Eco-Artists & Green Art
"...artists and philosophers and those whom the actions of the world has elevated and made keen, do not live in isolation but breathe a common air, and catch light and heat from each other's thoughts" (Fuller, Killian & Walker 1970, p. 159-60).
El Anatsui
El Anatsui is one of the leading artists of our time. Emerging from the vibrant post-independence art movements of 1960s and 70s West Africa, he has gone on to receive widespread international acclaim for his sculptural experiments with media, form and tradition.
Throughout a distinguished forty-year career as both sculptor and teacher – he was Professor of Sculpture and Departmental Head at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka – El Anatsui has addressed a vast range of social, political and historical concerns, and embraced an equally diverse range of media and processes. Using anything from chainsaws and welding torches to this intricate and meditative 'sewing' process, he has shaped materials ranging from cassava graters and railway sleepers to driftwood, iron nails and obituary notice printing plates etc. Since 1993 he has worked with the October Gallery, London. His sculptures have been collected by major international museums, from the British Museum to the Centre Pompidou, the de Young Museum, San Francisco, the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, the museum Kunst Palast, Düsseldorf, and many other prestigious institutions besides, El Anatsui is today justly recognised as one of the most original and compelling contemporary artists of the day.
El Anatsui's series of installations have provoked a frenzy of international attention in recent years, with institutions and audiences clamouring for more of these sumptuous, mesmerising works made from thousands of aluminium bottle tops and forming magnificent wall sculptures.
Throughout a distinguished forty-year career as both sculptor and teacher – he was Professor of Sculpture and Departmental Head at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka – El Anatsui has addressed a vast range of social, political and historical concerns, and embraced an equally diverse range of media and processes. Using anything from chainsaws and welding torches to this intricate and meditative 'sewing' process, he has shaped materials ranging from cassava graters and railway sleepers to driftwood, iron nails and obituary notice printing plates etc. Since 1993 he has worked with the October Gallery, London. His sculptures have been collected by major international museums, from the British Museum to the Centre Pompidou, the de Young Museum, San Francisco, the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, the museum Kunst Palast, Düsseldorf, and many other prestigious institutions besides, El Anatsui is today justly recognised as one of the most original and compelling contemporary artists of the day.
El Anatsui's series of installations have provoked a frenzy of international attention in recent years, with institutions and audiences clamouring for more of these sumptuous, mesmerising works made from thousands of aluminium bottle tops and forming magnificent wall sculptures.
Beach Plastic (Richard and Judith Lang)
In 1999 we started collecting plastic debris—carrying it away by the bagful— all from Kehoe Beach, a remote stretch of the Point Reyes National Seashore, in Northern California. Certain items would catch our interest: milk jug lids, combs, toy soldiers, disposable lighters, cheese spreaders from lunch snack packs. We were attracted to things that would show by their numbers and commonness what is happening in the oceans around the world.
The plastic we continue to find is not left by visitors; it is washing up from the ocean. Back in our studios we clean, sort and categorize the pieces according to color and kind. We use the plastic to make artworks including large sculptures, installations, photo tableaus and jewelry.
We are a collaborative team. Our love of nature is combined with our interest in science to produce an on-going series of art works about the oceans and the environment. While the content of our work has a message about the spoiling of the natural world by the industrial world, our final intent is aesthetic and celebratory. (About the Artists)
The plastic we continue to find is not left by visitors; it is washing up from the ocean. Back in our studios we clean, sort and categorize the pieces according to color and kind. We use the plastic to make artworks including large sculptures, installations, photo tableaus and jewelry.
We are a collaborative team. Our love of nature is combined with our interest in science to produce an on-going series of art works about the oceans and the environment. While the content of our work has a message about the spoiling of the natural world by the industrial world, our final intent is aesthetic and celebratory. (About the Artists)
Susan Benarcik
Part printmaker and part sculptor, Benarcik takes elemental forms of the natural and man made world into her studio and carefully transforms them by stacking, stringing, layering, knotting, and weaving them into dimensional sculpture for public and private spaces.
In the hands of this artist, simple materials become contemplative compositions for interior and exterior application that are highly tactile and evocative. They evidence a fondness and respect for the natural world, delight and bring equilibrium to our senses by allowing the natural world become part of our daily cognitive experience. (Excerpt from About)
In the hands of this artist, simple materials become contemplative compositions for interior and exterior application that are highly tactile and evocative. They evidence a fondness and respect for the natural world, delight and bring equilibrium to our senses by allowing the natural world become part of our daily cognitive experience. (Excerpt from About)
Joseph Beuys
Beuys envisioned projects occurring throughout the world inspired by his 7000 Oaks. In conjunction with the Walker Art Center's exhibition of Beuys' multiples from the permanent collection, the Walker has undertaken a tree-planting project in the spirit of 7000 Oaks.
The Walker's three-part tree-planting project is being coordinated by independent curator Todd Bockley with support from the Visual Arts Department, as well as the Education Department's Teen Programs and Community Programs.
The Walker's three-part tree-planting project is being coordinated by independent curator Todd Bockley with support from the Visual Arts Department, as well as the Education Department's Teen Programs and Community Programs.
Christopher Boyer at Kestrel Aerial
Christopher Boyer - The aerial view has been a cornerstone of my land ethic ever since I earned my pilot's license during a Master’s program in fluvial geomorphology, hydrology and political science. In the classroom, I learned the complex formulas describing erosion, deposition, shear stress, and sediment transport. In the air, I saw these complex relationships sculpted onto Oregon’s coastal, mountain, and desert landscapes. More importantly, I learned about the context, and the interconnectedness of natural and human landscapes.
Robert Bradford
Robert Bradford of the United Kingdom uses old, discarded, and trashed toys to create sculptures in vibrant colors and textures including this sculpture, 'Sniff One' . PLASTIC TOY SCULPTURE SERIES
For a long time now I have preferred to use materials that are not bland i.e. have some kind of history of weathering or use. One day about four years ago out in the studio I was looking into my childrens box of outgrown / discarded toys which happened to be stored in the same building and responded to the random collection of colours shapes and forms they made. I figured that if I could find a way of putting them together to constitute a larger form they would have great potential as larger scale sculpture.
Over the next while I experimented with two other construction methods (which both had their downsides) - before one day about a year ago in frustration I tried putting a screw through one toy and then many others. To my surprise most didn’t crack or shatter and the new series has been largely based around and developed from that fact. The toys also provide a moving history of fads and fashions as they pass through the media and our awareness temporarily significant and then forgotten.
