Reflection

There are four main sections of the work that pop to the eye at first glance. The waves, the two towns (one grey and upright, the other vibrant and inverted), and the dark void behind all the other sections. This black backdrop symbolizes a kind of dreariness that one cannot ever avoid. No matter how many vibrant homes I could've chosen to draw in front, the black background will always create contrast between them to make itself pop more. This means that the overlying effects of climate change cannot be ignored despite all of our efforts to mitigate it. Next, two towns are visible. The gloomy, grey one on the left is attached to the bottom of the frame, while the vibrant, colourful on on the right is hanging down from the top of the frame. I assigned different colour schemes to these towns to represent the different eras that climate change has affected or has been present in. Although dark and despondent, we can see that the waves never actually seem to reach the town on the left, despite it being at the bottom. In the 1900s, we needed to sacrifice much of leisure in order to lead the kind of life in which climate change or pollution would not pose a significant threat to our existence. Contrast that to the town on the right. We see that of the two coloured towns, there are two separate clumps of houses within them; the shorter one on the left and the longer one on the right. The longer one on the right seems to dip well below the highest waves behind it. This is symbolic because while we may think that the two small waves intentionally placed in front of the town will not pose a significant existential threat to the welfare of the town, there is always a greater danger lurking behind (in other words, there are hidden malices at play especially with climate change, as many of its most disastrous effects are not visible) which could, at any time, consume both the towns on the right. While we may have needed to sacrifice less of our energy and lead a more comfortable life, we will not know how long this will be able to be sustained. This is also why I situated the two towns on the top of the frame to give a hidden sense of relief that the waves may never reach that high, but in reality, the waves have the potential to wipe out almost half of the town on the very right. For my project, I want any viewers to empathize with what I say but also think for themselves different interpretations of the artwork and thus about climate change.