Found Art Project: AIDS

For the found art project my group decided to do AIDS and AIDS awareness as our theme.  We wanted to show the fight against discrimination and awareness for the disease.  To demonstrate this theme we used different medical paraphernalia like condoms and pill boxes to show ways of prevention and to illustrate the treatment given to AIDS patients.  We also obtained a couple of movies which had a central theme of AIDS to show public education and information shown to the public to increase awareness.  To obtain these items we asked our parents for any suggestions or ideas on items.  Also, we looked around our house searching for different movies and items that would demonstrate the struggle of AIDS patients.  I would probably plan out the box layout better so I wouldn't be so stressed out the day of assembling the box.  Some advice I would give for next years history class is to make sure you have an abundance of items before committing to a theme.  If you don't have enough items it will cause a lot more unnecessary stress.

-Katie

We are... Aware of Aids

For our Found Art project, my group chose the topic of Aids. We chose this topic because it is an extremely important issue- worldwide, and we wanted to learn a little bit more about it. In America alone, Aids has taken the lives of tens of thousands of people. Our items varied from medical equipment to movies, to informational posters. The medical equipment was used to represent how Aids has become a huge health issue here in America. We used a pill box, a stethoscope, and gloves. One of our informational posters was a poster from the era that targets women telling them not to sleep with a man who shoots up. The poster provides information about how he can give you and your baby aids. We also put red ribbons on our box because the red ribbon, similar to the pink ribbon for breast cancer, is a symbol for the fight against aids. To obtain our items, we looked around the house and used the internet for information and pictures. We also asked our parents for items and information. I think our group did the best we could so I would not do anything differently. We did all our work on time and we found some really great items. Also, I am very happy with how our project turned out. The advice i would give to next years students would be to pick a topic that interests you, and that you know you can find a lot of items and information for. If you pick a topic that bores you, the project wont be very much fun.

By Jennah

We Are...The Evolution of Women

My group chose to create a box illustrating the evolution of women and their rights through the ages. Women have played a huge role in our world, but they are rarely recognized as heroic figures. So, we felt it was appropriate to stress the importance of the roles women have played.

We involved many factors that were extremely important to this theme. We used items pertaining to the feminist movement as well as specific rights such as abortion laws and Title IX. Some examples include a coat hanger to resemble abortion rights, because women used to be forced to self-abort their babies with coat hangers; we also used a rocket ship, which represented the first women in space, Sally Ride. Other items we used were sports equipment such as a soccer ball and basketball to show the importance of women involvement in sports.

To decide which items would be most fitting for our project, we brainstormed for a few days. We established items that first were around the house, because these were most easily accessible. Then, we were able to ask neighbors or friends for various items as well. All the tangible items we used are found in common places and did not cost our group any money.

There really is nothing I would do differently. My group did a fantastic job putting the items together, and tying in each element. Also, our brainstorming and teamwork was impecable.

The most important piece of advice I would give to classes that would do this project next year is to always be on time with layouts and item gathering. Falling behind during this project would be extrememely stressful and it is important to have all or most items the day that Ms. Sanderson allows an entire period for work. If your efficient enough, there is little work at home besides gathering the items. Also, good luck!

-Shelly

Final Project: The Fast Food Industry

Topic: Growth of the Fast Food Industry (1970-1990)
Group members: Tiffany Chen, Brandon Cheung, Jay Dubashi, and Victor Zhu.

Our theme was the development and growth of the fast food industry. We gathered information on three fast food chains: Wendy's, McDonald's, and Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC). We researched their development from the 1970's to the 1990's (such as mascots and food products), advertising methods, and their growth in terms of number of locations throughout the years. We chose this topic because fast food has become a very large part of American culture (and is expanding to countries around the world).

We decided to make our box in the shape of a retro burger box by manually cutting apart obnoxiously large cardboard boxes, duct taping the pieces together, and then covering it up with white paper. Although it was difficult, the process was fun and definitely required a large amount of teamwork. The box, you could say, was homage to the old style of burger packaging. Old slogans from 1970-1990 decorate the box, as well as pictures/representations of the three fast food chains we researched. Inside the box, maps of the world are on all sides, top and bottom. The maps depict the locations of the fast food chains in the 1970 and the 1990--needless to say, the number of locations of each fast food chain has dramatically increased throughout the years. Also in the box are three burgers (all hand-made from cardboard, construction paper, shopping bags, and duct-tape): one for each fast food chain. The burgers have three layers aside from the buns: cheese, lettuce, and meat. The cheese shows examples of the advertisement advertisements each fast food company used, the lettuce contains pictures of each fast food company along with their mascots, and the meat has a timeline giving important dates and facts that related to each fast food chain.

Our slogans, visual aids, and information were found on various websites--the materials we used were all recyclable material: cardboard, duct-tape, scotch tape, construction paper, and white paper. We gathered the cardboard from multiple stores' recycling bins.

Unfortunately, although there were many sources and documentaries on the topic of the fast food industry available for use, they were all from after 1990, rendering them ineligible to be used for our project. We made due with what we could with limited access to certain items, such as toys, and we are proud of what we have accomplished.

If we could do this project again, we would probably choose a topic that gave way to more 'usable' found art. We would also do more research on each fast food chain, and possible add a fourth. Also, more visuals would be added.

For next year's class, I highly recommend choosing a topic that they are passionate about. I also recommend keeping in constant contact with their group members and planning out every step so that everyone contributes. Also, they should not procrastinate on the production on the box--they get it done as soon as possible so that if there's any last minute changes that need to be made, they can be made with less time pressure. Another good idea is to always have a backup plan: often, things don't go quite as planned. If they're prepared, it'll turn out okay in the end. Another suggestion is to be as creative as possible; just because it's a school assignment, it doesn't mean they can't have fun doing it! They should take bold risks and really make the project their own instead of some copy of someone else's!

- Tiffany Chen