The plastic project was very interesting. It was eye-opening to say the least! We are surrounded with plastic, we use it everyday, we rely on it, yet we don’t take the time to think about where the plastic is coming from and the toll it is taking on the environment. Something else that I found interesting is the fact that there are many different types of plastic, to most people, plastic is just plastic. We don’t think about the varieties of plastic or how each type has a different effect on the environment.
I really enjoyed seeing the plastic new media project and thought it was awesome that we as a class could be part of it and contribute. The object I brought in was a small toy army soldier that most kids have a plenty of in their homes. My brother was kind enough to spare one for the project, so thanks Damian 🙂 However what I found shocking was that it would take 50,000 years for that tiny soldier to decompose if it wasn’t recycled into another good.
I really liked the idea of up-cycling, it’s such a fun twist to recycling. Instead of taking an object and melting it down, etc… to make something new; with up-cycling you would keep the object in tack but create something unique and beautiful with it. One of my favorite up-cycling projects that I have recently seen is when an artist took old, old-school, lightbulbs and turned then into really cool projects such as using the lightbulb as a flower pot!
It was great meeting new media artists, seeing their work and learning a little bit more about the field. I also love how Baruch repurposed the old telephone booth rooms as a new media arts space which allows all Baruch student and faculty to experience the world of new media art, a phenomon not many imagined a few decades ago.