Field trip

Initially, I had a difficult time understanding the exhibit's theme of "action/reaction." It seemed far too vague and vast of an idea to be a theme, as every action we as humans do is a reaction to something, and art especially is more or less defined as a reaction to an idea, emotion, or happening. But even though the theme was so nebulous, it was very interesting to see a secondary theme surface, a cohesive thread of sustainability through many of the works. Sustainability is incredibly relevant and can be considered a theme of humanity right now, something to which the entire world is being affected and reacting.

It's hard to say who captured the theme most clearly because all of the objects on display expressed action/reaction in some way, and often two given responses were of two entirely different species. To compare them would be like comparing apples to oranges.

For example, as explained by our docent, the way in which architects respond to action is a world apart from how the graphic designers respond. Francis Anderton responded to the daily struggle of the gallery architect: How do you bring architecture to life for your gallery viewers?

This task is just as relevant as The Social Awareness Project's mission of promoting literacy for elementary schools, and both artists expressed action/reaction.

As far as clarity, I thought the Toyota Prius campaign captured their theme of sustainability most clearly by making their ads (the Harmony Floralscapes) out of plants. It was very effective to compose their ads out of the idea they were trying to advertise. Very different from the "do as I say but not as I do" mentality of many other sustainability ads that create a contradictory amount of non-biodegradable waste in the process of expressing their campaign idea.

For me, the most compelling objects on display were pieces that I could actually incorporate into my everyday life. In my opinion, it's all very well to build houses that are constructed out of old airplanes, but that isn't exactly attainable by the general public; there's no intimacy in an idea like that, no real world application.

The two pieces I really appreciated and will hopefully get to use one day were the Home Garden Registrar and The Better Bikeways Project.

The Home Garden Registrar, featuring Victory Garden Registry & Victory Seed Envelopes, is a project that promotes sustainability by creating an exchange network. If you grow tomatoes at home but always have way to many every year and not nearly enough carrots, you can find a local gardener in the registrar that has carrots to spare and one that needs some tomatoes, and exchange seeds. I will totally use this one day!

Also, I absolutely loved Joseph Prichard's Better Bikeways Project, which is so simple and yet can have such an impact on the community and the world if it picks up. As defined by the project, Better Bikeways "aims to provide more useful navigational information for cyclists," but the sustainability idea is much more encompassing than that. Approaching transportation not from the angle of automobile efficiency, but rather biking as a reasonable and more accessible form of everyday transit is a step in the right direction for global sustainability. (The signage also has a lovely element of graphic design, which is important in getting people to look at and use the signs).

I will also use this one day.

The least compelling ideas, in my opinion, were the fashion-oriented pieces. In particular, the costume design collection by Michael Schmidt on the far back wall. Although the artists of the exhibit were in no way obligated to incorporate sustainability in their works, I didn't even see how his expensive, flashy costumes fit in with the action/reaction theme. Many of the other fashion artists reacted to the problem of decreased quality and individuality of industrial design by hand-making unique items out of recycled fabric or other atypical materials that were still attainable for the general public. These costume pieces, however, cost a fortune and were of use to one performer for one tour. So, not only did I fail to see their relevance to the exhibit, I also didn't sense a global purpose for the designer's work except as transitory eye candy.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed the exhibit. Being a die-hard environmentalist myself, I'm thrilled to see how artists are reacting and taking action to the sustainability issue at hand, and I can't wait to see the pieces in the exhibit take to the real world. I took note of a few of the projects on display and will be incorporating them into my everyday life; the field trip was definitely a positive experience!