Public reaction to the sculptures has been largely very positive (in some cases gleeful)- often children drag their parents to come and look at the pieces and then a whole sequence of recognition and recollection usually begins, naming the various toys and recalling the times and circumstances of their use. There is usually some fascination with the sculptures, the individual toys used and with the process of their acquisition and construction. Sometimes there is outright laughter. There is usually a whole process of going back and forth between looking at the sculptures as a totality and the individual parts from which they are made (which of course is my intention). Some people of course just say they are rubbish which of course is perfectly true! There is also often talk about consumerism waste and recycling, which whilst not being my central concern is also in my view positive when it occurs. Some find the sculptures beautiful/ curious/ scary/ weird/ emotional and etc. (which considering all they are really are , is bits of what is usually seen as trash) is great. (Biography)
For a long time now I have preferred to use materials that are not bland i.e. have some kind of history of weathering or use. One day about four years ago out in the studio I was looking into my childrens box of outgrown / discarded toys which happened to be stored in the same building and responded to the random collection of colours shapes and forms they made. I figured that if I could find a way of putting them together to constitute a larger form they would have great potential as larger scale sculpture.
Over the next while I experimented with two other construction methods (which both had their downsides) - before one day about a year ago in frustration I tried putting a screw through one toy and then many others. To my surprise most didn’t crack or shatter and the new series has been largely based around and developed from that fact. The toys also provide a moving history of fads and fashions as they pass through the media and our awareness temporarily significant and then forgotten.
Public reaction to the sculptures has been largely very positive (in some cases gleeful)- often children drag their parents to come and look at the pieces and then a whole sequence of recognition and recollection usually begins, naming the various toys and recalling the times and circumstances of their use. There is usually some fascination with the sculptures, the individual toys used and with the process of their acquisition and construction. Sometimes there is outright laughter. There is usually a whole process of going back and forth between looking at the sculptures as a totality and the individual parts from which they are made (which of course is my intention). Some people of course just say they are rubbish which of course is perfectly true! There is also often talk about consumerism waste and recycling, which whilst not being my central concern is also in my view positive when it occurs. Some find the sculptures beautiful/ curious/ scary/ weird/ emotional and etc. (which considering all they are really are , is bits of what is usually seen as trash) is great. (Biography)
Mark Castator
Boulder-based artist Mark Castator (FB) creates planets and moons from hundreds of small scrap metal pieces called “droppings” leftover form other sculpting projects. He’s created dozens of these incredible spheroid objects for this series entitled Moons of Jupiter.
Chasing Ice, National Geographic Film
SYNOPSIS - In the spring of 2005, acclaimed environmental photographer James Balog headed to the Arctic on a tricky assignment for National Geographic: to capture images to help tell the story of the Earth’s changing climate. Even with a scientific upbringing, Balog had been a skeptic about climate change. But that first trip north opened his eyes to the biggest story in human history and sparked a challenge within him that would put his career and his very well-being at risk.
Chasing Ice is the story of one man’s mission to change the tide of history by gathering undeniable evidence of our changing planet. Within months of that first trip to Iceland, the photographer conceived the boldest expedition of his life: The Extreme Ice Survey. With a band of young adventurers in tow, Balog began deploying revolutionary time-lapse cameras across the brutal Arctic to capture a multi-year record of the world’s changing glaciers.
As the debate polarizes America and the intensity of natural disasters ramps up globally, Balog finds himself at the end of his tether. Battling untested technology in subzero conditions, he comes face to face with his own mortality. It takes years for Balog to see the fruits of his labor. His hauntingly beautiful videos compress years into seconds and capture ancient mountains of ice in motion as they disappear at a breathtaking rate. Chasing Ice depicts a photographer trying to deliver evidence and hope to our carbon-powered planet.
Chasing Ice is the story of one man’s mission to change the tide of history by gathering undeniable evidence of our changing planet. Within months of that first trip to Iceland, the photographer conceived the boldest expedition of his life: The Extreme Ice Survey. With a band of young adventurers in tow, Balog began deploying revolutionary time-lapse cameras across the brutal Arctic to capture a multi-year record of the world’s changing glaciers.
As the debate polarizes America and the intensity of natural disasters ramps up globally, Balog finds himself at the end of his tether. Battling untested technology in subzero conditions, he comes face to face with his own mortality. It takes years for Balog to see the fruits of his labor. His hauntingly beautiful videos compress years into seconds and capture ancient mountains of ice in motion as they disappear at a breathtaking rate. Chasing Ice depicts a photographer trying to deliver evidence and hope to our carbon-powered planet.
Mel Chin
Mel Chin was born in Houston, Texas in 1951. Chin’s art, which is both analytical and poetic, evades easy classification. He is known for the broad range of approaches in his art, including works that require multi-disciplinary, collaborative teamwork and works that conjoin cross-cultural aesthetics with complex ideas.
Chin also insinuates art into unlikely places, including destroyed homes, toxic landfills, and even popular television, investigating how art can provoke greater social awareness and responsibility. He developed Revival Field (1989-ongoing), a project that has been a pioneer in the field of “green remediation,” the use of plants to remove toxic, heavy metals from the soil.
Revival Field began as a conceptual artwork with the intent to sculpt a site’s ecology. 1993 marked a successful conclusion to the first phase of this collaborative effort. The initial experiment, located at Pig’s Eye Landfill, a State Superfund site in St. Paul, Minnesota, was a replicated field test using special hyperaccumulator plants to extract heavy metals from contaminated soil. Scientific analysis of biomass samples from this field confirmed the potential of “Green Remediation” as an on-site, low-tech alternative to current costly and unsatisfactory remediation methods. Despite soil conditions adverse to metal uptake, a variety of Thlaspi, the test plant with the highest capacity for hyperaccumulation, was found to have significant concentration of cadmium in its leaves and stems.
Chin also insinuates art into unlikely places, including destroyed homes, toxic landfills, and even popular television, investigating how art can provoke greater social awareness and responsibility. He developed Revival Field (1989-ongoing), a project that has been a pioneer in the field of “green remediation,” the use of plants to remove toxic, heavy metals from the soil.
Revival Field began as a conceptual artwork with the intent to sculpt a site’s ecology. 1993 marked a successful conclusion to the first phase of this collaborative effort. The initial experiment, located at Pig’s Eye Landfill, a State Superfund site in St. Paul, Minnesota, was a replicated field test using special hyperaccumulator plants to extract heavy metals from contaminated soil. Scientific analysis of biomass samples from this field confirmed the potential of “Green Remediation” as an on-site, low-tech alternative to current costly and unsatisfactory remediation methods. Despite soil conditions adverse to metal uptake, a variety of Thlaspi, the test plant with the highest capacity for hyperaccumulation, was found to have significant concentration of cadmium in its leaves and stems.
Jacq Chorlton, Scultor & Artist
Once a year I enter a sculpture into the Rockingham castaway Awards, a sculpture competition held on the beach. The emphasis is on the 3 ‘R’s and materials should be mainly recycled or recyclable.
Two years ago I entered a 4 metre round octopus made entirely out of woven plastic bags entitle ‘20,000 bags Under the Sea’ which won the Peoples Choice Award and last year my sculpture ‘Bloom’ won a major award. It was 17 jellyfish made from old hanging baskets covered in milk bottle plastic.
Two years ago I entered a 4 metre round octopus made entirely out of woven plastic bags entitle ‘20,000 bags Under the Sea’ which won the Peoples Choice Award and last year my sculpture ‘Bloom’ won a major award. It was 17 jellyfish made from old hanging baskets covered in milk bottle plastic.
Mary Croteau
Artist Statement - The function of the visual in consumer culture is to overwhelm and imprint, rendering us passive vessels for received wisdom. Vast databases of disconnected facts, driven by arcane mathematical formulae rather than by a creative or logical progression of thought, do more to confuse and disconnect us from the information we need to control our world than they do to facilitate it. My work is an attempt to counter this trend toward disembodied “intelligence.”
I firmly believe in the power of the visual, and my work is my voice: a social critique and a visual challenge to all the cultural detritus we are force-fed every day. My art is about looking at things in a slightly different way, and is intended to undermine the status quo with wit and humor.
I work both large and small, from installations to artist books, and use a variety of media, from traditional painting to photography to xerox and assemblage. The critique largely determines the presentation.
I firmly believe in the power of the visual, and my work is my voice: a social critique and a visual challenge to all the cultural detritus we are force-fed every day. My art is about looking at things in a slightly different way, and is intended to undermine the status quo with wit and humor.
I work both large and small, from installations to artist books, and use a variety of media, from traditional painting to photography to xerox and assemblage. The critique largely determines the presentation.
John Dahlsen
I see that by making this art, it is a way of sharing my messages for the need to care for our environment with a broad audience. I feel that even if just a fraction of the viewing audience were to experience a shift in their awareness and consciousness about the environment and art, through being exposed to this artwork then it would be worth it. This stems from the fact that I believe presently humanity is at a critical point in time, with our planet currently existing in a fragile ecological state, with global warming hastening unheard of changes, all amplifying the fact that we need all the help we can get.
Alexandre Dang
Artist’s commitment: Alexandre Dang comes originally from a scientific background (Engineer of the École Polytechnique (Paris) and of the École Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées (Paris)). Convinced of the need to raise awareness of the potential of environmental friendly technologies (eco-technologies) and sustainable development, he developed his artistic creation often incorporating solar energy as source into his kinetic art works. Through his work, he contributes educating the general public on contemporary themes which represent a major challenge for the future.
Alexandre Dang has developed a pedagogic aspect to his sustainable art, using it to educate young people about the potential of eco-friendly technologies with a focus on renewable energy. He has founded Solar Solidarity International (a non-profit international association) to raise awareness on the potential of renewable sources of energy and to support solar electrification of schools in developing countries.
The “Dancing Solar Flowers” have become an iconic work of the commitment of the artist. They have toured around the world: USA, China, Singapore, South Korea, Mexico, Brazil, Lebanon, Morocco, Belgium, The Netherlands, Luxembourg, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Denmark, Poland, Hungary, Slovenia, Estonia, and Romania…
Alexandre Dang has developed a pedagogic aspect to his sustainable art, using it to educate young people about the potential of eco-friendly technologies with a focus on renewable energy. He has founded Solar Solidarity International (a non-profit international association) to raise awareness on the potential of renewable sources of energy and to support solar electrification of schools in developing countries.
The “Dancing Solar Flowers” have become an iconic work of the commitment of the artist. They have toured around the world: USA, China, Singapore, South Korea, Mexico, Brazil, Lebanon, Morocco, Belgium, The Netherlands, Luxembourg, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Denmark, Poland, Hungary, Slovenia, Estonia, and Romania…
Scott Denholm
Artist About Scott Denholm: Hi I'm scotty, and I might just be one of the worlds only eco artists, specializing in traditional landscape and seascape oil paintings using traditional earth friendly materials.
I'm an Australian artist living on the Sunshine Coast with an eco friendly conscious and I love to create paintings, photography and websites with as little impact on the environment as possible.
I've been studying and designing websites for some 10 years and painting the Australian landscape for much longer. Infact I started painting traditional landscapes at the ripe old age of 10 and everything else has grown from that. The combination of living in small country towns as a child and my fascination with the Australian landscape lead me on the eco path from an early age. Add to that, been part of the Australia Zoo webteam as the Website Designer for the last 5 years which has opened my eyes, broadened my horizons and put me at the forefront of the environmental movement.
Outside of working for a leading conservation organisation, I volunteer locally and abroad for various environmental and conservation projects, rebuilding rainforest habitat and photographing some of the worlds most unique wildlife.
As an artist I have an opportunity to spread my love for the environment through my own creative outlets. And as a professional website designer I have an opportunity to provide my services to like-minded eco conscious individuals and organisations who are looking to build a website with the minimal footprint impact.
Scott Denholm's Work Gallery
I'm an Australian artist living on the Sunshine Coast with an eco friendly conscious and I love to create paintings, photography and websites with as little impact on the environment as possible.
I've been studying and designing websites for some 10 years and painting the Australian landscape for much longer. Infact I started painting traditional landscapes at the ripe old age of 10 and everything else has grown from that. The combination of living in small country towns as a child and my fascination with the Australian landscape lead me on the eco path from an early age. Add to that, been part of the Australia Zoo webteam as the Website Designer for the last 5 years which has opened my eyes, broadened my horizons and put me at the forefront of the environmental movement.
Outside of working for a leading conservation organisation, I volunteer locally and abroad for various environmental and conservation projects, rebuilding rainforest habitat and photographing some of the worlds most unique wildlife.
As an artist I have an opportunity to spread my love for the environment through my own creative outlets. And as a professional website designer I have an opportunity to provide my services to like-minded eco conscious individuals and organisations who are looking to build a website with the minimal footprint impact.
Scott Denholm's Work Gallery
Nichole Dextras
Dextras is an environmental artist working in a multitude of media including sculpture, interactive public installation and photography. Nicole Dextras is a graduate of the Emily Carr University of Art in Vancouver, BC Canada, where she has been a sessional teacher for the past 8 years. She has created art installations in Mongolia, Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Dawson City YT and Bellevue WA. Dextras has recently returned from her participation in Land Art Mongolia, where 20 international artists created works in the Gobi Desert. In 2010 she exhibited photographs and created outdoor ephemeral installations for her Signs of Change, exhibit at the Grunt Gallery in Vancouver, BC. During 2010 Olympics, Dextras presented The False Creek Bride, a storytelling event based on sustainable practices for the Winterruption Festival, Granville Island, Vancouver, BC. In 2009 she exhibited at the Richard Levy Gallery in Albuquerque New Mexico as part of the city-wide Land Art Festival, at the Wall Space Gallery in Seattle and at the Port Angeles WA, Outdoor Art Park. In 2008, she was artist in residence at the VanDusen Botanical Garden in Vancouver and at the I-Park Artist Enclave in Connecticut. She has been awarded both Canada Council and BC Arts Council grants and her work has been published in numerous publications such as ELLE Canada magazine and My Green City, published by Gestalten, Berlin. (Excerpt from Artist's Bio)
Signs of Change Exhibition - Signs of Change was a solo exhibition of photographs of past ice text projects plus an offsite component of new words made of ice, which were left to melt in the urban landscape on a weekly basis. Each word was pertinent to the site and spoke to our need to subjugate nature and to dominate the environment. At the end of the project I asked people to make a sentence from the words such as: I consume logic and justify denial.
