PROJECT: Create a work of art in which the item you choose serves as a metaphor for an environmental issue.
One of the remarkable attributes of art is that the theme of the work can differ from the subject that is portrayed. This occurs when meanings are revealed through metaphors, i.e. when the subject serves as a symbol or emblem. There are two ways to construct a metaphor. Metaphors can be derived from an object’s physical characteristics; an example is using the density of a mattress to represent smog obliterating the sun. Metaphors can also be drawn from an object’s function or action; an example is cars that are symbols of all forms of carbon emissions.
Each item identified in parentheses represents something other than itself because it serves as a metaphor because of its physical characteristics: Beuys (honey and fat), Beehive (turtles and rabbits), Gelitin (rabbit), Red Earth (fire), Steiner & Lenzlinger (office and mattress), Zurkow (naked children).
Each item identified in parentheses represents something other than itself because it serves as a metaphor because of its function or action: Ant Farm (cars), Chin (vault and armored truck), Yun (electronics), Eke (shield), Gracie (robot), Kaprow (dry stream), Merz (twigs and fruit), Lin (sting ray), Reyes (guns), Saraceno (sunflower).
PROJECT: Select any item that appears in parentheses above. Don’t read the chapters explaining the use of this metaphor until AFTER you have completed your project. Create a work of art in which the item you choose serves as a metaphor for an environmental issue. You may use any medium.
READ – TO LIFE! AFTER you have completed your work, read the chapter by the artist who also used this item as a metaphor, and two additional chapters.
DISCUSSION: Compare your use of the metaphor with that of the artist in this book.