Research into "Waste and Consumption"

Agbogbloshie the industrial dumping ground

Is a place located in Ghana known for it's notorious amount of waste, the land there is a well known destination for illegal environmental dumping and exploitation of electronic waste from all over the world mainly industrialized nations such as China and the USA. It has many nicknames such as "The Industrial Dumping ground" but the most poignant and striking nickname in my opinion is "Sodom and Gomorrah" known for it's destruction in the bible for being cities rife with sin to the point where God destroyed them and surrounding cities with fire and brimstone so the reference is that Agbogbloshie is nothing more than a bombsite upon first glance which to me is a really upsetting observation. It's very sad to know that there are young children that rummage through this extremely hazardous material especially considering there are serious health risks and it has been reported that there are huge levels of lead in the blood of the young children that scavenge through them for scraps that aren't worth hardly anything. The fumes alone cause fatalities due to the fact that the plastic and metal that has been used in electrical equipment contain dangerous toxins and chemicals that cause chronic headaches, nausea, chest and respiratory problems and in children can inhibit the development of the reproductive system, the brain and the nervous system and with next to no medical care in these third world countries it's not uncommon to find dead bodies in these pits of junk. This whole situation really gets to me, as a person who doesn't like to waste anything such as materials like newspaper, card, bottles but also even food, makeup etc I can't help but think about how much stuff not only as a society but as humans globally we dump, misuse and waste and I'd like to spread that message through my work. I think as a project this would be really effective and I can successfully portray an emotional connection between the art and the person observing it which I have previously struggled with. I can do this with both my art and my research, in my research I can include emotive images that show the state of Agbogbloshie and also other areas of the world such as Indonesia, Rio De Janeiro, Southern Mexico and other areas littered with slums and landfill sites to portray how much stuff we waste, I believe this will definitely induce an emotional connection with the shocking amounts of waste and the realization that families and young children live in these places in poverty and that we as a society have pushed upon them causing them serious health issues, damage to their environment and polluting the earth in general. I believe I can definitely portray this atmosphere with collage work with the materials that I find in skips, bins and general materials that people throw away and dump by involving photography, painting, sketching and combining all these materials creating chaotic, busy pieces of art almost mimicking the imagery in the photographs from my research of these places.

When I saw this image I immediately knew I had to include it in my research, the raw emotional value in this image is huge and over all a shocking image. This person is only a young boy and you can see he's suffered hardship through the emotion in his eyes. This is someone who's been brought up in this world of burning, decaying waste from countries like ours and that's why this image is so poignant, I can see the despair and almost anger in his eyes. The fire adds the element of danger in this photograph and the smoke filling the background with the fire creates a sinister atmosphere. This is clearly no place for someone to live or be brought up in.

Again, another poignant image, and again, smoke is the main component in this photograph and engulfs most of the image. It almost looks like stormy skies which creates a dark moody atmosphere and brings in the feeling of danger and darkness. The amount of waste in this image is simply upsetting, showing the terrible conditions these people are subjected to by mainstream electrical companies.

Map of agbogbloshie and the digital dumping ground in Ghana, you'll be surprised to know there are several car showrooms not far from this site and is a huge shock to see the difference between the two areas especially with the level of poverty and how it varies between them both.

Research into Collage: Anna Dabrowska and Tiffany

Anna Dabrowska (Finnabair)

I absolutely love this artists work, it's a beautiful example of the use of discarded materials which include electronic equipment like the materials seen in my research into Agbogbloshie where they rummage through these materials everyday, her artwork shows that just because she's creating collage with such materials it doesn't mean the finishing result has to look grubby, hard edged or untidy. Her work is complex in it's set up and defined with smooth detailed strokes of paint and also involves softer materials such as small bits of material, dead moths, buttons, ribbons etc which gives the image a soft yet industrial theme. Her artwork has been labelled many things but overall her work is a wonderful blend of industrial cyberpunk art and artistic upcycling which is something I'm very interested in. Straight away you can tell she really connects with every aspect of every individual material she works with, considering the size, weight, proportions, textures and colours of them all which is what I intend to do, in this project I'm going to take my time and really connect with my selected materials. Here are some examples of Anna's work:

