Elements of Art


Putt Clark
December 1992

For this blog, I'd like to take a look at "Our Changing World" by Putt Clark. This is a piece I saw a lot as a child and considering I didn't associate myself with the arts that much this was a piece that stood out to me for one reason or another. The piece was made right here in Fairbanks, Alaska in December of 1992. This is one of the go-to pieces I think of when I think of art and it's one I like a lot.

Emotion:

To me, the biggest aspect of this piece is how it makes me feel. My family has always been environmentally sensitive and this piece embodies it quite well. There is no land visible on the frontmost planet which would imply that anything natural is irrelevant to its inhabitants. I will be calling back to this point in a future segment, but the primary emotion this piece evokes in me is helplessness. Again, my family has always been environmentally sensitive which is why this piece speaks to me now, but all we can do is our part. We can't snap our fingers and reverse the harm done - and being done - to the planet.

Color:

The primary color employed here is blue. Considering how water-heavy our planet is that comes as no surprise. However, blue is not just water in this image. All five planets give off a blue light, which is probably supposed to be their atmosphere. Something to note though is that there is a sickly green line running along the horizon of the fifth planet. This is almost definitely pollution, which represents how pollutive we are as a species which ties back into the emotional aspect of this work for me. Aside from that, most if not all of the colors are soft. There's the aforementioned blue and there are greys as well. Dark blue is present in the piece too, but that's regulated to the background. Green is probably the most vibrant color in this piece as it stands out the most on the planets.

Texture:

For the most part, the texture is very smooth in this piece. The most rugged part of this artwork is probably the clouds. Otherwise, the land, the sea, and especially the buildings are very smooth looking in their design.

Lines:

The lines are one of my favorite aspects of this. Aside from the buildings, everything in this piece is curved in one way or another. The winding roads look especially marvelous with them branching off in several directions. Another interesting thing I noticed in regards to the buildings (especially the ones in the foreground) is that they don't match up with the Earth at all. We appear to be viewing them from a flat plane of sorts when they really should be adhering to the curve of the Earth.

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