The way we see ourselves in relationship to the external environment affects the choices we make and contributes to how we interact with nature. Similarly the state of the environment affects our self-image and therefore sense of self-worth, and ultimately our actions. Can art practice usefully address and inform the relationship of self-identity to the external environment? What qualities of such art practice are the most relevant at this time?
We are in a great planetary dilemma. Many scientists warn that environmental change will destroy much of our way of life. Desertification, natural disasters, migration, loss of natural diversity and sea level rise will change our planet. Yet we all live as if it is business as usual within the momentum of our industrial world. Can artistic endeavour focus on this fulcrum and express the denial, the disconnection, the dissociation with the natural world, the hope of mitigation and the struggle of adaptation? Like other times of great cultural and political change, this is rich ground for the artist. It is beyond recording. It is seeking the essence of the collision between the macro and the micro and creating a body of work that is both practice led enquiry and expression.
My intention is not to describe or solve environmental problems, but instead to capture and artistically portray the relationship between the individual and global environmental issues. I aim to make vivid and lay bare the paradoxes of human responses and experiences. Science mandates an objective position, which causes detachment and disconnection from nature and therefore the possibility for ecological degradation. I am interested in exploring the possibilities of art to create a different construction of knowledge, a process that is personal, with the potential to create an emotional response and deepen connection and understanding.
During my MFA I explored the self-portrait as an artist using a new method and in a new intellectual and physical context. Instead of portraying myself, I provided the inspiration, space and equipment for other people to take their own photographic or video self-portraits. The self-portrait is unique in that the person creating the portrait takes responsibility for the inspiration, setting, action and expression; hence the truth of the moment is not externally driven but instead comes from within. I asked two opposing questions - where and when do you feel your best and most in touch with who you are? And where and when do you feel most disconnected? Photography and video are mediums of everyday perception. Collaborating with non-artists, these mediums are appropriate because of their familiarity.
For this research, I would collaborate with individuals to create an artistic expression of the essential features of their relationship with global environmental issues. Through interactions, photographs and video work, the objective would be to experience directly the lifestyle and worldview of each person. Their chosen focus might be work, home, family, travel or nature. Scenes would be created that best express their key moments of insight and expression. How are people grappling with global ecological instability and in what ways is change taking place? I would interview and collaborate with people from different geographical regions, different professions and from a diversity of socio-economic backgrounds. The output of this research will be a written thesis, and a body of artwork that engages the public through its creation and also through an art exhibition.
I am interested in dialogical practices; like those described by Grant Kester and Suzanne Lacy. In these forms of practice the artist begins from a place of listening, of generating questions and opportunities for dialogue. To expand my method of working into doctoral practice based research, I would analyse the work of other artists in the field of Ecological Art, such as Tim Collins, Reiko Goto and Basia Irland who are engaged in exploring human/ecology relationships through the lens of art. The Harrison’s use of “conversational drift” and metaphor is relevant to the language of the interview and the insight that can come from addressing local and global ecological problems through a creative artistic approach. The philosophy of Emmanuel Levinas is relevant to the concept of alterity and Paulo Freire to the process of listening and including participants in a collaborative or democratic fashion. I am interested in Lucy Lippard’s studies into the value of connecting to place and our local environment and Yale Professor Stephen Kellert’s research into Restorative Environmental Design with a strong vernacular relationship to place. Also relevant is Deep Ecology and the work of Arne Naess.
Work plan summary:
Year One - Intense analysis of relevant texts / practices with the intent to draw out the qualities that best address perception in relationship to ecology. Art Practice will inform and contribute to this research.
Year Two – Continuation of analysis and practice.
Year Three – Written thesis on how art practice can usefully address and inform the relationship of self-identity to the external environment. Exhibition of final artwork.
Friday 27 March 2009
Monday 23 March 2009
Interview with Carin Schwartz
Director of Transition Town Forres
Food supply and the way in which we grow, distribute and consume food in Scotland, are the problems that Carin Schwartz feels are the biggest. Forty years of intensive farming has changed the soil and the way people relate to food. Most people no longer grow their own food or buy from local farmers and instead they shop in huge supermarkets that import food from all over the world. The conventional agriculture methods of using chemical fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides are carbon intensive and pollute the soil and ground water. The chemicals also stay in the food and contribute to illness and disease.
