A friend of mine posted a story about an incredibly gifted Chinese woodcarver on Facebook - this was the image that accompanied it, but when I clicked through to read the story it appeared that the amazing carving the artist created was not from a 'found' tree trunk but created appears to have been created by chopping down a lovely living tree (see image below) and this triggered a string of thoughts for me.
Now, the artist's skills seemed less appealing and felt more like an extreme form of graffiti conjuring up the same emotions in me as when I see names carved into rocks - like the family names carved into the limestone rocks near Ship Rock on Kasouga beach - I experience a sense of shame on behalf of those who deface nature's splendour to boost their own egos.
Humans then are not unlike dogs who piss on every bush to mark their territory - except that the dogs' actions are less harmful in the long term.
Do we always have to destroy something beautiful or use up valuable resources just to create more STUFF or am I being extreme. Am I being a romantic by imagining that it wasn't always so, that once upon a time artists and craftsman used FOUND 'objet'... should we, who are well informed about the strains placed on earth's resources at present, be more mindful and consider utilising other sources of materials to create the stuff we desire.
Humans then are not unlike dogs who piss on every bush to mark their territory - except that the dogs' actions are less harmful in the long term.
Do we always have to destroy something beautiful or use up valuable resources just to create more STUFF or am I being extreme. Am I being a romantic by imagining that it wasn't always so, that once upon a time artists and craftsman used FOUND 'objet'... should we, who are well informed about the strains placed on earth's resources at present, be more mindful and consider utilising other sources of materials to create the stuff we desire.
Should we not rather be using discarded materials such as these below...still creating beautiful art but without depleting our already precious resources: