Broadening the Reach of Activism: Eco-Art

When emotions are too strong for words or repeating the same call to action in conferences or daily conversation has become exhausting and frustrating, creative minds turn to other forms of expression. For this reason, art has played a powerful role in many social movements throughout global history. With forest fires raging, sea levels rising, storms increasing in frequency and intensity, and the global loss of biodiversity, it is clear why so many people are now focusing their efforts on environmental conservation and protection. The idea of protecting and safeguarding the planet from big business and its toxic pollutants has been around for decades, but in recent years the need for action has become gravely apparent. 

From the start, art took the stage, manifesting in the form of signs held at protests, some accompanied by witty captions and others letting the art speak for itself. Children hold signs speaking to their uncertain future, young adults passionately display their anger and disappointment with governments and businesses, and older protesters write questions demanding why they have had to fight so long and hard for necessary change. Greta Thunberg held the first sign, stating “Skolstrejk for klimatet” and her unwavering work has given rise to several posters featuring her words or image. The creativity accompanying this art inspires a wide variety of emotions, from puns giving a needed laugh to images of iceless polar bears devastating enough to bring about tears. It comes as no surprise that protest art is only the beginning of the impact art has had on this movement, functioning as the backbone from which other, more professional, art forms have grown.

While perhaps the most well-known artist in this field is Robert Smithson and his piece Spiral Jetty (2005), there are many more deserving of attention with equally important messages, two of whom are highlighted here. Artists’ inspiration from the natural landscape, animals, and humans’ interaction with both of these entities is timeless, creating a clear path to incorporating climate change in this creative world. Edward Burtynsky is a renowned photographer who captures our society’s collective impact on the Earth through several projects and three films. His commentary on the images is often brief, letting the sites speak for themselves. The observer knows the photographs are of degradation if not destruction, but the images remain captivatingly beautiful, drawing admirers from beyond the environmentally-minded community. He travels across the globe, from oil sands in Alberta, Canada, to the striking juxtaposition of green, developed Scottsdale, and the barren neighboring Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Reservation, to shipbreaking in Bangladesh. His use of color is often most striking, both from nature itself and from the waste of human industrial activity, highlighted against the surrounding natural ground. Burtynsky’s photographs have been featured in the National Gallery of Canada, Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington D.C., and the Art Gallery of Ontario among others, drawing in people spanning across a plethora of professions and ages.

He did not frame the exhibits as an exposure of anthropogenic demolition until the Anthropocene Project, which allowed for these diverse crowds, yet he was able to leave viewers pondering exactly what impact they have had on the Earth in order to maintain a certain lifestyle. The Anthropocene Project is his biggest collaboration and has received the most attention. It is named for the belief of geologists and other scientists that a new epoch, the Anthropocene, has begun due to human activity becoming the most defining force on the planet. The project is multidisciplinary and focuses on a variety of man-made issues, including climate change, the overwhelming presence of plastic, and unprecedented rates of deforestation and extinction. The goal of Anthropocene is to share the scale and depth of our collective impact, inspiring both fear and awe at human ability to drive environmental change, a critical feature that has accompanied all of his works and exhibits.

Another eco-art approach, called ecopoetic art, re-envisions the natural world through often working directly with the environment to preserve it. Jason deCaires Taylor has brought to life an altered view of reality by mixing human forms and coral reefs, effectively redesigning the seafloor. Taylor works in sculpture; he mainly creates rough, unrefined human figures out of marine-grade cement, allowing the sculptures to be submerged and function as an artificial reef. In this way, he lets nature become a part of his artwork, as the base grows coral and eventually fish adopt the man-made structure as their new habitat. The decision of where to place these sculptures is highly methodical and selective, involving a search for optimal conditions for coral growth yet that are far enough downstream from real coral reefs to avoid tourist disruption of these natural and fragile ecosystems. Creating new reefs is critical, as approximately 75% of global reefs suffered bleaching-level heat stress between 2014-2017, with 30% under mortality level stress. The way Taylor arranges the sculptures often shows people mimicking normal poses or actions of everyday life, giving them a somewhat haunting appearance, which can be read as a warning sign about the prospect of sea level rise. 

These are two of many artists in the emerging field of eco-art who use very different approaches and levels of integration to highlight their shared underlying concern for environmental degradation. Art is a highly effective method for starting discussions about sustainability, as it brings people together from all backgrounds and viewpoints. From signs at protests, to the exhibits and artwork of professional artists, art will undoubtedly maintain its crucial role in environmentally-focused social movements and continue to find new ways to express the intrinsic value of our natural world.