July 9

Today was spent mostly in the computer lab laser cutting new stencils to use in the green house.

I tried thinking of words that would reflect the ideas behind ecological art. I chose the words Bloom and Grow. To me both of these words exude positivity, and promote the actions that go into what we are doing this summer- trying to spread nature within an art context.

Both words require nurturing in order to happen. In this sense, these two words reflect the nurturing that humans should be doing for the environment. In this sense, these words serve as a reminder to those that stumble across them either written in moss or flowers of the importance of nature and that we must protect and let it flourish.

Today was the first day I attempted mixing soil and wheat paste. It did not go well. Because the soil has such large chunks in it it’s hard to apply the mixture without the larger chunks getting in the way. I applied the seeds to the plain wheat paste first and then tried applying the mixture of wheat paste and soil on top, the same way I would try to cover it with regular soil afterward. However, because of the larger chunks and consistency in general I couldn’t paint the mixture on easily over the seeds without lifting the seeds off the cardboard. This resulted in having to dollop the mixture on leaving a thicker layer on top of the seeds.

I also attempted to use the Bloom stencil to create moss graffiti along the bottom of the greenhouse wall in the shade. I think there is something off with the moss smoothie mixture. It’s very liquidy with means it’s more prone to dripping. It also doesn’t seem to be applying moss to the wall either. I feel like I’m just painting milk onto the wall. I’ll have to look into more ways to thicken the mixture or add more moss.

Lastly, I brought back the cut out of the Bloom stencil and painted the moss smoothie onto it in order to test out how the moss would grow in a different condition. I left it under the porch to the apartment building I am in for the summer. It’s a shady spot that still has access to sunlight and might be cooler than the greenhouse because it is essentially outside, but sheltered from anything that might damage the experiment, like rain.