Energy and Place
Essential Questions
1) How does energy production impact place?
2) How does your sense of place, your environmental ethic, and your understanding of our energy needs influence your perception and decisions relating to energy production and consumption?
2) How does your sense of place, your environmental ethic, and your understanding of our energy needs influence your perception and decisions relating to energy production and consumption?
Sense of Place Visual/Artist Statement
I chose to make the main image of my painting be a man in a gas mask in order to represent the unhealthy situation he is in. The background color of the art piece is gray to symbolize the smoke that gets created from power plants. I wanted to create the illusion of the smoke engulfing the man to portray the real-world similarity of people in industrial zones not being able to escape the smoke and chemicals that gets dispersed. The man is wearing a gas mask to signify his being suffocated by the smoke, as well as trying to protect himself against exposure to potential sicknesses. I felt that it was important to incorporate health problems associated with humans being exposed to nuclear power plant radiation, which is why some of the man’s feature’s are off. The top of his head is flat and his right arm is deformed. I added the deformities because bodily mutations are a common occurrence when humans are exposed to radioactive material. “My neighborhood is killing me” is a common quote used when advocating for environmental justice and I made it the focal point of my art to represent the environmental ethic that I wrote about in my essay.
I ensured that the final product would be refined by recreating multiple stencils until there was one that would fashion the cleanest and most prominent spray paint lines. I wanted to make sure that the quote stood out, so I used contrast between the background and the letters as a technique of making the words pop. I believe that the contrast of colors also added cohesiveness to the overall product because I stuck with a dark color theme for the background and then suddenly added an element of color to allow eye movement around the picture.
My work was inspired by multiple elements. To begin, the quote. When researching environmental justice I stumbled across the saying multiple times and, thinking there was something to it, I researched it. What I found was that it is used by many large nonprofit organizations such as Piedmont Environmental Alliance and Greenpeace. I wanted to incorporate such a prominent quote because of the meaning behind it. Also, the spray-painted man was inspired by a picture that I had come across on the internet. As soon as I saw it, I knew that it would create a powerful statement yet still be subdued enough to be assimilated as a background image.
I ensured that the final product would be refined by recreating multiple stencils until there was one that would fashion the cleanest and most prominent spray paint lines. I wanted to make sure that the quote stood out, so I used contrast between the background and the letters as a technique of making the words pop. I believe that the contrast of colors also added cohesiveness to the overall product because I stuck with a dark color theme for the background and then suddenly added an element of color to allow eye movement around the picture.
My work was inspired by multiple elements. To begin, the quote. When researching environmental justice I stumbled across the saying multiple times and, thinking there was something to it, I researched it. What I found was that it is used by many large nonprofit organizations such as Piedmont Environmental Alliance and Greenpeace. I wanted to incorporate such a prominent quote because of the meaning behind it. Also, the spray-painted man was inspired by a picture that I had come across on the internet. As soon as I saw it, I knew that it would create a powerful statement yet still be subdued enough to be assimilated as a background image.
Sense of Place Essay
Project Reflection
The Energy and Place project was focused around the objective of identifying a personal environmental ethic and relating it to our sense of place. To gather a strong understanding of the environment and the various types of environmental ethics, we began with power points and films that exemplified the subjects. The week after, we transitioned from learning about what environmental ethic and sense of place is, and moved on to nuclear power and how it impacts people and place. Finally, during the third week, we focused on identifying what our own environmental ethic and sense of place is through assignments such as journaling, learning about nature writing, and guest speakers.
The process of identifying my sense of place was challenging for me. I had always told myself, without question, that my sense of place was in the mountains. While I still think that is partially true, the Energy and Place project had me questioning the mountains. I found that I wasn't completely connecting with the elements of a true sense of place. I was not able to think of something about the mountains that I felt needed to be changed for the better. I think that having a strong sense of place is often accompanied with having a deeper understanding for the full picture rather than the surface of it. I figured out that place was Paris after learning about environmental justice. As soon as we learned about environmental justice as an environmental ethic, I realized that one of the ways I connected to the city was through passion. I wanted to help those who couldn't help themselves. Granted, that was not the only reason why I chose the city as my sense of place, but I strongly think that contributed to it. It was a challenge for me to break out of the stubborn idea that I had about the mountains being my place. I believe that the journal assignment helped me come to terms with my sense of place because it required me to sit down and think without any outside interruptions; it was purely me and my thoughts. Once I figured out what my true sense of place was, I found that it was fairly essay to write the final essay. I was able to take my passion of environmental ethics and intertwine it with my love for Paris and result with a strong and refined essay.
