For my EPQ project, I created a series of artworks on a range of highly endangered species that have no conservation attention. The artwork aims to raise conservation awareness for the less ‘charismatic’ species that are under-represented in the public eye.
Importance of my project:
Due to predominately human-induced changes to the environment and with the rate of extinction being 3 species per hour , conservationists have to admit that we might have to let some species go extinct in our effort to save others. This makes prioritising between species and groups inevitable, and unfortunately for the majority of the animal kingdom, humans almost always choose the fluffy, cute and colourful mammals – the poster species. This has resulted in many conservation projects worldwide focussing on these ‘charismatic’ flagship species – the ones we feel emotionally drawn to. This marketing technique of using the charismatic species to generate conservation money is very successful.
Research has shown the cute and aesthetic all possess a set of infantile physical features e.g. large head relative to body size, round face and big eyes which activates a part of the brain (nucleus accumbens) to promote a caretaking behaviour in the individual. But however good this marketing technique may be for saving a small proportion of species, it leaves more than 80% of critically endangered life without any conservation support purely because of their appearance. Reptiles, fish and amphibians suffer even greater bias and remain almost unknown to the general public, which places them in increased danger of being overlooked when it comes to donating to support conservation efforts.
The aim of my EPQ is to increase awareness in the general public about the forgotten and less charismatic species, using art as a powerful tool of communication to change how the mind pre-judges the ‘quality’ of an animal and its need for conservation due to its appearance. By fulfilling the client brief, I will be highlighting to the public that all animals deserve to be saved, and by playing with the mind’s eye and visual perception of a species, a completely new and reformed image can be created which can alter an opinion – transforming the ‘unattractive’ species into fascinating and beautiful pieces of art.
Alongside the aim of raising awareness for the unknown yet highly endangered species, I aim to educate the onlooker about the species, the direct threats which are leading to their extinction and what they can personally do to help improve the situation. In this way the onlooker will not only engage with the artwork but will feel that they themselves have the power to help save the species.
It is important for every artwork series to have a linking theme between the individual pieces, I decided to choose species with NO or LITTLE conservation attention and that are unknown to the public eye and have no supporting donations or publicity. Sadly, as a lot of animals are very close to the brink of extinction, I had to find a way to select only a few endangered species. To do this I set up some ‘requirements’ in order to make a fair and logical judgement on which species to choose.
EDGE - Forgotten Species
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Tess Hadik