Creative walk from an environmental point of view (LHI-BJB-04-EN)

Creative walk from an environmental point of view

Single work, excursion

It is helpful to have a variety of craft materials such as scissors, different kinds of paper, sticky tape, thread, glue, and anything you have lying around and could be put to use creatively. A camera or phone to take photographs. Notebook or sketchbook. Pencils or pens. This is about using what you already have.

Gather your materials. Gather your attention.

Can vary

It is useful to set aside a good chunk of time for this where you feel you can be fully present.

The Mushroom at the End of the World - Anna Lowenhaupt Tsing

Braiding Sweetgrass - Robin Wall Kimmerer

www.materiom.org

Through this method/action, these benefits are achieved:

• More awareness and connection to the environment
• Developing working process 
• Training perception of the objects in your environment
• To observe that small things can be significant in creating art

The main goal of this exercise is to assist individuals to examine their surroundings from an environmental point of view and find ideas for their own artistic creation. Perform following steps:

1. Go for a walk in your local environment
2. While you are walking, take careful note of the things around you. Without judgement or evaluation, pay attention to what you perceive. What can you find in excess? What is abundant and what is rare? What are the qualities and the materiality of your environment? 
3. Collect your findings, either in physical examples or in the form of sketches, photographs, rubbings, notes or collages. Before removing anything from the environment, please consider the consequences and whether it will change the dynamics in any way. Noting down your thoughts or words can help you to determine your preconceptions and the associations to the object of concern.
4. You may want to repeat this process more than once to map your area. Take a moment to consider the links between different aspects of the ecosystem, even those that are man-made and not natural, such as any form of waste, concrete, metal objects etc. Is the relationship between them mutually beneficial? Are there any imbalances?
5. From your collection of drawings, sketches, objects, photographs and notes, etc., start deconstructing and reconstructing as freely as you would like. Test your materials for their suitability to different techniques, 2D (sketches, drawings, collages etc) or 3D (sculptures, models, samples etc.). What does the material lend itself to? Can it be transformed? Should it be transformed? How does it cooperate or fight with other things? Test your ideas in absence of expectations of a final result. It can be helpful to document the process and note down the ideas that come up. 
6. Now that you have experimented and gotten to know the materiality of your surroundings, consider the possible applications of your developments. In your broader area, where is there a lack, and what is in excess? Can the excess be transformed to add value and benefit to the environment and its participants? This is not simple to assess, but the last step to this exercise is to reflect on your intentions and the possible benefits of a reciprocal relationship between humans and non-humans. Use this practice as a reflection of your practice and the role you take on in your environment. This exercise can be an important process for future work.

For those who want to receive further information, please contact the designer of this exercise, Sólrún Arnardóttir.

Sólrún Arnarsdóttir

https://solrunarnarsdottir.myportfolio.com/

Research blog for university project https://solarnar.wixsite.com/mysite

Email: solarnar@gmail.com

Self-description:  Sólrún Arnardóttir is a material and textile designer studying at Central Saint Martins in London, with a foundation background in painting and sculpture from Camberwell College of Art. Her sculptures have been exhibited in London and showcased in the POST-2018 fashion show organised by the Goldsmiths Fashion Society. Her subject matters relate to the human connection to Earth, and the ways in which the human experience is influenced by the environment, and vice versa. She is inspired by chaos and ruin as an opportunity for reflection and growth, and it is her aim to inspire change towards a better future by showing that reimagining our environments and behaviours in alignment with our values can have a lasting impact on the individual and collective level, supporting our path towards harmonious ecosystems of humans and non-humans. She likes to read the environment and understand it through experience and perception, as it inspires her creative thoughts and processes, driven by curiosity and a vision for the future. The materials lead the way and offer possibilities for diverse outcomes. A familiar thing taken out of its context, isolated areas of a bigger picture, colours, shapes, light and shadow are what capture her attention. Sólrún is currently investigating self-grown biomaterials, focusing on the wider context of potential applications for mycelium and waste based materials.

Interdisciplinary art and design

English, Icelandic