Carin suggested that we need to support local organic farmers and grow our own food. She is working to create allotments, and a farmers market in Forres, as part of the Transition Town movement. She talked about the need to reconnect with seasonal produce and learn to enjoy the foods that grow in Scotland instead of buying exotic produce from overseas.
She spoke about the reaction of overwhelm to global warming and the public's need to learn how to make changes in thier lives. People want to be part of the solution not part of the problem.
The images that Carin spoke about are: a huge field with ten combine harvesters in a V formation using tremendous amounts of energy vs. a pasture with cows grazing outside year round without the need for extra grain.
Food supply and the way in which we grow, distribute and consume food in Scotland, are the problems that Carin Schwartz feels are the biggest. Forty years of intensive farming has changed the soil and the way people relate to food. Most people no longer grow their own food or buy from local farmers and instead they shop in huge supermarkets that import food from all over the world. The conventional agriculture methods of using chemical fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides are carbon intensive and pollute the soil and ground water. The chemicals also stay in the food and contribute to illness and disease.
Carin suggested that we need to support local organic farmers and grow our own food. She is working to create allotments, and a farmers market in Forres, as part of the Transition Town movement. She talked about the need to reconnect with seasonal produce and learn to enjoy the foods that grow in Scotland instead of buying exotic produce from overseas.
She spoke about the reaction of overwhelm to global warming and the public's need to learn how to make changes in thier lives. People want to be part of the solution not part of the problem.
The images that Carin spoke about are: a huge field with ten combine harvesters in a V formation using tremendous amounts of energy vs. a pasture with cows grazing outside year round without the need for extra grain.
Thursday 12 March 2009
Interview with Morag Watson
Education Policy Officer World Wildlife Fund Scotland
Morag Wilson feels that the over consumption of the Earth’s resources is the biggest ecological problem. If everyone in the world consumed like the average Scottish person we would need three planets. She identified the growth economy as contributing to our desire for more. People still judge success through the acquisition of luxury items, bigger house, fancy cars etc.. She spoke about the need to down size, that there is the potential to have a higher quality of life if we create economic and social change.
The WWF is looking at alternative economic models and she has faith in the ingenuity of humans to come up with a system that will be sustainable.
The image that Morag described is a one planet green future. She said it is important to focus on the green and not the grey.
Morag Wilson feels that the over consumption of the Earth’s resources is the biggest ecological problem. If everyone in the world consumed like the average Scottish person we would need three planets. She identified the growth economy as contributing to our desire for more. People still judge success through the acquisition of luxury items, bigger house, fancy cars etc.. She spoke about the need to down size, that there is the potential to have a higher quality of life if we create economic and social change.
The WWF is looking at alternative economic models and she has faith in the ingenuity of humans to come up with a system that will be sustainable.
The image that Morag described is a one planet green future. She said it is important to focus on the green and not the grey.
Monday 9 March 2009
Interview with Dr. Daniel Wahl
Head of Programme Development and Academic Outreach at Findhorn College
Dr. Daniel Wahl believes that the disconnect between humanity and nature is the biggest ecological problem facing Scotland today. Too often, he claims, we do not consider humanity to be part of nature and this lack of connection contributes to our over consumption of natural resources and polluting habits. He traced the source of this disconnection to church influences, the way in which Judeo-Christian religion saw man as having dominion over nature. The Church was also suspicious of those who knew about the healing powers of plants and burned many herbalists at the stake as witches. Science and thinkers such as Descartes furthered the disconnect with views that animals did feel pain and science encouraged a detached objective observer. Embodied sensous experiences of nature were viewed as less intelligent and acceptable.
Antidotes to this disconnect can be found in growing food and in philosophy and experience of Deep Ecology and Ecopsychology. It is necessary for our worldview and values to change in order for us to make practical changes to live more sustainable lifestyles.
