Big Ideas:
CONSERVATION and ECOLOGY
21st Century
Art Education Approaches:
Visual Culture and Social Justice
Conservation & Ecology
“Throughout history and across cultures, people have been
concerned with . . . CONSERVATION and ECOLOGY.”
KEY CONCEPTS: conservation and ecology . . .
• can inspire environmental change.
• are led by human events and actions.
• are nurturing.
• can be about protection.
• can be explored through art.
ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS:
• What is conservation?
• What is ecology?
• Who are conservationists?
• Who are ecologists?
• What are some alliances between humans and nature?
with Federico Winer
“Using the world as your digital canvas is no easy feat, but
Argentina-based photographer and artist Federico Winer is
doing just that. Winer studied at the Argentina School of
Photography in the 1990s before pursuing an academic career
as professor of philosophy at the University of Buenos Aires.
Within the last couple of years he has refocused on his love of
photography and composition, and his latest work
‘ULTRADISTANCIA’ has been featured around the web and
through international media outlets including the Huffington
Post, Design Boom Magazine, and The Creators Project. For
the basis of his project, Winer utilizes the unique, colorful,
and often mesmerizing geometrical patterns of the Earth he
discovers when taking what he calls ‘long trips’ through
Google Earth.
Turning boredom into an art, Winer scrolls and browses
through satellite shots of major landmarks, neighborhoods,
vast fields, and busy travel routes until he sees a composition
that piques his visual interest. After finding the desired
location image, Winer begins the manipulation, adjusting the
illumination and color until the view is distorted into his exact
vision.
Says Winer of his process: ‘Common landmarks resemble
paintings and topography explodes in rare colors. We’ve
known for a long time that what we see is not what it is,
basically because we don’t know what is what it is, we only
know what we see. And we call that the world.’”
Retrieved from: http://all-that-is-interesting.com/geometric-earth
additional inspiration
• drought areas
• feedlots
• refugee camps
• deforestation
• What more can you think of?
Kim Kardashian and
Kanye West
Jessica Simpson
waste lagoons
“The Zaatari refugee camp in Jordan is home for 160,000 refugees who have escaped the
brutal Syrian civil war.”
Retrieved from: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2371311/Syrian-Zaatari-refugee-camp-home-160-000Jordans-fifth-largest-city.html
Bolivian forest
Clear-cutting in the El Dorado
National Forest, Georgetown,
California
Studio Investigation:
Exploring Earth
Studio Instructions:
1. Consider either CONSERVATION or ECOLOGY as a big
idea
2. On what specific subject matter (landscape of _____)
will you focus your attention?
3. Find an accessible computer on campus with printer
capabilities
4. Go to “Google Earth Imagery
Updates”https://mapsengine.google.com/1044617616389195739904749531680953568577-4/mapview/?authuser=0
5. Experiment with the “Enter a location” field
6. Print your desired image in black and white or color
7. Return to KDM 170
8. Trim any edges, if desired
9. Mount the printed image onto a neutral colored
background using glue stick
10. Trim the acetate to fit the printed image, if desired
11. Add acetate on top of printed image using electrical
tape; add a tab for function to the bottom
12. Obtain mixing palette, acrylic paint, brushes, paper
towels, water cups
13. Contemplate composition
14. Mix colors: “add dark into light like black into white”
15. Add mixed paint to acetate to achieve desired
message with big idea and subject matter
16. For your consideration:
• What will you conceal with paint (additive)?
• What will you reveal without paint (subtractive)?
• Will your artwork be . . .
realistic, representational, abstract, or non-objective?
And why?