Further Thoughts on the Appropriation Project

We have been asked to answer the following question in relation to our appropriation artwork:

"If you had a million dollars to spend on creating your Appropriation project in real space (not only as an image built on the computer for our class), what would your final version look like, how would you construct it, what materials would you use, what size would it be, where would it be located, how would it be different than it currently is?"

The first thing I can say in answer to this question is that I would not construct my own smoke-spewing industrial park, as that would negate the environmentally conscious theme of my work.  I suppose it would be possible to construct mirror-lakes in public locations near industrial sites, matching a beautiful nature scene to whatever skyline or skylines I could find.

However, if I could really do anything I wanted, I think I would pick a site in the old industrial district of a fairly large city with air-quality issues.  I would then invest in air scrubbers or filters of some type, and build them into the dark steel frames of smokestacks.  In order for this to still be environmentally friendly, I would have to look in to powering the gigantic air purifiers with alternative energy.  I think it would at least need a combination of wind and solar power, which could be built in to the buildings and trees.  It would probably require additional power, which would be as green as possible.  The trees themselves would be made out of recycled glass and steel girders, and placed around my miniature industrial 'park'. 

In fact, I think I would design it as a park for people to spend leisure time in.  In the center of this space I would build a shallow fountain, with the image of the beautiful lake visible within it.  I could build a few bridges and rock paths through it to an island in the center.  There I think I would reverse my mirror images, and have an beautiful island supported by steel structures.  This would have real plants and grass on it - in order for a fairly large number of people to enjoy this, the island and the park itself would have to be very large.  It would have benches and other trappings common to other parks.  My challenge would be to make sure that the park was still cool and inviting, even with its industrial feel.  I think this project would take far more than one million dollars, but it would be interesting.  It would be working to clean up the air in this city, and it would provide a park that makes a point about the environment.  So, if I were allowed to build my project in three dimensions (and was given a very large budget), this is how I would proceed.

-Kelly F.