Plastics as a medium of creativity in Art
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Date
2003-11-25
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Abstract
The economic importance of waste plastics has for a long time remained unrecognized. Its potential viability as a medium for sculpture has also not been popular. To date, the Ghana Government is unable to solve the indiscriminate plastics littering especially in the urban areas, thus, valuable plastics raw materials daily end UI) as worthless garbage.
The over-reliance on organic materials involving wood and clay to facilitate the teaching and making of sculpture is adversely affecting our eco-system. As a result, wood and clay are either hard to come by or very expensive to acquire. This project work addresses the viability of waste “rigid” plastics such as pens, buckets, chairs and containers as an alternative medium the plastic art. Experiments with plastics yielded its viability as a sculpture material, Plastics was used as the valuable raw materials with the application of tools and processes of carving; modelling; casting; construction and assemblage to produce plastics artefacts in-the-round and in relief. Results also revealed the effectiveness of plastics as a good substitute for wood and clay. Its indispensability to the success of art education in schools and colleges and to sculptors cannot be overemphasized.
Finally, it must be stated that plastics can be used as a medium of creativity in art. Collecting disused and discarded plastics products so that they may be reprocessed to yield a sculpture material is also not only a way of curbing the indiscriminate litter of plastics garbage but an economic activity for plastic collectors. Plastics are in abundance now and readily available with very little or no cost for their acquisition. The potentials of Plastics must be harnessed as a matter of urgency in visual arts education - it has an important role in the major areas of national development.
Description
A thesis submitted to the Department of Art Education,
Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in partial
fulfilment of the requirements for the award of the degree of Master of Arts in Art Education, 2003