"unfinished": artist statement

Title: "unfinished"

Thinking Skill(s): contextualisation, contrast

Time Taken: 5 days

Artist Statement:

the rosy fiddler crab is a subspecies of the fiddler crab. it lives mostly in singapore and prefers to be hidden away under vegetation. it is fairly small and entirely harmless to humans. even though it likes to stay hidden, the rosy fiddler crab has been listed as endangered in singapore. this is because of the loss of the mangroves that are home to the crabs and other various forms of wildlife. this is due to an increase in development within the areas that used to belong to the mangroves. this project relates back to contextualisation in two ways. the first one is relating to the displacement of the rosy fiddler crab due to loss of their habitat. theyre forced to make sense of surroundings theyre unfamiliar with and often perish. that and the lack of colouring in the claw. this is arguably the most interesting part of the crab, and yet i purposely left it blank, forcing whoever sees it to imagine what could possibly fill that area. it also relates to contrast for obvious reasons. the body of the crab itself is very dark, and the one large claw is normally a very vibrant red. leaving it blank makes the white stand out against it even more. this cause is important because it shows how development and other factors affect not only the animals, but the plant life as well. the rosy fiddler crab isnt very well known, so it isnt likely that many people will care. thats why i felt it was so important to make an art piece of this species of fiddler crab in particular.

i hope that im able to raise some more concern for this facinating crab before its too late.

Sources: 

http://www.wildsingapore.com/wildfacts/crustacea/crab/ocypodoidea/rosea.htm

http://mangrove.nus.edu.sg/guidebooks/text/2053.htm

http://www.wildsingapore.com/wildfacts/plants/mangrove/mangroves.htm