Creating Awareness Through Artwork
Artworks have often been made to convey vital messages and encourage people to think and take actions when necessary. We relies only on word of mouth or on visual symbols to convey senses and to learn about things before humanity learned to read. Art is thus used in numerous contexts to express various different messages. Artworks continue to communicate to individuals, but to a potentially larger mix of various audiences, it does so in a diverse way.
In the Grenada Pavilion in Venice, Taylor, best known for his underwater museums and sculpture parks that double as artificial reefs, displayed a coral bleaching sculpture, alongside photos and videos of other submerged pieces. In his artist's statement, he describes how they are "made using pH-neutral materials to instigate natural growth, to establish [sea life] new ecosystems and to attract visitors away from fragile natural marine areas.
His sculptures are of people, many of whom are captured in visible, everyday circumstances (children in a playground; businessmen going to work). "Both of these represent the daily actions of humans, living above the waves, often unaware of the environmental impact either of their actions can have," Taylor says. As the sculptures evolve into homes for living beings, the appearance of the art shifts, reflecting the constantly changing circumstances of the world.
Many of us today seem to be more interested in our own physical appearance than the beautiful world around us. A well-known artist, Fredericks in one of his works display in London’s Hamilton’s Gallery, brings attention to humanity's disease of narcissism by taking our most precious asset, a mirror, and using it to represent nature instead. "The mirror can be seen, individually and collectively, as an emblematic of our fascination with ourselves," the artist explains. The mirror is placed to draw our gaze out and away from ourselves, into the world, instead of reflecting our own 'surface' image, driving us towards an emotional engagement with light, color, and space.
Guru Krishnan, an artist who created an innovative art piece called Mural, was interviewed. He said that the mural demonstrated how the novel coronavirus had an effect on the world's people. The visual representation of the virus itself and planet earth are the two components of the piece. Through the artwork, I decided to represent how fears of the virus had engulfed the entire world,' said Mr. Krishnan.
In the midst of the ongoing pandemic, an artist in Bengaluru, Karnataka, has come up with his own way of raising awareness of coronavirus and the need to take precautions, painting images on the streets of the city. Baadal Nanjundaswam, the artist, said he made the paintings to raise awareness of COVID-19 and has had a good response to date.
"This was my contribution to society. With so many limitations, it was hard to come out and paint," he said. The artist, who drew images on the walls and roads face masks, social distancing, and hand sanitization, added: "I saw that people did not obey the rules, and so I wanted to educate them through my art. Now, as people connect to it, visuals are relevant."
With the pandemic taking away our loved ones and posing threats to our way of living, it’s at this time that we need more awareness through artworks. In response to this, Joe Average, fashion and art brands situated in Vancouver in Canada have gone into producing quality face mask with artic message to create awareness. Joe Average masks carry artic messages to create awareness of how COVID 19 is damaging the world and how we can stay safe. Also, it’s good to know that every face mask purchased from Joe Average is a contribution to the betterment of our communities. How? $1 from every mask sold goes to the BC Children’s Hospital to save lives. So it’s not just about art and awareness, but even something greater; giving back to the community.