This would be a great project for the classroom as students have the opportunity to be outside and utilize their understanding of math and science to connect it to art. What they discover outside can also lead to discussions about why things are the way they are. The creatures and plants students find can be a point of interest for them and lead into different discussions.
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Environmental Sculpture: Cascades
The premise of this project was to explore outside and create art out of nature to connect art with science and technology. This was inspired by the work of Andy Goldsworthy. He creates beautiful works of art only using the natural elements he finds. His sculptures and pieces therefore will be destroyed by the wind, rain, sun, etc. The art does not have to be a visual representation of something, but can be anything that is inspired by what is seen. The process of creating these pieces requires engineering and students explore what holds their creations together. This comes through trial and error. Students also pay attention to details and have the opportunity to create whatever they are inspired to while having to engineer the art.
For this project I went on a trail and was struck by some roots along the way. I thought it would be cool to experiment with using different leaves to create a waterfall effect along the roots. I found a root that had a ledge and went from there looking for leaves of all shapes and sizes. I found some that had varying colors and spots on them such as the leaf shown below. I grouped them to see how they could fit together. I liked the spots on these leaves and thought they may look good at the bottom of the "waterfall" to give it an effect of foam or bubbles. The whole process was trial and error. You had to be willing to ditch what you may have originally envisioned at times to match the reality of the elements. The piece would change as I went along.
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The Process:
The Location:
Trail right near Greenwood parking lot
Latitude and Longitude:
36.2135° N, 81.6841° W
I then began to put the smaller leaves towards the top and layered them as I went down the root.
The challenge was how to I could keep the leaves attached to the root. I tried to stick the stems in the root, but they would often come loose as soon as another leaf touched them. The wind would also take the leaves away. I tried to find some thorns, but could not find any. I then found some sharp pieces of bark that poked holes throughout the leaves, and would sometimes go into the root as well. This seemed to be the most effective method. There was also a piece I found pictured below that held many of the leaves together.
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Placing the leaves was a trial and error process. It was also challenging to find the right sizes and colors of leaves. Towards the bottom of the "cascade" I tried to use darker leaves and lighter leaves towards the top. Towards the end, I found some dried moss that reminded me of foam. I added that to fill in any gaps and give it some finishing borders.
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Pictured to the left is the layering of leaves as well as how they were attached to the root.
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Pictured to the right is a piece I found that also helped hold the leaves in place.
The Music:
This piece of music came from
https://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?collection=1&Search=Search
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It is called "At the Shore"