Ready, Set, Action?

When this project first began in August, one of my goals was to film a documentary about the consumption of plastic bags from a personal perspective. To meet this goal, one of my students wrote a grant, which was awarded by Indiana Campus Compact.

Since August, we've generated tons of footage shot inside and outside the classroom. It's been fun filming this experience, even though I hadn't realized I would be serving as the guinea pig for a lot of the scenes. (Yah, I know, I should have figured as much!) And we've had a tremendous amount of support from Instructional Media Services (IMS) at IU South Bend.

Here's a picture of Jim Yocom, Director of IMS, taking some shots at BagFest:

So, overall, I've been quite fortunate in making a documentary about this project. But this lofty goal has also been confronted with its own set of challenges. For instance, my student quit on me, which was disappointing because I thought we had a solid working relationship. And an employee at IMS agreed to take over the film project, but he's since moved away.

Drats.

Anyway, I just ordered 503 DVDs for this documentary, which has yet to be edited and scored, and I don't have anyone to help me finish this film!! Good grief. I suppose one could argue that I'm being presumptuous by ordering these DVDs, but I'd like to think I'm simply being optimistic. Regardless of these differing perspectives, I believe that somehow this documentary will be completed. Anyone with film skills interested in helping me finish this film? :0)

Chris Johnson: Running the Numbers

In his current work, Chris Johnson illustrates the connection between mass consumerism and statistics through art.

To paraphrase Johnson, his hope is that the images will elicit a "different effect" than relying on statistics alone. And as many folks would agree, statistics often feel "abstract and anesthetizing," making it difficult to comprehend and produce meaning out of those raw numbers.

Here's Johnson's visualization of 60,000 plastic bags, the number of bags used in the US every 5 seconds:




Partial zoom:





Up close & personal:



Wowza! This also puts our 72,571 bags gathered at BagFest in a different light.

To see more examples (i.e., cell phones) of Chris Johnson's work, click here. And to read an interview with this artist for Orion magazine, click here.

Art With Cans

My dad sent me an email with a forward about alternative and creative ways of using empty cans. I want to share it with you because I think the art pieces that can be created with cans are just amazing. Unfortunately the PowerPoint presentation doesn't say anything about the place or the creator. Here are some of the pictures.

Beautiful Coasters!!!

Beautiful Coasters!!!
Originally uploaded by mverges.

Today, Joyce, Chantelle, and Flora worked with Marshall-Starke Development Center to teach clients how to make crafts from plastic bags.

I was so amazed and impressed by what I saw! I can't wait to hear more about their experience working with these clients.

In the meantime, feel free to visit flickr.com to see more photos from today's service-learning event.

Trashasaurus Rex?!?

Guess what? This T-Rex was made in Indiana by Marilyn Brackney, an artist and public-school teacher. This T-Rex is made from all sorts of trash, including plastic bags.

To find out more information about this interesting T-Rex, click here.

This T-Rex is another creative example of how we can reuse our trash. There are other artists who use trash as a medium in their work.

I bet this T-Rex would be a hit with the kids!