Earth Drawing II

When viewing this piece, I really admire the piece for the combination of the different mediums, as well as the abstraction of the piece. When viewing this work, it has a map-like feel. The map-like piece appears to be torn all over, and the hues are faded into the cotton. As if the map is broken apart and the continent like objects are fading and rusting away. I interpret this as a comment on society and our world and how the negative things that are happening and the fact that we are destroying ourselves is destroying the planet. Although the shapes are squares, they have an organic feel to them (the squares do not look perfect, are not completely symmetrical). I draw on the map interpretation not only from the placement of the broken apart squares/shapes, but also from the quilted/layered cotton that creates a grid. When I view the grid, I am reminded of the latitude and longitude lines that you see on a map. The chosen hues of the faded blues and greens also remind me of the concept of a map (the ocean is blue, the green represents the continents). To me, the rust symbolizes something that is falling apart and is becoming weak and unstable, which many think that this is happening to our society and our world (for example, our modern generation is more materialistic than we used to be, we possess on average 25 electronic items per household, we consume gas and are destroying coal mines, we are destroying the planet by cutting down all of the trees, etc). This drawing in fact IS a comment on society and how we are destroying ourselves, and I strongly connect to this piece because I completely agree with it's conveyed concept, and I feel that this piece is accurate, and it is very well done. I love the concept, the choice of combined mediums, as well as the way it is hung and presented to viewers. On the left side, the shapes are put together and there is slightly more color than on the right side. The left piece is the symbolism for the beginning of the destruction, and the right side is the actual representation of the destruction. I love this piece, and I think it is very clever, and I appreciate this piece in many, many ways.

Image derived from: Camp, Lauren. Earth Drawing II. 2008. Photograph. Lauren Camp, threadwork on rusted, painted and layered cotton; aluminum. Web. 10 Oct 2013. <http://www.laurencamp.com/art/earth-works.shtml>.