🌡️Art and Climate Change Unit 14 – Art and Climate Change: Future Perspectives

Key Concepts and Terminology

• Anthropocene refers to the current geological epoch characterized by significant human impact on Earth's geology and ecosystems
• Climate art encompasses various artistic practices that engage with the issue of climate change, raising awareness and inspiring action
• Eco-art is a broader term that includes environmentally conscious art addressing ecological concerns beyond climate change
• Sustainability in art involves using environmentally friendly materials, reducing waste, and promoting sustainable practices
• Cli-fi (climate fiction) is a literary genre that explores the potential consequences of climate change through speculative narratives
• Solastalgia describes the emotional distress caused by environmental change and the loss of familiar landscapes
• Greenwashing refers to the practice of falsely promoting environmentally friendly aspects of products or practices to mislead consumers
• Carbon footprint represents the total amount of greenhouse gas emissions generated by an individual, event, or organization

Historical Context of Art and Climate Change

• Environmental art emerged in the 1960s and 1970s, coinciding with the rise of the modern environmental movement
  • Early examples include land art (Robert Smithson's "Spiral Jetty") and ecological art (Helen and Newton Harrison's "Survival Pieces")
• Climate change became a prominent global concern in the late 20th century, with the formation of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in 1988
• The Kyoto Protocol, adopted in 1997, was the first international agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions
• In the early 2000s, artists began to directly address climate change, such as Eve Mosher's "HighWaterLine" project (2007) marking potential flood levels in New York City
• The Paris Agreement, signed in 2015, aimed to limit global temperature rise and adapt to the impacts of climate change
• Recent years have seen a surge in climate-related art, reflecting the urgency of the crisis and the need for collective action

Current Climate Crisis and Artistic Response

• The Earth's average surface temperature has risen by approximately 1.1°C since the pre-industrial era, primarily due to human activities
• Rising sea levels, more frequent and intense extreme weather events, and ecosystem disruptions are among the observable consequences of climate change
• Artists are responding to the climate crisis through various mediums, including painting, sculpture, installation, performance, and digital art
• Olafur Eliasson's "Ice Watch" (2014) transported glacial ice to public spaces, allowing viewers to witness the melting process firsthand
• Zaria Forman's hyperrealistic pastel drawings depict the beauty and fragility of ice landscapes threatened by climate change
• Jill Pelto's "Glaciogenic Art" series incorporates scientific data into watercolor paintings, visualizing the impacts of climate change on glaciers
• Collaborative projects like "The Canary Project" (2006-2009) brought together artists, scientists, and writers to explore climate change through exhibitions and public programs

Emerging Trends in Climate Art

• Participatory and community-based art projects engage the public in climate change discourse and action
  • Mary Mattingly's "Swale" (2016) is a floating food forest that invites community participation and education about sustainable food systems
• Speculative and futures-oriented art explores potential scenarios and solutions for a climate-changed world
• Bio-art and living materials are being used to create works that respond to environmental conditions and raise awareness about ecological issues
  • Kat Austen's "The Coral Empathy Device" (2019) uses living coral to create an immersive experience that fosters empathy for marine ecosystems
• Virtual and augmented reality technologies are being employed to create immersive experiences that communicate the impacts of climate change
• Data visualization and sonification translate climate data into accessible and emotionally resonant forms
  • Nathalie Miebach's "Weather Scores" series translates meteorological data into musical scores and sculptural forms

Interdisciplinary Approaches and Collaborations

• Artists are collaborating with scientists, environmentalists, and communities to create works that integrate diverse perspectives and knowledge
• Transdisciplinary projects bring together experts from various fields to address the complexities of climate change
  • "The Anthropocene Project" (2013-2014) at the Haus der Kulturen der Welt in Berlin brought together artists, scholars, and scientists to explore the implications of the Anthropocene
• Art-science residencies and collaborations foster the exchange of ideas and methodologies between artists and researchers
• Collaborative platforms and networks, such as the "Climarte" initiative in Australia, facilitate the sharing of resources and best practices among climate-engaged artists
• Community-based collaborations involve local residents in the creation and presentation of climate-related art projects
  • "The Fargo Project" (2010-ongoing) in Fargo, North Dakota, engages the community in the transformation of a stormwater basin into an ecological art park

Future Scenarios and Speculative Art

• Speculative art imagines possible futures shaped by climate change, exploring both dystopian and utopian visions
• Climate fiction (cli-fi) novels, such as Kim Stanley Robinson's "New York 2140" (2017), envision life in a climate-changed world
• Afrofuturist and Indigenous futurist art challenge dominant narratives and propose alternative visions for a sustainable future
  • Wanuri Kahiu's short film "Pumzi" (2009) imagines a post-apocalyptic world where water is scarce and controlled by a totalitarian regime
• Speculative design projects, such as "The Billion Oyster Pavilion" by SCAPE Studio (2019), propose innovative solutions for climate adaptation and mitigation
• Futures thinking and scenario planning workshops engage communities in imagining and preparing for different climate futures
• Speculative art can serve as a tool for policy-making and decision-making, helping to visualize the consequences of different courses of action

Technological Innovations in Climate Art

• Digital technologies, such as data visualization and interactive installations, are being used to communicate complex climate data in engaging ways
  • "The Cosmic Quilt" by Elena Soterakis (2019) is an interactive installation that visualizes climate data through a tactile and immersive experience
• Renewable energy technologies are being integrated into art installations and public spaces
  • "Solar Equation" by Rafael Lozano-Hemmer (2010) is a large-scale public art installation that simulates the sun using solar-powered LEDs
• Biotechnology and synthetic biology are being explored as mediums for creating living artworks that respond to environmental conditions
• Blockchain technology is being used to create decentralized platforms for environmental data sharing and carbon offset trading
  • "The Blockchain for Climate Foundation" is developing a global carbon market using blockchain technology to facilitate the trading of carbon credits
• Artificial intelligence and machine learning are being applied to climate data analysis and visualization
  • "The Drowned World" by Tega Brain and Julian Oliver (2019) uses machine learning to generate images of a flooded future based on current climate projections

Impact and Activism Through Art

• Climate art can raise awareness, provoke emotional responses, and inspire action on climate change
• Activist art directly confronts political and corporate powers, demanding accountability and systemic change
  • The "Extinction Rebellion" movement uses creative protest and civil disobedience to demand urgent action on the climate crisis
• Public art installations and interventions can disrupt everyday spaces and engage passersby in climate change discourse
  • "The Tempestry Project" (2017-ongoing) invites participants to create knitted or crocheted visualizations of local temperature data, sparking conversations about climate change
• Art can influence public opinion and policy by humanizing the abstract issue of climate change and making it more tangible and relatable
• Artistic practices can model sustainable behaviors and inspire lifestyle changes, such as reducing consumption and adopting eco-friendly habits
• Art can foster a sense of community and collective action, mobilizing people around shared values and goals related to climate justice and resilience
  • "The People's Climate March" (2014) brought together over 400,000 people in New York City, with artists and activists collaborating on creative displays and performances