About the Project
Chelsea Senior thesis at the Maryland Institute College of Art for her BFA was called “Earth Constellations”.
Earth Constellations was an online website with the purpose of gathering images from all over the world to create a piece of art work utilizing Google Maps. She created handmade “stuffed animal” stars, with faces and personalities. Each star had instructions and a story attached to it. The instructions told the person who received the star to:
- Take a picture of the star in the (outside) location where they are located.
- Upload the picture to the website that I’ve created.
- List the location and when the star was received. (This is also done on the website.)
- Add some personality to the star by altering or adding-on to the star’s appearance.
- Send the star to someone else in a different state.
There was a story that attached to each star. The stories varied from star to star, but they all said something about how the star fell to earth from a constellation and how, if you mark its location on her site and pass it on, you will add to its new earth constellation. Each star had a name and a unique personality that was mentioned in the story. There were approximately ten stars that she made and sent out to different parts of the world. When each person marked the location of the star, it will showed up on a Google Maps application that she have created (see photo). The application linked together all the points that the star has traveled and also showed what that constellation would look like in the sky.
Why Earth Constellations?
“One reason I am made this project is because I am interested in how things change over time. The metamorphosis of the star will be something I looked forward to seeing because each star should ended up looking dramatically different, unique, and the opposite of how it started. The unpredictability in the destinations of the stars and the resulting images will made this project ever changing. I also did this project to spread the importance of individual creativity and to see the world through my star’s photos.
There are a number of reasons for creating this project. The main reason focused on my personal artistic journey I first started my career of producing art in a handcrafted way, such as a painting or a drawing. When I came to college I shifted my artistic focus to computers. This project provided the opportunity to showcase how the handcraft and the digital art worlds can combine to create something completely new and changing. Crafts are a big part of this project, because they can show much more then a simple handmade project, but rather can reveal someone’s personality, creativity, and innovation. It’s always inspiring to see that, even with the same beginning, no one’s craft will look exactly the same. Each person will put their own personality into their craft as a way of expressing themselves. After I make a craft or receive one, it’s something special that I cherish, and value more than something purchased from a store. Its valued more because it’s one of a kind, and was made just for me. That’s why mothers cherish the artwork their children bring home, why people admire a piece of artwork, and why the handmade things are the things that people chose to keep forever. Crafts also bring people together. Many times doing crafts is a group event akin to days at summer camp, craft nights, or just doing something with friends or family. It’s more then just making something for fun. It is a way to get to know people and interact with others.
Nature was also a big part of this project, and to me. Its something that is easily taken for granted and needs recognition for how beautiful and magnificent it really is. Its ever changing forms and diverse landscapes is art in itself. It’s no wonder why there are so many paintings, drawings and photos of landscapes. For my thesis project I found it to be a more interactive way to capture nature. The organic forms, objects and structure in nature are what have driven my artwork to this point. I found that the most interesting forms and objects are presented before us everyday. Just like crafts, no one thing in nature is exactly the same, and that’s why it is so intriguing to me. I based my project around nature to gather landscapes around the world and to make earth constellations. These constellations are one of a kind too. The forms they will create are unplanned and are powered by people. This project will bring handcrafts, nature, interactivity and technology into one piece of artwork that will simultaneously bring my whole body of artwork together.”