Signs of Change Exhibition - Signs of Change was a solo exhibition of photographs of past ice text projects plus an offsite component of new words made of ice, which were left to melt in the urban landscape on a weekly basis. Each word was pertinent to the site and spoke to our need to subjugate nature and to dominate the environment. At the end of the project I asked people to make a sentence from the words such as: I consume logic and justify denial.
Peter Dombrovskis
Peter Dombrovskis was born in Wiesbaden, Germany in 1945 of Latvian parents. He emigrated to Australia in 1950 with his mother Adele and started taking photographs in the 1960's. He was strongly influenced by Lithuanian-Australian pioneer, conservationist and photographer Olegas Truchanas, who became a father figure to him. He was equally influenced by landscape photographers of mid-century America such as Ansel Adams, Edward and Brett Weston and Eliot Porter.
Some of Peter's photographs have been instrumental in the conservation of various Tasmanian wild places including the prevention of the damming of the Franklin River. Peter's works have been published over 35 years in the form of books, calendars. cards and posters, and his wife Liz continued publishing until July 2009 through their company West Wind Press Pty Ltd.
Peter's photography has now moved to a new phase of public access. The National Library of Australia has acquired the archive of Peter's transparencies so that future generations may view and enjoy his photography.
Some of Peter's photographs have been instrumental in the conservation of various Tasmanian wild places including the prevention of the damming of the Franklin River. Peter's works have been published over 35 years in the form of books, calendars. cards and posters, and his wife Liz continued publishing until July 2009 through their company West Wind Press Pty Ltd.
Peter's photography has now moved to a new phase of public access. The National Library of Australia has acquired the archive of Peter's transparencies so that future generations may view and enjoy his photography.
Bright Ugochukwu Eke
Nigerian born environmental artist, Bright Ugochukwu Eke's
medium is water, which links all humans and their environments. Inspired by a skin infection he developed from acid rain caused by oil companies’ pollution in his native Nigeria, Eke first created a large installation comprised of small plastic sachets filled with acidified water suspended like poisoned raindrops frozen midair.
Bright Eke’s site-specific works integrate the physical and social environment by using materials found locally and working with locals. Often the work has an ecological and exemplary benefit, recycling the plastic bottles that clutter the global environment. Eke explains his work as being as much about the environment as from the environment, as much about the public as from it; as much about culture and society as from it. Like the water cycle itself, his works are potentially recyclable.
Blog
medium is water, which links all humans and their environments. Inspired by a skin infection he developed from acid rain caused by oil companies’ pollution in his native Nigeria, Eke first created a large installation comprised of small plastic sachets filled with acidified water suspended like poisoned raindrops frozen midair.
Bright Eke’s site-specific works integrate the physical and social environment by using materials found locally and working with locals. Often the work has an ecological and exemplary benefit, recycling the plastic bottles that clutter the global environment. Eke explains his work as being as much about the environment as from the environment, as much about the public as from it; as much about culture and society as from it. Like the water cycle itself, his works are potentially recyclable.
Blog
Zac Freeman
Artist Statement - My work focuses primarily on portraits created by assembling found objects, disposable goods, and the leftover trash of things we consume in our society. I glue the bits of junk to a wooden substrate, a canvas, which forms the image of a portrait. The result is a stunningly realistic portrait at a distance and an interesting array of objects up close.
I am interested in communicating through visual representation in apparent 2-dimensional space and also communicating through the actual objects used for the medium in 3-dimensional space.
It is very important to me that I incorporate the actual objects into the art as opposed to a picture or rendition of it because it better expresses the intention of the artwork. I feel the junk is more powerful being present. It is an actual thing to be reckoned with that existed in this time and place and carries energy in and of itself. The result is a time capsule of objects that reflects our culture.
My assemblage artworks have continued to encapsulate cultural change. For example, grey film canister tops used in my early junk portraits are very rare now as our society has moved to digital cameras. An iPhone used as shading on a cheek looks desired one year and archaic the next as society, technology, and consumables continue to change.
I am interested in communicating through visual representation in apparent 2-dimensional space and also communicating through the actual objects used for the medium in 3-dimensional space.
It is very important to me that I incorporate the actual objects into the art as opposed to a picture or rendition of it because it better expresses the intention of the artwork. I feel the junk is more powerful being present. It is an actual thing to be reckoned with that existed in this time and place and carries energy in and of itself. The result is a time capsule of objects that reflects our culture.
My assemblage artworks have continued to encapsulate cultural change. For example, grey film canister tops used in my early junk portraits are very rare now as our society has moved to digital cameras. An iPhone used as shading on a cheek looks desired one year and archaic the next as society, technology, and consumables continue to change.
Sayaka Ganz
Artist Statement: Driven by a combination of my passion for fitting odd shapes together and a sympathy toward discarded objects, I create animals from thrift store plastics. I spent my early childhood in Japan but I grew up in several different countries. Japanese Shinto beliefs are such that all objects and organisms have spirits, and I was taught in kindergarten that objects that are discarded before their time weep at night inside the trash bin. This became a vivid image in my mind. The constant need to adjust to a new environment also gave me a strong desire to fit in and to create harmony around me.
I only select objects that have been used and discarded. My goal is for each object to transcend its origin by being integrated into an animal/ organic forms that are alive and in motion. This process of reclamation and regeneration is liberating to me as an artist.
Building these sculptures helps me understand the situations that surround me. It reminds me that even if there is a conflict right now, there is also a solution in which all the pieces can coexist peacefully. Though there are wide gaps in some areas and small holes in others, when seen from the distance there is great beauty and harmony in our community. Through my sculptures I transmit a message of hope.
I only select objects that have been used and discarded. My goal is for each object to transcend its origin by being integrated into an animal/ organic forms that are alive and in motion. This process of reclamation and regeneration is liberating to me as an artist.
Building these sculptures helps me understand the situations that surround me. It reminds me that even if there is a conflict right now, there is also a solution in which all the pieces can coexist peacefully. Though there are wide gaps in some areas and small holes in others, when seen from the distance there is great beauty and harmony in our community. Through my sculptures I transmit a message of hope.
