Week 1
Day 1 Exercise:
What do we individually and collectively already know about ecologies, ecosystems and ecological art and design?
Ecology ‘the branch of biology that deals with the relations of organisms to one another and to their physical surroundings.
Ecosystem ‘a biological community of interacting organisms and their physical environment’
Ecological art and design is looking at principles applied that promote or help create awareness or change to positive change in ecologies
How are their concerns different from dominant 19th and 20th frameworks of industrial production and consumption?
Humans have physically seen the dramatic impacts within the environment due to evidence of gaps and damages in ecologies and Eocene’s. For example the number of endangered species has heavily increased from the turn of the 19thto the 20thcentury. We are also faced with the massive issue of wastage and the limitations of natural resources such as clean drinking water. Because we can see the prominent damage that industrial production of materials and the increase in consumerism consequences we are collectively more willing to make small changes. The difference between the centuries I believe is the result in proactiveness with the society that we are living into today facing real-life scares of not being able to fix the environment once it’s completely ruined. In the 19thcentury people were aware but it was not as visible or frequently talked about.
2. Review the case study - The Hive , follow up with further research on the installation and the challenges that bees currently face. Locate another design or art work that addresses these issues.
'FOR THE LOVE OF BEES PROJECT'
This project address similar issues that the Hive highlights but is a local and community driven project that is set up in Auckland. It looks at preserving ecologies within in the city and in particular I looked at the social Sculpture 'The Park' which was a way to bring attention to the public of Auckland of how bees play an important role in the environment allowing people to initiate the thought process of protecting and conserving their environment.
How does "The Hive" engage interdisciplinary design/art practices to raise awareness of these ecological issues?
Interdisciplinary – ‘relating to more than one branch of knowledge’
It is interdisciplinary as due to the stunning aesthetical design it attracts different groups of people. This includes families, students and tourist who may not have though to think about honeybees facing serious problems. The hive uses strong creativity practices which allows these different groups to think about being proactive and in turn causes a bigger movement for positive ecological change.
Other design practices include the use of vibrations:
‘Honeybees communicate primarily with each other through vibrations. By biting a wooden stick connected to a conductor, visitors to the Hive can get a sense of four types of vibrational messages through the bones in their head. These include the tooting and quacking signals that virgin queen bees make when they challenge each other in a display of strength to determine who will be the queen of the hive; begging, when a bee requests food from another; and the waggle dance which communicates the location of a good food source’
Use of flickering LED Lights – another strong creative visual feature
Propose a strategy/concept/idea of your own that might raise awareness of these issues.
I propose that supermarkets should allow for some sort of visual representation such as a poster infographic to be setup near the honey section/aisle which demonstrates to consumers the damage that has been done. It could almost be quite alarming to show a section on the shelf of honey missing to communicate how are bees are dying out what will happen in the future. The supermarket could pair up with brands such as Mother Earth or Arataki Honey.
An idea could be by entering through the aisle in a damaged hive. For example the entry has a sculpture like hive of the shelves.
Select one of the above. Summarise the author’s discussion of mana taonga and the examples they use.
2. Smith, H- Hei Whenua Ora- Te Hakari Dune Wetland
This author looked at how within this ecosystem of the wetland of Te Hākari it held strong Taonga with the Hapu who had authority of the land. The article looked at how their were ‘Intrinsic power of the natural’ and this in turn supported the authors words of how the wetland held spiritual values and is considered to give ‘the promise of wellbeing’. This quote is important as it explains how ancestors and people connected to this area respect this area as Taonga as it provides this spiritual belief of providing beneficial health and wellbeing to whenua. It also looks at the idea of how the landscape gives back to you and the strong relationships of protecting it. For example Te Hakari provides materials for food sources such as fishing; gardening; housing skills and seafaring.
This author talks about the conservation of the Wetlands and the need for the effort of protecting and caring for the wetland as it is a treasure that has given back. We can see this example in other places all around New Zealand such as Tāwharanui Peninsula where the takahē bird bring strong benefits to the environment and the Peninsula has now put in place a protection centre for the birds.
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