Visual Arts Thesis Proposal
I will create an immersive installation entitled “Waste Knot” using waste materials to transform the Butler Gallery. The scale of the installation will fill the back left corner to create a cavern-like space. Materials will include woven fishing nets, painted plastic bags, recycled Nespresso pods, and illumination to reflect interaction between the colors of the sea and the sun from above.
The name “Waste Knot” functions on a conceptual level from the phrase “waste not, want not” and the desire to treat our resources more carefully. It also functions on a structural level as it’s created by knotting plastic bags into fishing nets I’ve woven. Fishing nets, as well as single use plastics, prove a great environmental threat to marine life. Additionally, these materials are light and the malleability of the fishing nets will allow for minimal points of attachment for hanging without hindering its undulating form. The proposed installation will also feature colorful Nespresso pods in an abstract form/data visualization, as well as a 3D model I constructed showing a dreamy, utopian haven for sea creatures.
Viewers gazing upwards will feel as if they are under the sea, and the volume of bags is designed to make people experience a sense of compression. My inspiration in exploring this concept stems from my conservation work in Bali and seeing the struggle of ocean pollution and how different cultures approach it.
