ART OF AWARENESS SUBMISSIONS 2015- Winners announced!

Congratulations to our winners!!!

Taylor Zartman, Samuel Caravana and Nathaniel Fox

#1- Nathaniel Fox-

(Faculty Vote Winner)

Street Art and Urban Pressure:

Graffiti as we know here is the U.S. is thought as trash and dirty, stereotypes that are simply not accurate. Graffiti is more than just trash created by the lowly and impoverished. This negative connotation needs to be removed from this artistic form of self-expressionism. If you ever get the chance to walk down the streets of downtown San Jose, nearly every nook and cranny is covered in colorful and vivacious street art. The diversity of street art forms represents the rich diversity and culture of the countries that borrows many traditions from other countries while remaining to hold on to their own. One of the main topics expressed in this street art is political corruption of both Costa Rica and fears of globalization. Also numerous topics include the free trade agreement with the U.S. (CAFTA, or TLC in Spanish); corruption in the government; criticism of specific government officials, including the president; the demand of equality for homosexuals; and protests against wars and support for revolutionary movements in other countries.

#2- Nathaniel Fox

The Importance of Mangrove Trees In The Environment

These trees play an important role in the environment. Besides providing a refuge to many species, the mangrove forest is one of the most diverse ecosystems in the world. They also help to control wave action along and near the shore with their long roots protecting organisms that live on and in the trees. More recently in history, many fishermen on the Pacific shores of Costa Rica have been cutting down these trees in order to build and farm aquacultures of fish. The land that used to be used for the sheltering of these organisms is gone thus destroying the habitats of species of fish, birds, crustaceans and other organisms. Legislation in Costa Rica has been trying to put a cap on the expansion of aquaculture on the Pacific shores and has had success in recent years with mangrove restoration.

#3- Samuel Caravana

(2nd place popular vote winner)

This photo was taken at the International Bazaar in Freeport, Bahamas. Since the Princess Hotel in the background closed and tourists began flowing to a different part of the island, the bazaar has become an overgrown ghost town. Besides a few tiny stores near the weed-ridden parking lot, all the business have been abandoned and boarded up. Although this image is in black and white, it was originally taken in color. I made the decision to remove the color in order to accurately portray the situation I witnessed. The restaurant’s pastel paint aroused feelings of happiness, a sentiment not felt by the poverty stricken shopkeepers in this forgotten place. Thought the colors would have accurately portrayed the building, they would not have transmitted the desperateness of the area. The monochrome version of the image transmitted this desperateness to the viewer more affectively and thus told a truer story than if it had remained in color.

#4- Hoang Nguyen

Chicago Untitled statement

Homeless people are being increasingly weeded out of many United States cities and bills against the homeless are being passed or considered. How is it that in a developed society like the United States’, fellow human beings are treated as pests need to be cleared from sight?

#5- Hoang Nguyen

Beyond Homeless Feb 20

Homelessness might sound distant but it is actually very close to us in Greencastle. Beyond Homeless, a homeless shelter for women, is in fact only a 10 minutes walk away from East College.

#6- Maya Arcilla

Hacienda Luisita, a sugar plantation in the Philippines, is the site of a military massacre of farm workers protesting for living wages, better working conditions, and land ownership. President Noynoy Aquino, the current owner of this plantation, claims to have distributed the land under the Department of Agrarian Reform, but in reality the people have seen a further privatization of their crops through foreign corporations. Pictured here is a wall installed by the government to prevent the people from farming on this underutilized space. The wall becomes a demonstration of power, and those that cross this border are threatened with watchtowers full of militarized police. To continually resist their oppressive feudal governance, the people have started collective farming to support their community. Though many have perished through unlawful killings fighting for their land, their battles endure today.

#7- Ellen Buening

East College looks hauntingly beautiful lit up as it is at night. However with the Sustainability Office’s theme of Zer0 Waste and the Conservation Challenge in full swing, East College’s light present a mixed message. DePauw has made wonderful efforts towards energy efficiency and zero waste, but the lights serve no practical purpose (i.e. security), and are left to shine through the night. Turning off the lights to save electricity would fall in line with DePauw’s stance on energy conservation, but would also result in aesthetic lose. Are energy conservation practices only worth implementing when they do not effect aesthetic value?

#8- Taylor Zartman

(1st place popular vote winner)

Brined and Smoked Bacon
Black and white film photograph
At the Bloomington farmer’s market, I noticed the stare of a young boy. On the ground under the market tables, he patiently sat as his mother picked produce. Photographing in a public space leaves a hefty amount of power in the photographer’s hands. In this public space, I have the right to take this photograph. Legally, I do not need the consent of these subjects. Yet, this young boy is the only subject aware of my photo taking. And the photographing of children raises the questions – Are they able to give consent? Is it justifiable to take a photo of someone who is unable to agree or deny? And this can lead to the whole discussion of “truth,” what does the courtesy of requesting a photo mean for artistic integrity and the capturing of a moment?