Nick Gentry
Nick Gentry is a British artist from London. Much of his artistic output has been generated with the use of contributed artefacts and materials. He states that through this process "contributor, artist and viewer come closer together". His art is influenced by the development of consumerism, technology, identity and cyberculture in society, with a distinctive focus on obsolete media.
He is best known for his floppy disk paintings and film negative artworks, placing an emphasis on recycling obsolete media and the reuse of personal objects as a central theme. Such artistic works of social commentary have been featured in galleries in the UK, USA and in cities throughout the world. His work has been exhibited alongside established street artists and as such has been linked to the urban art scene in London. (Biography)
He is best known for his floppy disk paintings and film negative artworks, placing an emphasis on recycling obsolete media and the reuse of personal objects as a central theme. Such artistic works of social commentary have been featured in galleries in the UK, USA and in cities throughout the world. His work has been exhibited alongside established street artists and as such has been linked to the urban art scene in London. (Biography)
Andy Goldsworthy
Andy Goldsworthy is an extraordinary, innovative British artist whose collaborations with nature produce uniquely personal and intense artworks. Using a seemingly endless range of natural materials—snow, ice, leaves, bark, rock, clay, stones, feathers petals, twigs—he creates outdoor sculpture that manifests, however fleeting, a sympathetic contact with the natural world. Before they disappear, or as they disappear, Goldsworthy, records his work in suburb color photographs.
Goldsworthy deliberately explores the tension of working in the area where he finds his materials, and is undeterred by changes by changes in the weather which may melt a spectacular ice arch or wash away a delicate structure of grasses. The intention is not to “make his mark” on the landscape, but rather to work with it instinctively, so that a delicate scene of bamboo or massive snow rings or a circle of leaves floating in a pool create a new perception and an ever growing understanding of the land.
Goldsworthy deliberately explores the tension of working in the area where he finds his materials, and is undeterred by changes by changes in the weather which may melt a spectacular ice arch or wash away a delicate structure of grasses. The intention is not to “make his mark” on the landscape, but rather to work with it instinctively, so that a delicate scene of bamboo or massive snow rings or a circle of leaves floating in a pool create a new perception and an ever growing understanding of the land.
Mara G. Haseltine
Mara G. Haseltine's love of the natural sciences and form has been a constant theme throughout her work. Her work is figurative in that even her most abstract forms are in fact megascopic renditions of microscopic or sub microscopic images often gleaned from sequences of amino acids. In the past few years she has taken the leap to combine her art practice with scientific experiments and environmental restoration.
She received her undergraduate degree in Studio Art and Art History from Oberlin College, Oberlin, Ohio, and her master's degree from The San Francisco Art Institute, San Francisco, California, with a double degree in New Genres and Sculpture. She has exhibited and worked throughout the United States, Canada, Europe, Asia and at the National Museum of Trinidad and Tobago in the Port of Spain, Trinidad. Currently a professor at The New School in NYC, she is a member of both the Sculptors Guild of NYC as well as the Explorer's Club. She currently works out of Brooklyn, New York. Her work has been published in the Times, Le Metro, The Guardian, Architectural Record etc..
Artist Statement: From The Nano to the Geo
We are supremely lucky as water-based life forms to be blessed with the consciousness to enjoy the beauty of our planet and have the beginnings of advanced technologies so that we can simultaneously look within ourselves and at the outermost reaches of the cosmos; it is this particular and unique relationship that I explore with my work.
Geotherapy is a practice that embraces the future by addressing the link between cultural and biological evolution. By using the principles of Geotherapy, my work encompasses the cross section between art, technology, and social change. Many of the sculptures utilize microscopic and scientific data. They are then abstracted into large-scale figurative forms. The viewer upon engaging with the art, takes part in how life functions beyond the lens of what the human eye can perceive. In many cases, the work depicts the impact that humans have on this delicate microscopic world. The most current projects combine living aquatic structures with sustainable environmental technology to create a series of sculptures that function as habitat, coastline protection, and bioremediation filters. The work’s final intention is to raise awareness to the beneficial impact of Geotherapy on our planet.
She received her undergraduate degree in Studio Art and Art History from Oberlin College, Oberlin, Ohio, and her master's degree from The San Francisco Art Institute, San Francisco, California, with a double degree in New Genres and Sculpture. She has exhibited and worked throughout the United States, Canada, Europe, Asia and at the National Museum of Trinidad and Tobago in the Port of Spain, Trinidad. Currently a professor at The New School in NYC, she is a member of both the Sculptors Guild of NYC as well as the Explorer's Club. She currently works out of Brooklyn, New York. Her work has been published in the Times, Le Metro, The Guardian, Architectural Record etc..
Artist Statement: From The Nano to the Geo
We are supremely lucky as water-based life forms to be blessed with the consciousness to enjoy the beauty of our planet and have the beginnings of advanced technologies so that we can simultaneously look within ourselves and at the outermost reaches of the cosmos; it is this particular and unique relationship that I explore with my work.
Geotherapy is a practice that embraces the future by addressing the link between cultural and biological evolution. By using the principles of Geotherapy, my work encompasses the cross section between art, technology, and social change. Many of the sculptures utilize microscopic and scientific data. They are then abstracted into large-scale figurative forms. The viewer upon engaging with the art, takes part in how life functions beyond the lens of what the human eye can perceive. In many cases, the work depicts the impact that humans have on this delicate microscopic world. The most current projects combine living aquatic structures with sustainable environmental technology to create a series of sculptures that function as habitat, coastline protection, and bioremediation filters. The work’s final intention is to raise awareness to the beneficial impact of Geotherapy on our planet.
Martin Hill
Martin Hill is an internationally recognised communications designer, environmental artist, and photographer.
His design work has won awards and is featured in international galleries. His environmental sculpture photographs have been published on cards, posters, calendars and books since 1995.
His work has been exhibited internationally and featured in many magazine articles, on television and websites.
"In 1992 I became so concerned about products causing environmental damage because of their unsustainable design that I turned my focus to understanding and communicating about solutions to these design issues."
"By creating and publishing environmental art my message of sustainability by design now reaches millions of people each year." (http://www.martin-hill.com/about_us/about_martin_hill.html)
Stream Stone Circle - Made on Whites Beach on the West Coast near Auckland, New Zealand, this sculpture always begs the question “Where are the footprints?”.The smooth stones were placed around the edge of this tidal water by walking only in the water or on the rocky reef. The sun setting on the horrizon created the eerie warm light.
His design work has won awards and is featured in international galleries. His environmental sculpture photographs have been published on cards, posters, calendars and books since 1995.
His work has been exhibited internationally and featured in many magazine articles, on television and websites.
