Environmental Art: A Pioneer in the Fight for Change
Are your favorite environmental art pieces the answer to Mother Nature’s prayers?
I was standing in the Collider, a coworking space for climate solutions in Asheville, NC, when I recall an art piece of a little girl sitting on her father’s lap. They were both wearing large face masks, and a little boy was playing with war figurines on the floor. “Daddy, what did YOU do in the Climate War?” was sprawled in large cursive along the bottom.
I shuddered.
It was a modern-day twist on a 1915 World War I recruitment poster in Great Britain.
This time, their air was too toxic to breathe.
Who was the mastermind behind this spine-chilling, modern-day spin on war propaganda? His name is Josh MacPhee, and his piece was an attempt, and a successful one at that, of bridging together art and environmental activism.
He may be onto something, here.
It’s 2020, and the coral reefs are diminishing at an alarming rate. Rising temperatures are currently the greatest risk to the health of the Great Barrier Reef, the world’s largest coral reef ecosystem.1
In the early stages of this year, bushfires were wreaking havoc over Australia. According to Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology, the Forest Fire Danger Index showed record high fire weather danger across the entire Australian continent in the spring of 2019.2
In September of 2019, the Ohio River Basin experienced a devastating flash drought event. In fact, it was the hottest and driest September on record for that region and much of the southeastern United States.
What other environmental and societal threats does Mother Nature face?
Ocean acidification
Marine pollution
Loss in ecosystem biodiversity
Risks to food security
–and that's only some of them.
In a modern world of increasing uncertainties, there lies hope in environmental art. Some artists are using their work as a voice for conservation and environmental awareness.
It looks like there is a place for the arts and sciences to convene.
What are the benefits of bridging environmental conservation and art?
Environmental art is an attempt at shifting the conversation from “why do we value nature?” to “how does nature make us feel emotionally?”
The collaboration between the arts and the sciences:3
Spreads scientific knowledge by making it more accessible
Encourages the development of environmental societies or groups
Encourages the invention of modern, innovative technologies
Instigates more in-depth considerations and discussions of complex environmental issues
Offers differing and eye-opening perspectives on both scientific and societal issues
But how do we know this collaboration is working?
As the old saying goes, the proof is in the pudding. The Scottish island of Barra is a perfect example of how connecting art and the environment is a powerful tool for change.
In 2000, a conflict arose between the islanders and the Scottish government over the development of two marine protected areas. In fact, this dispute lasted a whopping fourteen years.3
It would be natural to assume the islanders were pushing for these protected areas to safeguard their home.
Actually, the Scottish government wanted to protect these areas, and the islanders fought back.3
Why were the islanders of Barra so against this environmental conservation initiative?
The European Habitats Directive wanted to create a network of Special Areas of Conservation (SACs). When selecting sites for these special areas, they failed to consider social and economic values.3
They did not consider how these sites would affect the lives of the islanders of Barra. Rather, they chose these marine protected areas from a scientific point-of-view.
To no surprise, the islanders felt neglected in these one-sided plans.
They felt they had already been protecting the marine resources right in their backyards and did not want the government to interfere.
What was a solution to this long-lasting dispute?
An artist and marine social scientist, Ruth Brennan, teamed up to transform the narrative of Barra’s marine resources. They turned to the islanders’ raw connections with the sea to create meaningful art.
How exactly did they do this?
After conducting interviews, they created a project to encourage responsible use and management of Barra’s surrounding marine resources in a way that “spoke” to the islanders.3
Their online mapping tool, Sea Stories, bridged together art and environmental activism.This online artistic tool expressed the culture of the surrounding waters of Barra and expressed values that the European Habitats Directive failed to address.3 It opened a new door for discussion –
the possibility for the islanders to control a conservation strategy.
What would the government’s role be? To support it.
It is evident that art speaks to the emotions and values of society in a way that is lacking in other places.
Luckily, there are several artists that integrate environmental awareness and conservation initiatives into their work. You can check out their work below:
Jessica Ann is a marine life artist who creates colorful and vibrant images of the ocean and its inhabitants. She has one goal in mind: to encourage the viewers of her pieces to take part in marine conservation initiatives. In March of 2020, she released her “In the Reef” collection and donated her art’s proceeds to the Coral Restoration Foundation, an organization devoted to coral conservation research.
Chris Jordan and Rebecca Clark’s “Silent Spring” is a representation of the number of birds that die daily in the United States from pesticides. For clarification, that number is an estimated 183,000 birds.
Benjamin Von Wong’s “The Parting of the Plastic Sea” in his art installation, “The Strawpocalypse”, is a physical art display constructed of 168,000 plastic straws collected from streets in Vietnam. Members of the public donated these straws to the art installation and joined a movement to go plastic straw-free.
Wyland creates marine-inspired art and developed the Wyland Foundation, a non-profit that spreads conservation awareness to children and families through art.
As a visual learner, I connect more with images than with words when introduced to a new concept. While conferences, speeches, and charts are helpful at communicating science, visuals or content that connect to our emotions are really the driving force of action.
With that said, could environmental art be the pioneer for change that Mother Nature is looking for?
