My final project is titled
Natural Materialism, incorporating expensive merchandise into the land.
This project is a walk through my materialist life. I have a huge problem buying ridiculously expensive footwear and I have an even bigger problem wearing them out where they might get dirty. So this is a spin on that idea, by integrating the shoes into the earth. What made this even better is that the weather was miserable so it was rainy and wet. The shoes were even more disgusting and the underlining idea even stronger. I think this project showed me how silly it is to spend so much money on things you walk in, although I don’t see me stopping any time soon.
The idea to have a new shoe in a different location fueled from Mr. Birchett’s work with the white dresses. I knew I wanted to make it like a ‘journey’ so I felt that each location is another stop on this journey that I am on. I also tried to use a mix of different shoes to show diversity in styles.
The money was used to represent the amount of money that is spent on buying shoes. The rain was ruining the money representing that the money spent on the shoes was literally going down the drain.
The acorns were very important. Acorns are fairly common and they grow on trees, as opposed to the common saying, “money doesn’t grow on trees.” There are an abundance of acorns, but clearly not as much money in the world. The acorns are the basis of this piece as representing the desire to have as much money as acorns.
In Lucy Lippard’s text, she talks about the interaction between nature and culture. I feel like our culture is all about buying things. Take now for instance, the economy is dying because we are not buying as much as we used to. It is sad to know that we depend so much on material.
Also in her text she writes, “Immateriality and impermanence were the two prime esthetic strategies designed to combat overemphasis on ‘precious objects…’” This was a neat in comparison to my final project because it talked about the need to deemphasize ‘precious objects’ in our life, and in my case shoes.
I really like this one. It took be a long time to get the shoe to stay in the tree, but I like how it turned out.
This was another one of my favorites because I really liked how it ended up looking on the rock. Also the coins worked nicely in the photos as well.
This one is my absolute favorite. The red shoe pops the most out of all the shoes. I love how the heel is on the money because it looks like someone is completely unaware of the value of money.
I hope you guys enjoyed my final project. I had a lot fun thinking of an idea and then going out and creating it. Please comment with your thoughts.
This project is a walk through my materialist life. I have a huge problem buying ridiculously expensive footwear and I have an even bigger problem wearing them out where they might get dirty. So this is a spin on that idea, by integrating the shoes into the earth. What made this even better is that the weather was miserable so it was rainy and wet. The shoes were even more disgusting and the underlining idea even stronger. I think this project showed me how silly it is to spend so much money on things you walk in, although I don’t see me stopping any time soon.
The idea to have a new shoe in a different location fueled from Mr. Birchett’s work with the white dresses. I knew I wanted to make it like a ‘journey’ so I felt that each location is another stop on this journey that I am on. I also tried to use a mix of different shoes to show diversity in styles.
The money was used to represent the amount of money that is spent on buying shoes. The rain was ruining the money representing that the money spent on the shoes was literally going down the drain.
The acorns were very important. Acorns are fairly common and they grow on trees, as opposed to the common saying, “money doesn’t grow on trees.” There are an abundance of acorns, but clearly not as much money in the world. The acorns are the basis of this piece as representing the desire to have as much money as acorns.
In Lucy Lippard’s text, she talks about the interaction between nature and culture. I feel like our culture is all about buying things. Take now for instance, the economy is dying because we are not buying as much as we used to. It is sad to know that we depend so much on material. 
Also in her text she writes, “Immateriality and impermanence were the two prime esthetic strategies designed to combat overemphasis on ‘precious objects…’” This was a neat in comparison to my final project because it talked about the need to deemphasize ‘precious objects’ in our life, and in my case shoes.
I really like this one. It took be a long time to get the shoe to stay in the tree, but I like how it turned out.
This was another one of my favorites because I really liked how it ended up looking on the rock. Also the coins worked nicely in the photos as well.
This one is my absolute favorite. The red shoe pops the most out of all the shoes. I love how the heel is on the money because it looks like someone is completely unaware of the value of money.
I hope you guys enjoyed my final project. I had a lot fun thinking of an idea and then going out and creating it. Please comment with your thoughts.
10 comments:
This was a really neat project. I particulary like the photo of the sandal in the "pond". Did you wait for until that day to do it because you knew it was going to rain or did it just happen to work out like that? I think it's really good how how you used different shoes in different locations to incorporate the idea that earth art is plural and horizontal. I also think that you did a project that deals with a problem that a lot of people have and I think you were courageous to confront the issue. Good work!
Hey Ally ... did you leave any of the objects there in any cases???
No, I didn't. I wanted to, but I did the project while I was home and I won't be back for two more weeks and I knew that would be too late. I am thinking about trying it over break again when I can monitor the progress, because I am curious about what will happen!
It would have been great to see how the shoes decayed and the metaphoric relationship of the high-commodity of shoes with the money and your personal relationship with them all mixed in. If the money was gone, then you know a human had passed that way ....
This is a really insightful piece. I found it kind of funny too, actually. It does make a big statement on the economy now and how people are probably wishing that they had saved their money and not bought expensive unnecessary things. I like how you incorporated it with Brad's project too.
This is really meaningfull. I too often spend a lot of many on shoes. I liked how you incorporated the situation of our economy right now. I loved the pic with the red heel. The red really brought an interesting contrast that paid it pop out. Great final project!
I like this idea. It reminds me a lot of Brad's piece in that if I was simply walking or hiking in the woods and came across the dresses or the shoes, I would be weirded out but also really intrigued by the story and the process of how the pieces got there! I think the combination of natural and artificial is such a great commentary on today's world. In a way its a little comforting to see all the "stuff" we deal with or live for placed in a natural environment. It reminds me to remember the insignificance, in the long term, of material goods, and the importance of appreciating nature and being aware of our affect on it.
Hey Ally...that was pretty cool! Where did you come up with that? It seems so intricate yet it's beautifully simplistic! It really sums up our Western individualistic, materialistic culture with some serious Earth tones! Wow! Great job!
Hey! I tried to comment on this last week but for whatever reason it wouldn't let. I just wanted to tell you that your piece really intrigues me. I love your interaction between nature and materialism. I think sometimes it is hard to steer clear of all the consumerism in our society because it is ever present in our day to day lives. I loved your use of the acorns and the way they represent money growing on trees. I also think my favorite part is how you mentioned a journey, and how each of these shoes being in different locations represents that. That must have taken you a lot of time to come up with! All in all, I think this is one of my favorite pieces. My favorite pic is with the red shoe, because the red stands out so much against the browns and earth tones around it. Good job!
This is a really interesting idea, and I like it. I thought it was great how you did more than one piece and in more than one location. I also like how you made use of acorns and referenced it back to how money doesn't grow on trees.
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