ecotech intent – JakeB

Many people know that turf grass isn’t a naturally occurring plant in North America. This project, called Grass Stains, seeks to show what could be done instead.

Grass stains will use photoshop techniques to show how public spaces like the UMaine Mall would look if landscapers used more naturally occurring plants in the creation of these places. Obviously, public spaces are necessary,  but the ideas behind them could change. That’s what this project seeks to accomplish. It is not an effort to literally change the spaces, but instead, it serves to generate a conversation about how our public spaces are structured. At what point does perceived beauty take precedence over the environment?

Grass stains will show that beauty and environment can go hand in hand. In order to do this, I will take pictures of the mall as my first example and photoshop in other naturally occurring plants. In this case, it would include more small trees like pines along the ground. the groundcover would be moss and clover. It would also include rarer natural trees like beech and birch trees. The images could then be shown to the owners of the space as a part of environmental conversations.

Budget:

Camera and gear rental:  $50. I’ll be using my own equipment, but this is to pay off purchasing of new equipment

Adobe Photoshop: $19.99 per month

labor costs: $15 per hour

Total: $100 for two hours per final image.