Objects in Oceans: Moving from awareness toward meaningful results.

The title of my Master’s thesis; “Participatory Art & its Impact on Social Change”. This was, and continues to be the framework for my creative practice. I am interested in the function of art within a society and how the creative process could be utilized to drive impactful change, as well as the role of the artist as catalyst between ideas, community and environment with tangible outputs. Some issues plaguing contemporary landscapes, such as environmental collapse, the ongoing struggle between the working- and ruling classes, the exploitation of recourses, racial divide issues and exploring the ‘self’/identity are all part of the high art discourse. One cannot help but feel that all these concerns are being exploited as subject matter by the contemporary artist in an attempt to raise yet more awareness. How can we move beyond this point? The simple answer is to activate measures driven by meaningful ideas and solutions.

The ocean, a fundamental part of the planet, has been bombarded with toxicity for generations at this point. How can we as everyday civilians fight a war against heavy industry? We cannot. How do we reach an equilibrium between an action with tangible outcomes and inspiring change in others? This is difficult to answer…

After spending time in and out of the studio, I formulated a workshop which could be adapted for both the alternative education system in which I operate as well as informing studio practice. These workshops could be structured to suit a variety of age groups with a range of abilities, but the overall concept will remain the same with a brief introduction of the importance of the Ocean and how its health impacts the entire globe. Looking at everything from the fishing industry, the impact of trade routes/politics on ocean health, the current state of coral reefs to the impacts of micro plastics on marine life and other ecosystems. A scheduled trip to the closest beach for inspection and observations, will be a departure point. Collecting ‘artificial’ objects such as nurdles from designated locations. Back at the studio these findings will be investigated and the objects will be transformed with a series of creative skills classes regarding materials such as polymer clay and related materials/tools. Didactic, awareness driven learning, targeted toward younger learners, and innovative, skill based learning for more mature students will be the focus. The hopes are that during this process the student will be exposed to the above mentioned issues and will be encouraged to be more involved from the start of the process. The participants will be taken on a journey where they will hopefully become aware of the impacts on the environment firsthand and be exposed to various ways in which an individual can assist in becoming part of a healthier balance, if possible.

Far too often have I seen attempts to raise awareness of these and similar problems by creatives, where the workshop idea ends after making objects. Ending up with a participatory picture for Instagram and a trinket. We need to take this further, by getting the student deeply involved and stretching their outputs towards meaningful outcomes with tangible real world results. I am not presuming that the outcomes in this case will be more effective. What I am trying to achieve, is to investigate the process and results of a tweaked pedagogy, by rearranging what has already been done.