"In 1992 I became so concerned about products causing environmental damage because of their unsustainable design that I turned my focus to understanding and communicating about solutions to these design issues."
"By creating and publishing environmental art my message of sustainability by design now reaches millions of people each year." (http://www.martin-hill.com/about_us/about_martin_hill.html)
Stream Stone Circle - Made on Whites Beach on the West Coast near Auckland, New Zealand, this sculpture always begs the question “Where are the footprints?”.The smooth stones were placed around the edge of this tidal water by walking only in the water or on the rocky reef. The sun setting on the horrizon created the eerie warm light.
Basia Irland
Irland is an advocate for water concerns and is a Professor at Emerita, Department of Art and Art History and the University of New Mexico. Irland is an accomplished Professor, artist and environmental advocate. Please See entire biography and collection at http://www.basiairland.com/
Gloria Lamson
Using natural or simple manmade materials, I create temporary site responsive installations and interactions in nature and architectural environments. I explore ways to engage the natural forces of water, wind, gravity, fire, light and time. My artwork has evolved through a dialogue-type process, with spaces and places within and around me. Working in the varied and often remote environments of Alaska, Hawaii, Wyoming, Washington, Arizona, Colorado and California, I document my process with photographs. Moving between nature and psyche, I’m interested in bringing the inside out, and the outside in, seeking to invoke wakefulness and renew connection to the worlds within and around us.
Artist Statement: I question how art might illuminate darkness.
Imagine like moths we are drawn towards light
and like cats, we are attracted to warmth.
I am inspired by contemporary and ancient traditions
of art and spiritual practice.
Like people of prehistoric times
who marked their presence
with hand and breath on cave walls,
I practice art as a way
to mark the territory of my questions.
Artist Statement: I question how art might illuminate darkness.
Imagine like moths we are drawn towards light
and like cats, we are attracted to warmth.
I am inspired by contemporary and ancient traditions
of art and spiritual practice.
Like people of prehistoric times
who marked their presence
with hand and breath on cave walls,
I practice art as a way
to mark the territory of my questions.
Land Art Generator Initiative, Renewable Energy Can Be Beautiful
2012 Competition Page
The strategic objective of the Land Art Generator Initiative is to advance the successful implementation of sustainable design solutions by integrating art and interdisciplinary creative processes into the conception of renewable energy infrastructure.
The project can be subdivided into four main areas of focus:
The strategic objective of the Land Art Generator Initiative is to advance the successful implementation of sustainable design solutions by integrating art and interdisciplinary creative processes into the conception of renewable energy infrastructure.
The project can be subdivided into four main areas of focus:
- events & design competition
- education
- outreach
- the eventual construction of aesthetic renewable energy infrastructure
Mark Langan, Recyclable Art for a
Green World
Mark Langan is an Artist who resides in the Cleveland, Ohio suburb of Brunswick Hills. Well versed and adept with numerous artistic mediums, he has concentrated his focus since the year 2004 by working strictly with reclaimed material. Fantastic sculptural works are created using nothing more than mere corrugated boxes, non-toxic glue, a razor knife, a cutting edge and a mat. Mark's artwork is intriguing because of its composition, but also cries out...reduce, reuse, recycle!
Langan sometimes shies away and dislikes using the terms “green” but none-the-less, it is a term well suited by standards today. He’s been creating this Art using reclaimed materials before the fashionable buzz words of “green” and “sustainability” became commonplace. It would be naïve’ for him to claim that he’s making a huge dent in reducing waste material going into landfills but as he states, “It is something rather than nothing.” His sincere hope that the art displayed on this site contributes to the recycling movement by inspiring others to ask of themselves, “What can I do to help?”
Langan sometimes shies away and dislikes using the terms “green” but none-the-less, it is a term well suited by standards today. He’s been creating this Art using reclaimed materials before the fashionable buzz words of “green” and “sustainability” became commonplace. It would be naïve’ for him to claim that he’s making a huge dent in reducing waste material going into landfills but as he states, “It is something rather than nothing.” His sincere hope that the art displayed on this site contributes to the recycling movement by inspiring others to ask of themselves, “What can I do to help?”
Trevor Leat
Trevor first began weaving found material as a small child when he constructed wooden rafts from collected lolly sticks to float upon the Thames. Years later a love for nature and an interest in Romany culture led him to Cumbria where he learnt to make creels and traditional baskets and his distinctive work was soon being exhibited in local galleries. (Excerpt from About Trevor Leat)
Robert Montgomery
Montgomery works in a poetic and melancholic post-Situationist tradition. Since 2005 he has carried out his WORDS IN THE CITY AT NIGHT project where, echoing the Situationist concept of detournement, he highjacks advertising space in the city, often illegally. He covers illuminated advertising billboards with austere black posters with white letters, which assume the colour of the ad posters underneath and take their light, parasitically. His texts are part poetry, part an inquiry into our collective unconscious. They are intended to be encountered by commuters who don't know they are art, and an attempt to describe in public space what it feels like to live in the now.
Freya Morgan
We are made of stories; we flow in layers of narrative; from inherent archetypes to the tiniest intricacies in connected eco-systems across earth. My practice weaves mythical written and visual narratives to tell the stories of plants and creatures from threatened eco-systems, and to spin a space for dreaming.
Lucy Morley
Lucy's work awakens a deeper interest in the patterns embedded in our surroundings, arousing curiosity in subjects that are often overlooked.
Carefully crafting works from recycled materials, she reveals the value and beauty of the handmade.
Lucy is currently working in London after completing her Masters in Art and Environment at University College Falmouth in 2011.
Carefully crafting works from recycled materials, she reveals the value and beauty of the handmade.
Lucy is currently working in London after completing her Masters in Art and Environment at University College Falmouth in 2011.
Susan McConnell, PhD
Susan McConnel, Nature & Wildlife conservation photographer, Professor of Biology at Stanford, Professor of Nature & Wildlife Conservation Photography "I feel that wildlife photography has an importan purpose: powerful images help connect people with our natural heritage and stimulate a commitment to conservation."
Green Museum
An online museum and collaborative art making community which features environmental art in an online museum housing multiple artists. The entire collection is house at www.greenmuseum.org.
Brian Mock
"I am intrigued by the challenge of creating an entirely unique piece of art from a random collection of discarded and often commonplace objects. Giving these old, ordinary items a new and extraordinary life as one sculpture is an artistically demanding, yet gratifying, process. This type of work is also designed to be highly interactive and prompt viewers to question the reality of what they see. Audience reactions fuel my motivation and help bring my visions to life." (Excerpt from Artist Statement)
Moiety, Green Campaign To Encourage Walking Instead of Driving
The China Environmental Protection Foundation developed an outdoor campaign, displayed on the street, to creatively promote this message. They decided to leverage a busy pedestrian crossing; a place where both pedestrians and drivers meet.