The images that came to Daniel were the difference between a natural philosopher with a stick and a backpack on a mountain trail compared with a guy in a white coat in a laboratory looking at nature through a microscope. He also spoke about images of seeds sprouting through asphalt sidewalks or flowers growing through cracks in a wall.
Dr. Daniel Wahl believes that the disconnect between humanity and nature is the biggest ecological problem facing Scotland today. Too often, he claims, we do not consider humanity to be part of nature and this lack of connection contributes to our over consumption of natural resources and polluting habits. He traced the source of this disconnection to church influences, the way in which Judeo-Christian religion saw man as having dominion over nature. The Church was also suspicious of those who knew about the healing powers of plants and burned many herbalists at the stake as witches. Science and thinkers such as Descartes furthered the disconnect with views that animals did feel pain and science encouraged a detached objective observer. Embodied sensous experiences of nature were viewed as less intelligent and acceptable.
Antidotes to this disconnect can be found in growing food and in philosophy and experience of Deep Ecology and Ecopsychology. It is necessary for our worldview and values to change in order for us to make practical changes to live more sustainable lifestyles.
The images that came to Daniel were the difference between a natural philosopher with a stick and a backpack on a mountain trail compared with a guy in a white coat in a laboratory looking at nature through a microscope. He also spoke about images of seeds sprouting through asphalt sidewalks or flowers growing through cracks in a wall.
Monday 2 March 2009
Interview with Alex Walker
Director of Ekopia
Summary:
Alex identified the biggest ecological problem facing Scotland today to be our unsustainable lifestyles. The fact that we are using more resources than the Earth can sustain, is contributing to all ecological problems. He said that Global Warming is not the main problem but instead a symptom of over-consumption of resources due to unsustainable lifestyle habits.
In response to the question, why is this happening? he spoke about the difference between this generation and his father’s generation. In his father’s time the goal was to meet basic needs and live comfortably, there was no awareness of the ecological consequences of consumption. Now that the majority of people in the UK enjoy a comfortable lifestyle, he says, we are still caught up in trying to consume more, live in bigger homes, or buy the latest gadgets. He said that there is evidence that after a certain level of prosperity, in which our needs for housing, food, clothing, leisure activities, and friendship have been met, happiness no longer increases. He said that now, instead of continuing to buy more, it is time to be satisfied with what we have.
Alex conjectured that we have most of the solutions we need to solve this problem. We have technologies to supply renewable energy and the examples of Ecovillages such as the Findhorn Foundation where the community generates more electricity from the wind than it uses. It is time to limit unnecessary spending and focus on living well within the means of the Earth.
The images that Alex spoke about was the difference between a huge mall filled with chain stores versus a farmers market or high street with unique shops selling locally produced products.
Summary:
Alex identified the biggest ecological problem facing Scotland today to be our unsustainable lifestyles. The fact that we are using more resources than the Earth can sustain, is contributing to all ecological problems. He said that Global Warming is not the main problem but instead a symptom of over-consumption of resources due to unsustainable lifestyle habits.
In response to the question, why is this happening? he spoke about the difference between this generation and his father’s generation. In his father’s time the goal was to meet basic needs and live comfortably, there was no awareness of the ecological consequences of consumption. Now that the majority of people in the UK enjoy a comfortable lifestyle, he says, we are still caught up in trying to consume more, live in bigger homes, or buy the latest gadgets. He said that there is evidence that after a certain level of prosperity, in which our needs for housing, food, clothing, leisure activities, and friendship have been met, happiness no longer increases. He said that now, instead of continuing to buy more, it is time to be satisfied with what we have.
Alex conjectured that we have most of the solutions we need to solve this problem. We have technologies to supply renewable energy and the examples of Ecovillages such as the Findhorn Foundation where the community generates more electricity from the wind than it uses. It is time to limit unnecessary spending and focus on living well within the means of the Earth.
The images that Alex spoke about was the difference between a huge mall filled with chain stores versus a farmers market or high street with unique shops selling locally produced products.
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