Economic Concepts
During our 7 weeks together, as students compiled the COVID 19 profiles, they also learned and taught each other about various economic concepts. Represented below are creative pieces inspired by each of the economic concepts we explored.
Scarcity and Abundance
In my piece you see one landscape that is monochrome, and then a streak of vibrant colors going through the middle.This idea came from my thought of an abundance mindset and how I use it. Picture this, we all live in a black and white world, but the people with an abundance mindset can see in colors. This is because they might be in a world that is rigid and not always the prettiest, but they choose to see it as a beautiful place full of color and always look for the better in every situation. Now look back at the painting, although the majority of it is monochrome, you notice the colorful part first. Your eyes are drawn to that area because there's more going on and frankly it's just nicer to look at.
This painting represents the economic concept of scarcity and abundance. I chose to paint the silhouettes of oil rigs because oil is a scarce material. This means that there is a limited supply and not everyone has access to it. I wanted to use black to represent the scarce mindset: harsh edges, clear lines. I chose to have the background be peaceful colors, such as purple, blue, and pink to represent an abundance mindset. With an abundant mindset, you are more willing to go with the flow, you would be a team player, and I believe that you would also be more relaxed. This piece of art shows how the two mindsets act and feel, while also showing a more literal example of what they are.
Agricultural Revolution
Why I decided to do this piece was because I wanted to reflect the beauty and the ugly in what is the Agricultural Revolution. One side resembles all the good, the fruits and water, the pros of what we can get from agriculture, which is eating. We get amazing nutrition from these foods and we love to see the beauty in what we eat. I decided to add the fruits, which were apples, watermelon, pears, and oranges, strawberries, and a carrot. I chose these because we always see these in the markets, and farmworkers working conditions are so cruel. I added the flowers because everyone looks over how we end up eating this food in the first place. The flowers soften it up a bit.
Feudalism
Aethelu the Serf:
A story of the short life of a serf during feudalism, intended for child audience (picture book
contains some mini drawings through I am no artists)
Page 1
A story of the short life of a serf during feudalism, intended for child audience (picture book
contains some mini drawings through I am no artists)
This is the story of Aethelu, a long-forgotten name. The name stands for nobility and bravery, far
for fitting for a knight if you ask me. Aethelu was no knight, she was a young girl who lived
Once Upon a Time...
Page 2
The world isn't changing every single day. The way Aethelu lived was very different from you
for she was born in a world that was built on a pyramid of birthright and power.
Page Three
A hole in her heart and ache in her chest, Aethelu was in pain. Yet she was not injured, but her
spirit was splintered.
Page 4
Aethelu was a person known as a serf, the very bottom of ranks. Bottom of what you may ask?
bottom of the feudal system, which forced her to labor away all day as the king sat on his throne,
a face of stone as the rich eat away.
Page 5
Farming and cleaning, hardly eating despite being the ones to provide the food. Serfs were
mistreated in her opinion, but it is true that at least they had a home. The king at the top was
greedy and rude, demanding things left and right.
Page 6
Under the King were his nobles who were no better. Vassals who traded land, profits were all
they cared about. The knights were hired to protect the serfs and served the nobles and King.
Knights had trained their whole lives to protect and defend, much like how Aethelu had been
forced to work since was born.
Page 7
Not only did Aethelu have to work all day but her job was long and hard. She was in charge of
cleaning animal pens, the livestock, and agriculture used as food. Her whole life she has known
nothing but being bound to the walls in this Manor.
Page 8
All Aethelu wanted was her freedom. She was tired of being trapped, feeling trapped, but she
could never escape. In the feudal system, you are born into your role. You cannot change or
make your life your own.
Page 9
Aethelu told herself “My life is my own, it belongs to me, and one day my righteousness shall set
me free. Though that day would never come, as Athena would succumb to an illness known as
the Black Plague.
Page 10
The plague traveled through Europe killing everyone in its sight, spreading through coughs and
touch and bites. Although this plague was devastating and sad, it did give Aethelu what she had
always wanted. Death granted her freedom from a life bound to service. The Black Plague was
the end of the feudal system her wish had come true, happily ever after had never been so true.
Page 11
Feudalism brought us to where we are today because of the system, laws were more regularly
enforced, rules of society were set and even the poor benefited everyone got something through
it. Today we are blessed with freedom and rights. Our happily ever afters will be full of love and
grace. Our lives are our own, and we are free, fill your life with love, and be thankful for history.
Free Trade and Stock Market
For my creative piece I did a painting/drawing to represent the connection between the economy and stock market. In the painting the main parts I included was a money tree and a jack russell terrier. These two things were important as they represent how both of them reach the same point but using different paths. I found this example in an article we read, it explained that a lady walking straight through a park seems calm and unfazed as her dog is running in puddles, peeing everywhere, and just being a complete mess. This is the relationship between the economy and the stock market because the stock market is the dog while the economy is the lady. In my creative piece I replaced the lady with a money tree to have a clearer example of the economy, but I kept the jack russell terrier in the original example. As for the background I painted a histogram to represent a graph you may see when looking at the stock market along with company’s tackers.
Communism
“Overthrow of the bourgeoisie! Dictatorship of the working class!”
- class struggles in France by Karl Marx
The term "proletariat dictatorship" refers to the revolutionary overthrow of existing state structures, which are inextricably linked to capitalism and the interests of the ruling classes. I hoped to depict the weapons of the working class coming together with the hammer and sickle, a sign of proletarian unity, in my piece. All of this is coming from the mind of Karl Marx. Spanish class was a source of inspiration for me. We had to create propaganda posters about what happened in Tlatelolco in the year 1968 and a collage that expressed who we are, and I borrowed their skills and processes for this piece.
Governmental Stimulus
My creative piece for this project is my interpretation of Economic Stimulus. I wanted to represent how we get stimulus checks by mail and have the US flag in the background to show that this was something our country was dealing with. I also wanted multiple hands trying to grab the check, because I feel like because of the pandemic we are all trying to prove who has it the worst in order to receive government funding. Not only that, but especially this year, the government was being bashed left an right, but now everyone is relying on them to pay their bills. This piece really just shows how we receive our checks, but the rest is up for you to interpret.
Technology and Jobs
I created a quick video about how to create a simple program in python. I was inspired by the innovation of technology and my quest for learning and information. I used python to code because it will most likely be the most useful in the future. This also is relevant with my topic of technology because programming is where future technology is leading to, and it is relevant to the whole “technology replacing humans” discussion.
My art piece relates to the question of whether technology will replace or aid humans more in the future, and the “automation anxiety” that has been brought up since the Industrial Revolution. I thought it would be very important to make a piece showing how technology has become intertwined with humans, because I believe that while technology will continue to replace humans in the workforce, it will also serve useful in helping us be more efficient in our work. The background was also meant to be representative of the “complexity” of technology, as there are piles of TVs behind the character.