Themes Reflection – Jessica White
THEMES REFLECTION
During my time in the better lives workshops I explored a variety of themes relating to a ‘Wicked Problem’. I engaged in a group discussion where we talked about some issues in our society relating to the fashion industry, sustainability and the excessive waste we produce. One of the members of the group brought up the great pacific garbage patch, which other members of the group and I did not know existed until this discussion and it was quite shocking for us to see the images of the garbage patch.
However, I decided that I was more interested in a different ‘wicked problem’; I remembered reading an article online about the work of one man in trying to preserve America’s ‘lost’ apple species.And this led me to the issue of declining biodiversity in the environment, both in plants and wildlife; I felt that the issue all came down to the agricultural monopoly from larger corporations.
Jumping off from this, I noticed a very interesting parallel happening simultaneously within nature and capitalism: the decline in biodiversity (both in wildlife and agricultural) reflecting a very similar decline in independently owned brands, leaving only a handful of larger conglomerate brands to dominate the market.
This parallel was very interesting to me and felt like an indicative of a greater issue in society – Capitalism and the imbalance of power. I hope to explore this wicked issue to a greater extent in my final project for the Better Lives Unit.
Prior to my attending of the workshops I had recently watched the movie ‘ Parasite’ and the powerful themes presented within that film also helped to influence my state of mind whilst I was participating in class. Our objective for this project is to create a trailer in response to our chosen wicked problem; film and cinema have always been interests of mine, therefore I was very excited to explore this medium of communication through this task.
I personally felt that the group discussions held during class gave me an incredible insight towards how my fellow peers, who are soon to be involved with the creative industry, saw the world and interpreted its issues. It gave me great relief knowing that my peers were also politically and environmentally aware – as it sets a precedent for how we can see the creative/fashion industry evolving.