The campaign involved laying a canvas 12.6 metres long by 7 metres wide on the ground, thus covering the pedestrian crossing with a large leafless tree. On either side of the road, beneath the traffic lights, were placed sponge cushions soaked in green, environmentally friendly, washable paint. As pedestrians walked towards the crossing, they stepped on the green sponge, thus leaving green foot imprints on the canvas of the tree. Each ‘green’ footprint on the canvas looked like leaves growing on a bare tree, which made people feel that by walking they could create a greener environment.
The ‘Green Pedestrian Crossing’ was carried out across 7 thoroughfares in Shanghai. The campaign was then extended to 132 roads across 15 cities in China, with a participation exceeding 3,920,000 people. (Excerpt from Moiety)
The campaign involved laying a canvas 12.6 metres long by 7 metres wide on the ground, thus covering the pedestrian crossing with a large leafless tree. On either side of the road, beneath the traffic lights, were placed sponge cushions soaked in green, environmentally friendly, washable paint. As pedestrians walked towards the crossing, they stepped on the green sponge, thus leaving green foot imprints on the canvas of the tree. Each ‘green’ footprint on the canvas looked like leaves growing on a bare tree, which made people feel that by walking they could create a greener environment.
The ‘Green Pedestrian Crossing’ was carried out across 7 thoroughfares in Shanghai. The campaign was then extended to 132 roads across 15 cities in China, with a participation exceeding 3,920,000 people. (Excerpt from Moiety)
Rob Mulhollan
The essence of who we are as individuals in relationship to others and our given environment forms a strong aspect of my artistic practice. In Vestige I wanted to explore this relationship further by creating a group, a community within the protective elements of the woods, reflecting the past inhabitants of the space. [...] The six male and female figures represent a vestige, a faint trace of the past people and communities that once occupied and lived in this space. The figures absorb their environment, reflecting in their surface the daily changes of life in the forest. They create a visual notion of non – space. A void as if they are at one moment part of our world and then as they fade into the forest they become an intangible outline. (Excerpt from Artist Statement)
Katy Olmsted
By making art with natural materials, I hope to create ephemeral work that cannot truly be owned...that becomes about the process of making art rather than the object...that is in constant flux. I also want my artwork to have a small ecological footprint. I have often wondered how to and tried many times to create art that is both non-toxic to myself and the environment. As a result, I have discovered new materials that work wonderfully for art making.
For me, art making is a form of meditation. I am completely in the present moment when creating art, which makes me, like most people who experience the present moment, incredibly happy. Whether through the visual, the audial or the written language, artists have mimicked or collaborated with nature for centuries. Calling out to nature's golden mean to inspire works of art that either becomes venerated from one generation to the next or is simply experienced briefly by the generation it claims home to, expanding beautifully into the viewer's heart and mind only to contract back into nothingness from where it came. To bare witness to what nature has to offer is the art and nature is the true artist. There is a beauty in this world that should not be taken for granted. (From the Artist) Katy's website is http://olmstedke.wix.com/katyolmsted#!home/mainPage
For me, art making is a form of meditation. I am completely in the present moment when creating art, which makes me, like most people who experience the present moment, incredibly happy. Whether through the visual, the audial or the written language, artists have mimicked or collaborated with nature for centuries. Calling out to nature's golden mean to inspire works of art that either becomes venerated from one generation to the next or is simply experienced briefly by the generation it claims home to, expanding beautifully into the viewer's heart and mind only to contract back into nothingness from where it came. To bare witness to what nature has to offer is the art and nature is the true artist. There is a beauty in this world that should not be taken for granted. (From the Artist) Katy's website is http://olmstedke.wix.com/katyolmsted#!home/mainPage
Jaume Plensa
El alma del Ebro was created for the International Exposition in Zaragoza, the theme of which was "Water and Sustainable Development". It is eleven meters high, the sculpted letters representing cells of the human body which is over 60% water. Its white letters and hollow structure invite the viewer to look inside and reflect on the relationship between human beings and water.
Jaakko Pernu
Jaakko Pernu is an environmental artist who writes, "My working techniques are a direct continuation of the traditional Finnish itch for "hands-on" methods, in which in one form or another, materials derived from nature were always used. I feel that my completed works can be a part of the defined art world of galleries or museums; however, they can also be within reach of the so-called man in the street, who might bump into the artworks by chance along unfamiliar paths. In that instance, you could say that the intuitive ball of comprehension has been thrown to the viewer." For further information and more work in addition to this piece called 'Kidnapping Nature' in Couleur Cafe, Bryssel, Blgia, 2006 please visit - http://www.environmentalart.net/pernu/index.htm
Andrew Petrachi
Milan-based Artist Andrea Petrachi creates bizarre characters and insects using reclaimed objects such as old cameras, calculators, pliers, knives, and even electric razors. Despite their sleek design, the characters are quite whimsical, often taking the persona of faces and heads removed from dolls and other children’s toys. Petrachi says his work is generally a symbol of our cultures out-of-control consumerism. (Excerpts from Bio)
David Poppie
My recent work involves the reclaiming disposable objects in mass to create two and three dimensional works. Pieces can involve tea bags, matchbook strikes, plastic cutlery, etc. These items are generally disregarded and ignored by the everyday person. Through the gathering of the discards of contemporary culture, I ask the viewer to reconsider the function and value of these objects. I also reassign their value by re-contextualizing them by creating a piece of art from them. Besides utilizing the formal issues that interest me, based in the Minimalist school, I also am making a commentary on the disposable nature of contemporary culture. (Excerpt from Artist Statement)
Red Earth
About Us: Red Earth is an environmental arts group producing site-specific work in, and in response to the landscape. Lead artists and co-directors Caitlin Easterby and Simon Pascoe devise and produce all Red Earth events: over twenty years of creating, producing and realising installations and performances in the landscape.
Red Earth events amplify and resonate with the natural landscape, immersing the audience in its hidden terrain. Our work engages the public in the creative process, bringing people together - land managers, farmers, and communities - in participatory events exploring their natural and cultural heritage, transforming our understanding of the places where we live.
Red Earth has produced work in Europe, Java, Japan and Mongolia. Projects have explored the effects of climate change and our complex relationship with geological, archaeological, ecological and cultural landscapes. Our work looks to the wider world for inspiration while focusing on local detail: performances are often inter-cultural exchanges, while our temporary sculpture installations are sensitive to site and built on location from locally sourced materials.
Red Earth events amplify and resonate with the natural landscape, immersing the audience in its hidden terrain. Our work engages the public in the creative process, bringing people together - land managers, farmers, and communities - in participatory events exploring their natural and cultural heritage, transforming our understanding of the places where we live.
