KARSON SCHENK

Mapping Home - like a tree, each ring is a year in my life, and the different colors symbolize different ways in which home has changed for me. I like to imagine everyone has a different map of home. This is an idea I would really like to expand on.

Woven Wear/Where?

In an engagement project, participants were given small bracelets to symbolize the region of the world the article of clothing they chose to explore. Where it was produced, and what it is made of. This is a really basic start to a complicated issue of transparency we want to address. Where do the raw materials come from to make the product? What other components had to be shipped to compile the one piece of clothing? This is a visual representation of what we do know from tags, but also shows how much we still don't know.

Featuring Michigan students from all around central campus. Big thanks to everyone who was willing to participate with two strangers running up to them asking to see their clothing tag. Fun project that required some bravery. Jackie Spryshak and Karson Schenk, Fall 2019.

Tiger Balm

an investigation of camphor, a main ingredient in this product. It is something that can take away pain, with a history of destruction, deforestation, civil injustices and the falling population of sumatran tigers; causing pain.

Woodland Caribou are directly impacted by the production of toilet paper - connecting purchase to impact.

Work from Intro to animation class fall 2019 -

Conquering of the Congress - A group of Orangutans is referred to as a Congress. Here an Orangutan is surrounded by the human systems that impact it; the systems that seek to conquer, control and over time destroy.

This work is made entirely with found materials - magazines, newspapers, brochures, catalogs, usually glued onto cardboard. Learn more about this process here, and check out the digital work that was inspired by this.

Occupation of the Hambach Forest

A commemorative place setting project for the Occupation of Hambach forest in Hambach, Germany. The plates are made from scientific articles and current news about the impacts of lignite on human health. Lignite is the "dirtiest" coal in mining production --the most hazardous to human health-- and is made to produce fertilizers that we spray on our food... And we still continue to eat on plates made of this information and knowledge.

Bounding Hope is a 55" x 18" paper collage piece that connects the intersectionality of issues around human conflict and the environment, also addressing themes around family relationships and the role of youth.

The Caracal is a big cat with a habitat ranging from the Middle East to North Africa, known for its ability to survive brutal and extreme environments. (Just like the people that live here through the tension, stress, and fear of what each day could bring.) The Caracal in this collage is a kitten, it is bounding out of the desolation that lies behind it. The state of the environment after a war is not often talked about- and in this case, the young Caracal is a survivor, and a sign that the environment is still alive after a human conflict.

In the upper left there are scenes of violence, and to the right and below there are images of women and their actions in the face of conflict. Here the caracal is symbolic of a child- children are the hope of this region, and they are supported by Mothers; Mothers who are raising the hope for the future.

Featured in the GSP Journal here.

A few examples of work from Intro to Typography -