Krisanne Baker
'Chattahoochee River Water Column' - Water Samples and Riverside Flotsam Collected on Friday, March 26, 2010
The ‘Water Column’ series are hollow grids of site-specific water samples and river detrius collected from drinking water sources of the place/community in which the work is displayed. Each column is constructed from repurposed acrylic (2m. by 2m. square by 5m. high) exposing the origins of the communities’ drinking water – this inevitably includes flotsam and jetsam detrius as a signifier of human disregard and practices in caring for our most precious of resources. The grid of plastic enclosing the water samples signifies the human system/ or need to contain nature within systems of harmful materials. (Photo: ‘Chattahoochee River Water Column’ (source water samples: Atlanta, Georgia, USA).
Artist's Statement -
Entropy into Regeneration: ‘REGENERENTROPIC’
Robert Smithon’s concept of entropy -- or the spiraling process of things falling apart -- and the way our culture continues to layer refuse conversely inspires my work toward sustainability in our environment and culture. By engaging the viewer in an internal dialogue on the results of unsustainable cultural practices, the new work explores a theme of regeneration; or how we might reverse the energy in an entropic situation into one of renewal or sustainable growth. I like to call this new term ‘regenerentropic’. The meaning of this multi-media work is not embodied solely by the objects, but by the concept to improve and care for our ecologies, as well as begin a dialogue and inspire action between the work and the viewing public.
Today, the water crises are complicated and are often governed by myriad politics and privitization of waters. In ‘Commonwealth’, Hardt and Negri encapsulate my concepts by saying ‘The notion of the common does not position humanity separate from nature, as either its exploiter or its custodian, but focuses rather on the practices of interaction, care and cohabitation in a common world, promoting the beneficial and limiting the detrimental forms of the common.” In order to start, Baker says, “We can all begin by making small changes in our lives, person-by-person it’s possible to turn the tide of environmental degradation.”
Water is our lifeblood.
My work as an ecological artist and activist conceptualizes concern for humanities’ unsustainable practices and the vulnerability of water -- from the local to the global. We are drawn to its danger and of great necessity to sustain our lives. We are seduced by waters' beauty; mesmerized and awed by its' power or soothing meditative qualities, and have taken it for granted for far too long. Faced with environmental uncertainties, we need to rethink assumptions concerning conditions within reach of and beyond our own experiences. It's necessary to remember the limits of the give and take system between this planet and its inhabitants--that person-by-person, it is possible to turn the tide of our current failing environment and humanity.
Entropy into Regeneration: ‘REGENERENTROPIC’
Robert Smithon’s concept of entropy -- or the spiraling process of things falling apart -- and the way our culture continues to layer refuse conversely inspires my work toward sustainability in our environment and culture. By engaging the viewer in an internal dialogue on the results of unsustainable cultural practices, the new work explores a theme of regeneration; or how we might reverse the energy in an entropic situation into one of renewal or sustainable growth. I like to call this new term ‘regenerentropic’. The meaning of this multi-media work is not embodied solely by the objects, but by the concept to improve and care for our ecologies, as well as begin a dialogue and inspire action between the work and the viewing public.
Today, the water crises are complicated and are often governed by myriad politics and privitization of waters. In ‘Commonwealth’, Hardt and Negri encapsulate my concepts by saying ‘The notion of the common does not position humanity separate from nature, as either its exploiter or its custodian, but focuses rather on the practices of interaction, care and cohabitation in a common world, promoting the beneficial and limiting the detrimental forms of the common.” In order to start, Baker says, “We can all begin by making small changes in our lives, person-by-person it’s possible to turn the tide of environmental degradation.”
Water is our lifeblood.
My work as an ecological artist and activist conceptualizes concern for humanities’ unsustainable practices and the vulnerability of water -- from the local to the global. We are drawn to its danger and of great necessity to sustain our lives. We are seduced by waters' beauty; mesmerized and awed by its' power or soothing meditative qualities, and have taken it for granted for far too long. Faced with environmental uncertainties, we need to rethink assumptions concerning conditions within reach of and beyond our own experiences. It's necessary to remember the limits of the give and take system between this planet and its inhabitants--that person-by-person, it is possible to turn the tide of our current failing environment and humanity.
Upstream to Downstream (In Our Bloodstreams)
Content Aware Anxieties short - the dangers of fracking
Biography -
Krisanne Baker grew up on Cape Cod sailing myriad miles of New England waters with her father. Her love for the ocean and our connection to it as the basis of life is evident in the digital video ‘Upstream to Downstream (In Our Bloodstreams)’. She first encountered video production, but trained as a painter, at Rhode Island School of Design in 1982. Baker’s graduate work at Vermont College of Fine Arts forged her love for the natural environment with her art. Now an Ecological Art Activist, her multi-media sculptures, drawings, and digital media works are specifically concerned with the sustainability of water quality, availability, and the rights of all creatures on this water planet. For more than 20 years, Baker has lived and continues to work on the Coast of Maine.
Krisanne Baker grew up on Cape Cod sailing myriad miles of New England waters with her father. Her love for the ocean and our connection to it as the basis of life is evident in the digital video ‘Upstream to Downstream (In Our Bloodstreams)’. She first encountered video production, but trained as a painter, at Rhode Island School of Design in 1982. Baker’s graduate work at Vermont College of Fine Arts forged her love for the natural environment with her art. Now an Ecological Art Activist, her multi-media sculptures, drawings, and digital media works are specifically concerned with the sustainability of water quality, availability, and the rights of all creatures on this water planet. For more than 20 years, Baker has lived and continues to work on the Coast of Maine.