#9- Alexandria Moore

At first glance, I absolutely fell in love with this picture of these adorable little kids. Our guide, Addi, took us on a tour of the village of Mesguida where he grew up. While walking throughout the winding passageways, we encountered a group of young boys who followed us about the town. The adorable boys pictured are only two of many who joined our tour. The little boy to the right was sticking his tongue out at who I believe was Dr. Kertzman. It shows a childish nature of something everyone can relate to even with language barriers. The background is plain with tan colors that show the clay buildings and dirt roads common to the desert area. Below the children’s feet are articles of garbage. Even in the large city of Fez I saw piles and piles of garbage on the roadsides. From this I am reminded a few of many problems present in Morocco; I see the garbage that fills the streets, and also of the constraints of education. These children are not present in school despite the fact that school was in session; we even passed a busy schoolyard minutes before capturing this picture. Another glance at this picture only begins to display the complex relation between these issues. What I first thought was a cute picture of children turned out to reveal my own level of unawareness to global issues and the complexity these hold.

#10- Alexandria Moore

I wanted to capture this encounter because this little girl was so sweet. Our guide, Addi, got down to he level to talk to her and, although I don’t know what they talked about, I know she trusted him. Her arms were outstretched as she told him something, a sign that she was okay with being vulnerable to him.

The sightseer, Terry, took pictures of the fossils behind the two. Women and children were in the background, gathered around their goods they hoped to sell. The sleeve on the left and footprints underneath placed myself, a student, in the frame as I captured a moment in which I was the outsider looking in.

If anything, I’ve captured what is for myself a complex story of class, power, and privilege. How everyone was presented in this picture contributes to the creation of a complex relationship between my own view of the country and the view of myself. I captured the subjects I saw as the tourist taking pictures, the women and children selling goods, the new and older generations interacting, and myself, the one in power of what to take a picture of. As I reflect upon this picture, I am interested in the role I played as the photographer and question what role class, power, and privilege also played into how I captured and presented these subjects.

#11- Julia Sobek

This picture was taken at the Dachou Concentration Camp in Dachou, Germany. This is an original prison cell that most likely held religious leaders, or any leaders that posed a threat to the Nazi’s. This picture make me think of hope. Seeing the sun shine through the prison bars may have been similar to a sight seen by a prisoner at the time and symbolizes the world that exists beyond the camp.

#12- Julia Sobek

This picture was taken in Pendleton County, West Virginia during a 2014 Spring Break In-Service trip through Habitat for Humanity. The Appalachian area is the poorest area I have ever visited within the United States. One of the most commonly seen themes in that area was faith. Despite almost everyone struggling financially in the area, everyone had an immense amount of faith in God. This board and others like it embodied this idea by “God Bless This House” being written on the boards that would be built into the house with the help of habitat for humanity.

#13- Samuel Caravana

This picture was taken in November of 2014 during the “Hands Up, Don’t Shoot Rally” held in front of Roy O. West Library. While I feel as though the picture accurately portrays the events and the feelings of the rally, it did make me wonder how much can a photograph communicate to its viewer. While a photograph may tell a tale, it does not necessarily tell the whole story. Instead often photographs make the subject one dimensional failing to show them beyond a single quality. This over simplification of people and stories is a pitfall that can be bridged by representing the subject with multiple photographs. This allows the intricacies of the issue to manifest themselves instead of be flattened.

March 3, 2015December 14, 2022

“The new inhabitants said the drums are loud”: Gentrification and Living Ethically in the City

Then comes the motherfuckin’ Christopher Columbus Syndrome. You can’t discover this! We been here. You just can’t come and bogart. There were brothers playing motherfuckin’ African drums in Mount Morris Park for 40 years and now they can’t do it anymore because the new inhabitants said the drums are loud. – Spike Lee, Rant on Gentrification

Spike Lee’s rant against gentrification in the Brooklyn area during a Q+A at the Pratt Institute highlights the negative sentiment that many communities are facing in the rapid change of the urban world. Gentrification can be easily understood as the the process of renovation of low-income communities through housing and business development often originating from white middle income persons. However, within the good intentions of “developing” or “cleaning-up a neighborhood” comes many social issues that may contain a lasting harmful impact.