Between my essay and my visual, I am most proud of the essay. I believe that there was a challenged posed when I decided to relate the beauty of Paris to industrial zones laden with sicknesses. The vast difference between the two main subjects of my essay required finding ways to incorporate sensory language while still demonstrating cohesiveness of the underlying problem of environmental justice. This was demonstrated in my essay when I said, "When we think of environmental justice, we associate it with towns that are in a bad socioeconomic situation. We innocently believe that the brains behind industrial zones aren't cruel enough to deplete people's homes in order to reap the benefits."
When the Energy and Place project was proposed, I was unsure how well Chemistry and Humanities would work together in a joint project. My initial feelings were correct because looking back on it, I did not feel as though it was actually a joint project. It seemed as though we were learning a subject in each class that had similar focuses, but was not actually connected. Chemistry was focusing on nuclear power and natural gas while Humanities honed in on environmental ethics and our personal perspectives on the environment. I think that it was valuable to learn both sides of the scale regarding the environment, but I don't think it should have been considered a joint project.
Overall though, I thoroughly enjoyed the project. As I mentioned before, this project presented an opportunity for me to learn about a subject that I had not had the chance to before. The complexity of both the scientific aspects as well as the personal moral aspects was thought provoking and it made for an enticing and real-world project.
The process of identifying my sense of place was challenging for me. I had always told myself, without question, that my sense of place was in the mountains. While I still think that is partially true, the Energy and Place project had me questioning the mountains. I found that I wasn't completely connecting with the elements of a true sense of place. I was not able to think of something about the mountains that I felt needed to be changed for the better. I think that having a strong sense of place is often accompanied with having a deeper understanding for the full picture rather than the surface of it. I figured out that place was Paris after learning about environmental justice. As soon as we learned about environmental justice as an environmental ethic, I realized that one of the ways I connected to the city was through passion. I wanted to help those who couldn't help themselves. Granted, that was not the only reason why I chose the city as my sense of place, but I strongly think that contributed to it. It was a challenge for me to break out of the stubborn idea that I had about the mountains being my place. I believe that the journal assignment helped me come to terms with my sense of place because it required me to sit down and think without any outside interruptions; it was purely me and my thoughts. Once I figured out what my true sense of place was, I found that it was fairly essay to write the final essay. I was able to take my passion of environmental ethics and intertwine it with my love for Paris and result with a strong and refined essay.
Between my essay and my visual, I am most proud of the essay. I believe that there was a challenged posed when I decided to relate the beauty of Paris to industrial zones laden with sicknesses. The vast difference between the two main subjects of my essay required finding ways to incorporate sensory language while still demonstrating cohesiveness of the underlying problem of environmental justice. This was demonstrated in my essay when I said, "When we think of environmental justice, we associate it with towns that are in a bad socioeconomic situation. We innocently believe that the brains behind industrial zones aren't cruel enough to deplete people's homes in order to reap the benefits."
When the Energy and Place project was proposed, I was unsure how well Chemistry and Humanities would work together in a joint project. My initial feelings were correct because looking back on it, I did not feel as though it was actually a joint project. It seemed as though we were learning a subject in each class that had similar focuses, but was not actually connected. Chemistry was focusing on nuclear power and natural gas while Humanities honed in on environmental ethics and our personal perspectives on the environment. I think that it was valuable to learn both sides of the scale regarding the environment, but I don't think it should have been considered a joint project.
Overall though, I thoroughly enjoyed the project. As I mentioned before, this project presented an opportunity for me to learn about a subject that I had not had the chance to before. The complexity of both the scientific aspects as well as the personal moral aspects was thought provoking and it made for an enticing and real-world project.
Link to Chemistry
To view what we did during the Chemistry section of the project, click here