nets and floats. Artist: Pam Longobardi.
“Gyre: The Plastic Ocean” Exhibit Image Gallery: https://www.anchoragemuseum.org/exhibits/gyre-the-plastic-ocean/image-gallery/
Who doesn’t love TED Talks?! Watch Chris Jordan’s here: http://www.ted.com/talks/chris_jordan_pictures_some_shocking_stats?language=en
Gyre, 2009: http://www.chrisjordan.com/gallery/rtn2/#gyre
Venus, 2011 : http://www.chrisjordan.com/gallery/rtn2/#venus
Whale, 2011: http://www.chrisjordan.com/gallery/rtn2/#whale
Mandy Barker Photography – SOUP collection: http://mandy-barker.com/current/soup/
Pam Longobard’s Websitei: http://www.pamlongobardi.com/
Drifters Project: http://driftersproject.net/
