Brianna Sorgen

What Will You Do?

The Earth is our home and we aren’t showing the love and respect it deserves. Climate change affects all of us, even here in Nebraska. In the past 100 years, the state’s average temperature has risen, the soil is becoming drier, rainstorms are more intense, the frost-free season has increased, change in migration pattern, and less snow in the Rocky Mountains which leads to less streamflow for our rivers. The main causes of climate change are water vapor, methane, carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, chlorofluorocarbons. While in Nebraska, our main negative impact on the planet is caused by burning of fossil fuels and methane gas, which is produced by cattle.

What Can You Do?
There are a few small changes you can make to lessen your negative impact on the earth. Investing in reusable products, switch your traditional light bulbs to compact fluorescent lightbulbs, unplug your electronics, turn off your tap while brushing your teeth, and push for your local government to talk about switching to renewable energy. Little steps can go a long way. What Will You Do?

My capstone consists of fourteen images all taken in Nebraska to capture the idea of climate change. The images are place on 6”x6” blocks of wood. To show the audience that trees do so much for us I decided not to paint the blocks of wood, but stain them to keep the natural look of the wood’s grain withing my capstone. The overall display is 7’ high and 8’ wide.

Process
With about three months of research of climate change under my belt, I decided the best way to capture climate change would be photographing little things we see in our everyday life that we don’t usually think about. I wanted to use my images and create a grid like system out of natural material (wood). I cut and sanded 6”x6” blocks of wood to house my images on. After sanding, I stained the wood blocks and then placed my images onto the block. I created a display wall to hold my grid out of thin plywood and 2”x4” planks. For my title “What Will You Do?” I printed out the title onto paper and the glued it to even thinner plywood. After I glued the words down, I used saw and cut out the letters. I also chose to stain the letters as well to keep the natural look of the wood.