 As you can see, this is a very elegant example involving more luxurious pieces of material and small equipment and not much electrical or general waste like the others but I like the over all vibes I get when I look at it, it's like a modern day victorian oil portrait turned into a magnificent textural collage of interesting materials. I love the use of paint and the idea of painting an item and using it as a printing tool, it's created a complex textural background of layered paint and engraved artistic shapes. I'd love to be able to create something to this standard, it gives me inspiration to do a piece like this to contrast against the poverty stricken images in my research and mix the waste and materials I have collected with commercial style paintings or images to reflect the idea that big companies all over the world such as macdonalds, Apple, Virgin and many more cause this state of pollution and waste so much for the sake of financial gain and don't think about how much they actually waste.

As you can see, this collage is more industrial than the previous one, using a lot more mechanical and electronic equipment and general waste materials such as zips, wires, computer pieces, screws, cogs etc. I like the use of photographs, (or self painted images) this brings some of the attention away whilst adding artistic value and is very aesthetically pleasing. I could definitely use this technique in my work with the amount of images I've found.

 Here is a close up on some of the detail in her collages. Considering how big most of her collages are and how small the materials are it makes you realise just how much attention to detail she possesses and I really admire her for that because even after all the collage work she adds more detail with paints, sprays and special pens. As you can see she uses a wide variety of materials from string to decorational flowers to computer parts, the list is endless and I love the way it all looks together even though it's just a random selection of objects she connects them all together with colour.

New collage artist on 'Blogger': Tiffany

I recently discovered a mixed media collage artist called Tiffany on the Blogger website who's from Nevada and owns her own design firm called Piece by Piece, she creates wonderful pieces of art with random selections of materials of a luxurious and appealing nature, quite different to Anna's work but with the same feminine touch which I always think is appealing. She also has previously used words to get her theme across as well as carefully selecting delicate, soft colours that are complimentary both to each other and her theme. Her work is mainly illustrative creating one off pieces as birthday cards, personal picture frames and other crafty pieces of art which I think are wonderful and she uses a lot of techniques and materials that I'm interested in trying out when focusing on my work. Here are some examples of her artwork:

This is by far one of my favourite pieces of work that she has done, it's on a 6x6 canvas and has used a huge range of techniques including using prima mask and some spackle to create more texture, stamps and other materials she's come across and found so she's a great example for what I'm planning for my project, she's collected various small bits of materials but always includes her signature paper roses which are simply beautiful. I love the chunky layers of this piece, from a birds eye view it looks magnificent and shows you the extent to the textural materials involved and how much effort goes into creating it, she clearly has an attention to detail just like Anna Dabrowska who I previously researched as when you look closely you realise the small touches of detail such as lettering, small prints and thin layered materials. Over all this piece is wonderful, creative, textural and strikingly detailed.

This piece was part of a small project of Tiffany's to experiment with new materials she had collected, as you can see this piece is only simple but the amount of thought that has gone into layering and placing these shapely materials to look crafty and aesthetically pleasing is undeniably creative and shows you how well aquainted she is with the materials she frequently uses, she clearly connects with them like I feel I do with materials I use in my collages and I would like to do this on a level similar to both Tiffany and Anna, they are both hugely inspirational and connect to my theme of connecting with materials, and using materials that they have found and collected.

This is one of her more simple pieces, there isn't much collage or any sort of material but they are placed in such a way that the over all piece is still admirable and involves creative use of materials and she does it to effortlessly and that's why I like her work so much, she uses a lot of feminine textural materials and colours creating an atmosphere that connects to her theme which is really good and is something I will be doing, except mine won't be as feminine and involve an atmosphere more similar to some of Dabrowska's work but with some of the techniques and materials I've seen in Tiffany's.