To start off, why is the millennial generation so interested in living in urban areas? First, there has been a major shift in the value change among millennials (those born after 1982) and the parenting generation. Many gentrifiers have grown up under the privilege of gated communities and post-white flight suburbia. Having 20 minutes of commuting time all one’s life from home to school, school to the grocery stores, grocery stores to restaurants, the millennial and mostly white generation has mostly lived a life inside the commute of the soccer mom’s minvan. For many of us, we are starting to reject that narrative. We want to live, work, eat, and be social all within immediate proximity. As gentrification has become rapid over the last ten years and millennials showing their ability to start businesses, the desire for cheap rent found in low-income communities for low-cost social entrepreneurship becomes a high demand.

But good intentions are not always great for all of those living in the community. In fact, communities are not really being developed alongside and with the emergencing populations but are often facing forced evictions, rising property taxes, and drastic rental increase and now relocating to the former home of these gentrifiers- the suburbs. And with gentrification comes the rebranding (code for whitewashing) of communities as neighborhoods are losing their cultural history to names branded, market friendly brands by real estate developers.

Gentrification is a complex issue. On one hand, local business development, and the renovation of buildings is a positive asset for a city. Fishtown, Philadelphia was an area known where one could easily score heroin but now it is covered with art, bars, and local restaurants. However, Spike Lee rightfully points out a criticism towards the city politicians and developers,“So, why did it take this great influx of white people to get the schools better? Why’s there more police protection in Bed Stuy and Harlem now? Why’s the garbage getting picked up more regularly? We been here!”

As the world grows more urban and as millennials continue to migrate to the cities, the complexity surrounding where one should live is loaded with impact that might just contribute to more harm than good in the long run of city life. While access to gluten free markets, dog parks, locally sourced sriracha flavored ice cream, and organic kale juice bars might be the positive community one is looking for, chances are, there was evictions, relocations, and pain as some members lost the community they once held dear.

This Guest Author post was written by Matt Cummings, Coordinator of Community Service at DePauw University.

March 2, 2015December 14, 2022

Preparation for the 2022 World Cup is far from ethical play

The World Cup is a “global experience” filled with an overwhelming amount of passion felt by soccer fans worldwide. It is a unique experience, and one that unifies all corners of the globe around a shared passion for what some would call “the most beautiful game.” There is no doubt that hosting comes with benefits such as crowds from around the globe, a large source of revenue, and the creation of national pride for one’s country. However, hosting the World Cup is a larger task than it may appear, and often overlooked is the great expense at which hosting a World Cup requires. These massive stadiums do not appear from thin air. In many cases, entire cities have to be rebuilt and revamped to accommodate such large crowds. And how? That is the million-dollar question, commonly avoided, and never justly answered.

The 2022 World Cup will take place in Qatar, as officials aim for a November start date. Qatar faces many large construction projects in order to prepare for the upcoming games, requiring 1.4 million migrant worker’s physical labor daily. After a recent report was released on Monday of this week, it became devastatingly apparent that the preparation for such games has a very dark side. After being accused of human rights abuses against laborers in 2013, Qatar has been under fire since. Small changes have been made to improve working conditions especially in the Khalifa International Stadium, a top venue for the 2022 World Cup, reports BBC Sports Editor, Dan Roan, however, in sites off the beaten path, change is not happening fast enough. Work camps house fifteen people to a room, and filth and sickness are spreading rampant. An anonymous worker shares that after fourteen years of working in these labor camps in Doha, “nothing has changed” and another states that he would leave if he could, but his passport and travel visa have been taken from him, leaving him trapped in Doha.

There are two pressing ethical issues at play here. First, as human rights activists have pointed out, governmental reform must be made to the current kalfa system of sponsorship in Qatar, to prevent employers from having the right to own their workers and restrict their freedom from leaving the country at will. Under the current system, the human rights and dignity of these workers is being violated, an ethical abuse that must not be permitted further.

Secondly, while FIFA did voice its disagreement with the current treatment of workers a year ago, that’s far from taking action to rectify the situation. The BBC reports that Qatar has admitted to the deaths of 964 workers already, and if conditions continue, the estimated death toll will be over 4,000 before the games begin in 2022. I believe that FIFA, as a respected soccer federation supporting athletic excellence and ethical competition, and representing teams and countries worldwide, that it has an obligation, not a choice, to do more. Although an indirect actor, FIFA’s hands are not clean from the bloodshed. A stand must be taken on behalf of FIFA and every player who intends to step foot on that pitch that has seen the mistreatment of so many. A ball should not be kicked until those who were forced to give their lives are properly and justly acknowledged. FIFA must stop construction until labor reform has been properly made in Qatar to set a precedent worldwide.