Re-imagining Ecological Perception, a practice led enquiry through art into the relationship between self-identity and ecology

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.