Poetic Drops My personal water and the planet’s water are interacting, and this text is a consequence. I tried to keep my water private and clean, but as it wasn’t possible, I succeeded only in extracting these mental drops: Everything is related to water:
published at https://flippingbook.com/account/online/97166248. The Hudson River, Berry’s Creek, Bally’s Creek, and East Rutherford Meadows are water sources for my house. PCBs Travelogue documents the water pollution history of the Hudson River. I created an 18 x 5–foot drawing with sludge taken from this river at Piermont, which tests found to contain PCBs, mercury, and arsenic. Around the drawing, nine QR codes picture the contamination process from 1947 to 2021. The series Polluted Water Drawings and Polluted Water Sculptures were created with water from Barry’s Creek and Bellman’s Creek, the two most contaminated water sources in the U.S. The glass instal- lations are part of my research on the relationship between clean and polluted water. Materials and Processes The materials I use are generic: water pipes (new and corroded), glassware, polluted water, river mud, live fish, filter paper, water test strips, chemicals, water pumps, and plumbing ware. I use these materials directly or capture them in videos or photographs. The ideas behind these artworks were derived from my regular contact with water. For example, I heard a journalist talking about lead in the water in Hack- ensack on TV. Then I bought a professional water testing kit, and I recorded a test of my house water. It contained 50 times more lead than the allowable amount. As I was not confident with my tests and the Safe XXXXXXX Quality Test Kit, I sent my tap water samples to a lab. The results showed 25 times more lead than recommended. In other works, such as Androgynous Water, after I generated the idea, I researched it on the Internet. For this piece, after realizing the cause and scope of the problem, I went fishing. I experimented with several fish I caught until I found the right one. My work process requires the constant observation of and experimentation with my everyday polluted water, while my fear makes me look for proof of its safety. Google has 360M documents for “U.S. Governmental drinking water organizations.” I read some of the annual reports of the NJDEP, NJDOH, USGAO, CDC, and EPA, and they say everything is okay. However, the lead content in my house is 25 times higher than the healthy level when I test it. Generic materials related to tap water help me translate my experiences to my audience. A mag- nified photo of polluted water or of a filter with poisonous residue from a school drinking fountain
A concept in relation to water shows its identity. Beauty and water are forms of divine perfection. Water has no end or beginning, and it’s a visual expression of eternity. Water does not live or die; it is. A word about water is a word about everything. The sound of water is understandable to everyone. My visual means of expression is generated through water.
Behind and Between Next to water, I use data in my work. In my video, Lead Immunity Training, I filmed myself washing my hands. The water test on my arm shows fifty times more lead than the healthy limit.7 In My Water Bill 08.2021, I painted my water bill, which I paid last August, with paint made from lead oxide bound with a medium. The image resembles the paper copy of the bill I receive every month. I am paying to be poisoned, just like King Mithridates. I began the video project, Secret Garden, in 2020 after the Black Lives Matter protests in New York City. I found the five towns with the best water in the U.S. and the five towns with the worst according to the Environmental Working Group (EWG). 8 I collected water samples from these ten locations by mail and placed the same plant in ten glasses of water. I recorded the plants’ reactions for 24 days. Six plants died in the experiment, and four are still alive in their pots a year and a half later. In the last screen of the video, I show the demographics of the ten cities according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Another work, W Like Water, consists of a purification system with a water source, pollutants, filtration, and live fish as users. The system is calculated to be in balance, but a slight change in pressure, water levels, or temperature can lead to destruction. https://youtu.be/Ipk55q8uPC8
In War and Water, I researched the official records of forty years of presidential speeches from Reagan to Trump. I was interested in how many times they used the words war and water. The results are
Made with FlippingBook Digital Publishing Software