Project #2 New Concept Image

Statement:
 

Narrative

The year is 2056. The earth has been used and abused and natural resources are at an all-time low. I have become a nomadic being, hopping between existing structures, houses and buildings for shelter. Most of the land has been cleared of any vegetation, so the ground is mainly dirt. It is impossible to travel outdoors without a filtration helmet as a result of the heavy CO2 pollution that exists in the atmosphere. Also, this helps with windstorms that carry heavy amounts of dust in the air. I’m forced to always be on high alert, as there is no more control over the human population. We are all on our own now and fending for ourselves. For food, I am forced to scavenge whatever resources I can, and can somehow manage to find some fish in the ocean. My clothes that never leave my body consist of a heavy and durable leather jacket, coupled with motorcycle pants for durability. By shoes are utility boots in order to tackle any terrain and protect my feet.

Project #2 Concept Proposal

ART 350S

Project #2 Proposal

How Humans will be in 40 Years

-       Some sort of filtration helmet to filter CO2 in Earth’s atmosphere

-       Firearm: fight for resources since predictions say the Earth will run out of natural resources by 2050

-       Some sort of nanotechnology that allows information to be uploaded into the human brain

-       Scenery will be a desolate Earth; mostly dirt, no vegetation, no water

-       Some sort of durable suit in order to protect against harsh weather conditions due to global warming

-       No government control over any resources left; free-for-all environment

Project #2 Article Summary and Analysis

Ryan Kleiner

ART 350S

Feb. 17, 2016

Article Analysis and Summary           

When thinking about the future, it is hard not to think about whether or not the world will be an inhabitable place. Our world is filled with so many troubles and issues that could possibly end our planet’s life at the blink of an eye. At the drop of a hat, a catastrophic event could occur and wipe out the human race. The articles “The Machine Stops” by EM Forster, “This Changes Everything” by Naomi Klein, and “50 Years From Now, What Will the World Be Like?” by Mother Jones all focus on the future of planet Earth. More specifically, EM Forster’s article focuses on a science fiction point-of-view that raises questions about the development of modern society. Both Naomi Klein and Mother Jones’ pieces focus on the effects of global warming and what the future holds if this destructive process continues into the near future.

            “The Machine Stops” by EM Forster is a science fiction take on what the future holds for human beings. Throughout the entire piece, the main character named Vashti is an elderly mother who no longer lives on the surface of Earth, along with the rest of the human race. Her son named Kuno talks to her over a video chat type of invention that is part of “the machine” and discusses a secret that he needs to tell his mother. However, he insists that his mother comes to visit him in the southern hemisphere. Vashti struggles with accepting her son’s request, until she finally makes the travel via airship to her son. Vashti describes many modern inventions that have not been created in real life, including airships and tunnels that contain “clean air”, as the Earth’s atmosphere no longer supports human life (supposedly). Also, nobody views the planet’s surface anymore and instead hides it with shades over every window. Upon her arrival, Vashti hears of her sons story in which he traveled to the Earth’s surface, becoming a criminal. Visiting the planet’s surface has become illegal, making Kuno suffer from “homelessness”, which means he will be dead (killed by the machine). Vashti is enraged with her son, only to depart his home and return to hers, where she never spoke to her son again. “The machine” begins to fall apart as Kuno had predicted, and Vashti finds herself in despair, as the modern world begins to crumble and people are dying. On her death bed, Vashti encounters her son Kuno, who finally gets his wish- to talk to his mother without interference from “the machine”. Kuno claims that there are still human beings on Earth, and the piece comes to a close.

            Overall, I think that Forster’s sci-fi approach to the future is quite interesting. The piece takes a perspective that I have yet to read about. “The machine” almost represents everything that has happened to society in the current age. We can now video chat virtually anywhere in the world, and we have our own form of airships that we use for transportation. Also, Forster’s approach to technology and how it has made everything so autonomous seems to be an idea that is very probable. I loved the fact that the piece made a point about how nothing truly matters in the end. We all die and regardless if we care or not, our personal preferences and the things we believe in will not matter when it comes to our demise. Also, the idea that we might have to drive ourselves underground in order to inhabit the planet in the future is a possibility in the future. With global warming and other threatening problems, the human race may be forced to relocate (in this case, it was underground). Lastly, I was intrigued by the fact that Vashti blocks out all images of planet Earth in her daily life. Any and all windows are covered in order to hide the visuals, which I think brings up a hidden meaning. Technology is advancing and in turn is causing us to “go blind” to the things that matter.

            Both “This Changes Everything” by Naomi Klein and “50 Years From Now, What Will the World Be Like?” by Mother Jones are pieces written to address the future of our planet due to global warming. Sadly enough, the future looks pretty grim given the modern day circumstances of our fossil fuel consumption. Klein’s piece talks a lot about the logistics of global warming and the different effects that our planet has suffered and will suffer in the near future. Also, Klein addresses the issue that global warming is a problem that we all turn away to and shift the responsibility of solving the issue to others. Instead of acting on the given effects and trying to resolve the issue, the human race is turning a blind eye to the problem and making it worse. Humans continue to push the issue off and fail to enforce any type of legislation that will help the climate change. The piece by Mother Jones is one that has a more emotional appeal. The author wrote a letter that her daughter will be able to read in the future in the style of an apology- one that apologizes for our living generations’ lack of awareness and prevention. In the letter, Jones discusses all of the different environmental effects that global warming is causing and how we are sorry for destroying the planet for our posterity. This letter is meant to get readers to sympathize for future generations and be proactive in addressing the issue of global warming.

            When analyzing Klein’s piece, I found it interesting how our government is refusing to do anything productive about fixing the global warming issues caused by humans. Government was created in order to protect the people and how are they protecting us if they refuse to take care of issues that question our survival on this planet? What I found to be extremely depressing is the fact that ocean levels may rise to insane levels with just a six degree Fahrenheit change. This could cause many of our most beloved cities to be placed under water. New York City would be gone, along with much of the state of California. To me, this is such a serious matter and I too believe that national governments should be doing more to protect that only viable planet that we have. Mother Jones’ piece focuses on many of the same issues; however, this piece was written as a letter to a future generation, apologizing for ruining the planet with our over consumption. I also appreciated the emotional appeal that this letter had, since it really opened up my eyes to issues that have become major in the past couple of decades. Our planet is being destroyed so rapidly that it directly affects a generation that is already living on the Earth! This is crazy to me, especially since most people want the best for their children. So why would we continue to poison them with environmental pollutants and chemicals?

            I believe that by reading these pieces, I have been able to critically think about and get information on how things might be in the future for my generation. Although it seems pretty grim, I think that as humans, we need to come together and fight for our planet in order to keep it clean.

Project #1

Artist Statement: This 3D modeling project had to do with assemblage and focused on over consumption. I chose to focus on how over consumption is affecting our oceans. In my piece, the water is destroyed by an oil spill, as well as litter that is floating along the top (plastic water bottle, plastic red cup, aluminum can, Keurig coffee cup). I also demonstrated how it is killing sea life.