Red Earth has produced work in Europe, Java, Japan and Mongolia. Projects have explored the effects of climate change and our complex relationship with geological, archaeological, ecological and cultural landscapes. Our work looks to the wider world for inspiration while focusing on local detail: performances are often inter-cultural exchanges, while our temporary sculpture installations are sensitive to site and built on location from locally sourced materials.
Mathilde Roussel
Lives of Grass sculptures show the effects of transformation of the material as a metaphor of the transformation of the body. Time sculpts the forms, makes them change and then decay. The natural world, ingested as food becomes a component of human being. These sculptures strive to show that food, it's origin, it's transport, has an impact on us beyond it's taste. The power inside it affects every organ of our body. Observing nature and being aware of what and how we eat might make us more sensitive to food cycles in the world - of abundance, of famine - and allows us to be physically, intellectually and spiritually connected to a global reality.
Richard Shilling
There is so much to say about Richard Shilling but truly I cannot do him justice. Please go visit his blog and read for yourself, you won't be disappointed.
Sonia Shomalzadeh
Sonia Shomalzadeh was born in Portsmouth in 1987. She studied Fine Art: Painting at City & Guilds of London Art School and just recently completed a Masters in Art & Environment at University College Falmouth.
Working with environmental organisations including Surfers Against Sewage and the Whale & Dolphin Conservation Society, Sonia hopes to raise awareness of our impacts on the ocean and create campaign messages through her art practice.
Blog
Working with environmental organisations including Surfers Against Sewage and the Whale & Dolphin Conservation Society, Sonia hopes to raise awareness of our impacts on the ocean and create campaign messages through her art practice.
Blog
Susan Stockwell
UK-based artist Susan Stockwell recently completed this gigantic world map made from recycled computer components for the University of Bedfordshire. Entitled World, the piece has been in progress since 2010 and uses motherboards, electrical wiring, fans, and myriad other components donated by Secure IT Recycling. Although Stockwell has worked with electronic components.
Yuken Teruya
Yuken Teruya cuts trees out of paper bags and cardboard tubes, creating forests of delicate branches and the shadows they cast. Initially the trees were cut out of carrier bags turned on their sides. The paper cuts were made from the top and the resulting tree was popped out to form a diorama framed by its own shadowbox, the bag itself. These bags span the range from high-end designer shopping bags to the ubiquitous Macdonald’s takeout bags and the cardboard tubes can easily be identified as humble toilet paper rolls. But the work itself is extremely precise, with the artist basing the cuts on photographs of actual trees. (Excerpt obtained from http://mocoloco.com/art/archives/003763.php)
Olegas Truchanas - Pedder Collection Online
Truchanas, Olegas, 1923-1972 -Olegas Truchanas Lake Pedder audiovisual collection, Tasmania [picture], slides between 1968-1971, digital reproductions, 2007. 105 digital reproductions from slides.
The photographic collection of Olegas Truchanas which helped significantly in stopping the flooding of Lake Pedder.
The photographic collection of Olegas Truchanas which helped significantly in stopping the flooding of Lake Pedder.
Mierle Ukeles, Flow City
In New York, a marine transfer station is where garbage is loaded onto barges prior to being transported to and dumped in a landfill. Ukeles constructed this visitor center as a way for people to view the transference of used and recyclable material and the labor of everyday maintenance workers. She constructed a space with three separate views of city life and urban ecology. Facing east was a beautiful panoramic representation of the city; to the west was a picture of large barges filled with trash and urban waste; and to the south was a bank of video monitors. Scientists, ecologists, artists, and others were invited to contribute information for video displays to help educate people about ecological urban issues. These three perspectives provided a range of views for visitors to see and question everyday consumer choices and to learn more about the consequences of their lifestyle on creating a healthy environment in the future.
The artist used education as a powerful tool to engage community members in active learning processes. Community involvement and affirmation are at the heart of Ukeles' art work. Phillips (1995) states "By creating a point of access, Ukeles enables members of the public to make more incisive connections with the physical dimensions of their urban and natural worlds. Both the city and the river are seen as relational; Flow City serves as the suture that draws the extremes of the natural-culture dialectic into visible coexistence." (p.188)
The artist used education as a powerful tool to engage community members in active learning processes. Community involvement and affirmation are at the heart of Ukeles' art work. Phillips (1995) states "By creating a point of access, Ukeles enables members of the public to make more incisive connections with the physical dimensions of their urban and natural worlds. Both the city and the river are seen as relational; Flow City serves as the suture that draws the extremes of the natural-culture dialectic into visible coexistence." (p.188)
WEAD - Women Environmental Artists Directory
A community focusing on female perspectives internationally to further the understanding of ecological and social justice art. Please visit - www.weadartists.org This photo is an instillation piece by one of the WEAD members who is an artist and an eco-art educator and one of the early pioneers of environmental art, Betty Beaumont. Beaumont has defined the movement as "a model of interdisciplinary problem solving". There are many other women artist listed in this Artist Directory as well.
Motoi Yamamoto
Japanese artist Yamamoto Motoi was born in Hiroshima, Japan in 1966 and worked in a dockyard until he was 22 when he decided to focus on art full-time. Six years later in 1994 his younger sister died from complications due to brain cancer and Yamamoto immediately began to memorialize her in his labyrinthine installations of poured salt. The patterns formed from the salt are actually quite literal in that Yamamoto first created a three-dimensional brain as an exploration of his sister’s condition and subsequently wondered what would happen if the patterns and channels of the brain were then flattened. Although he creates basic guidelines and conditions for each piece, the works are almost entirely improvised with mistakes and imperfections often left intact during hundreds of hours of meticulous pouring. After each piece has been on view for several weeks the public is invited to communally destroy each work and help package the salt into bags and jars, after which it is thrown back into the ocean.
Olga Ziemska
"Returning meaning back to nature. Making the human body a part of the whole, not the whole part. Blending the body in. Showing how easily it can mesh, morph and disappear. The body is nothing without that which surrounds it." (Excerpt from Olga's Artist Statement) Olga Ziemska is a sculptor and public artist that lives & works in downtown Cleveland, Ohio in a studio by Lake Erie. She is a recipient of many prestigious grants and awards including a Fulbright Fellowship in 2002 and a Creative Workforce Fellowship in 2009, which is generously funded by Cuyahoga Arts & Culture. In 2007, Ziemska was selected as a Wendy L. Moore Emerging Artist by the Museum of Contemporary Art in Cleveland. She has participated in several residencies nationally and abroad, including Centre of Polish Sculpture in Poland and I-Park in Connecticut. Her work is exhibited both nationally and internationally, with work reviewed in Sculpture magazine. Ziemska's other half of heart & home is found in her family's beloved city of Warsaw, Poland. http://www.olgaziemska.com/B-I-O
Images retrieved for this website were retrieved via a link to the artists' works or an organization and are NOT the property of this website, rather as an illustration of the artists' work found on this site and items found on the other websites.