In my art piece, I took a series of photos to with what I consider nature and a trash that I
found at Debs Park. The piece of trash that I found was a Car air Freshener. While at the community
engagement at Debs Park Audubon Center, our group began to clean up trash that was found amongst
the trail. While on the roof of the building I work at in Pasadena I took a series of photos of the
mountains and Central Park on 275 S. Raymond Ave, Pasadena, CA 91105. While there was many
pieces of trash to choose from, I choose the car freshener because of its shape and purpose. Its funny
and ironic, not only due to its shape like a tree but also because a car freshener makes the interior of
a car smell good yet doesn’t fix the problem. In the same way, in nature when people create
pollution, instead of fixing the problem or changing their actions, they try to find ways to mask and “freshen” the effects. The photo also uses the focus of the camera lens to emphasis the meaning as well. When we litter and pollute the earth, we just see the close up picture of it and don’t see the big picture. It is important for us to see how our actions affects the things around us and not just ourselves. This art piece is intended for an audience of people who enjoy going out in the outdoors a lot and the age group of 12-30 years old. This is for them to stop and understand how trash affects the environment. Each piece of trash can kill wildlife. The longer we preserve the environment, the longer we can enjoy it for. I personally would want Boy Scouts at summer camps to see this, since they spend a huge amount of time outside. I personally like that you need to interpret this piece slowly, since it forces people to look at the bigger picture and not just run through nature.
- Cristian Vera 2016
