Everyone is talking about the environment. Yes, this is important, but if Putin launches a nuclear bomb, then nothing matters. My point is that someone should talk also about the ecology of the mind.
But first thing first.
Parasite - an organism that lives on the surface or inside another organism and feeds on it.
Parasite, 2022, recycled wires, newspapers, plastic; paint, construction foam, plaster, 100 x 85 x 40 cm.
Process of creation:
Video of the work:
Why is it a Parasite:
For about three years, I have been carefully reviewing all the ingredients of paints, spray colours and trying to recycle materials. My idea was to use only eco-based products or the production of which also does not harm nature. I will share my findings about eco-friendly products in the next post.
In order to start the research on the "ecology of mind," I need to understand what is my motivation and my interest. Necessary to mention that whatever I have in my head will get its reflection on the outside. And now it is hopelessness and the search for a new path. My inner need to change something, to influence the mindset of the people - at least one and it will be enough. The more this absurdity (Putin's war) becomes the norm of our life for the past six months (!!!!), the more I slide into criticism. Is it the right thing to do?
On the surface, 2022, recycled wood, paper, cardboard, plastic rope; paint, building foam, golden leaf, plaster, 140 x 70 x 50 cm.
Process of creation:
Additional photos:
Video:
But it turns out that this criticism is hidden in my art because the materials I use are going beyond the norms of standard painting materials. All my subscribers on social networks either unsubscribe from me or openly say that what I do is terrible, incomprehensible, and rubbish. But that's exactly what motivates me! The more it provokes, the more it disturbs and stuck in the viewer's mind. The truth is that such a moral decay of the masses requires no less shock to return simple precepts to a good path. Recharging, rethinking and upgrading the ecology of everyone's mind is needed.
Lost Paradise, 2022, recycled newspapers, metal mesh, wood; paint, spray colours, plaster, 114 x 105 x 35 cm.
Video:
Through repetition, as propagandists have been doing for almost 23 years, the people mass will accumulate in their minds something new. Through the repetition of simple truths - simple materials: wood, simple iron, paint, newspapers ... simple understanding that to kill - is death and pain, war - is horror, but in a new context, a free thought process will be stimulated. A rusted, rotten, collapsing society - these qualities are equal to materials in my works. The viewer sees it around itself – broken old wooden villages outside of big cities in Russia, undeveloped hospitals outside of Moscow and so on. One needs to look at itself, realize the current state, correlate it with own values and aspirations, and then seek and build a new world. Such a catharsis – conscious experience of the situation and becoming batter - is possible only as the mental work of everyone. It must be another level of understanding things. For example, it is not enough to enjoy the strong composition of the painting and the mastery of figurative work. These are relics of the past, the canons, which played a fatal role in the frozen Russian state. Development implies the formation of an intelligent, free-thinking society that can defend its own principles, not imposed ones.
Therefore my art, first of all, in its sense ecological in materials, approach and context. I criticize people, politics, and situations by showing the results of Russian life. Through recycling and choosing eco materials, I declare sustainability. Not buying more and more specific art products, I strive to be honest with the planet. By involving volunteers in the recycling process and assembling art objects, I work on an educational element in my work. And finally, I collect materials for my future artworks at a sawmill and a construction plant, thereby involving employees in environmental issues.
Although there is a number of other opportunities for involvement in the environmental issue. Below I will review some of them.
1. Relational aesthetics
“The French curator Nicolas Bourriaud published a book called Relational Aesthetics in 1998 in which he defined the term as:
A set of artistic practices which take as their theoretical and practical point of departure the whole of human relations and their social context, rather than an independent and private space
He saw artists as facilitators rather than makers and regarded art as information exchanged between the artist and the viewers. The artist, in this sense, gives audiences access to power and the means to change the world.” TATE, Relational Aesthetics [on line] At: https://www.tate.org.uk/art/art-terms/r/relational-aesthetics#:~:text=Term%20created%20by%20curator%20Nicolas,relations%20and%20their%20social%20context (Accessed 16.08.2022)
In other words, the artist creates an environment that provokes, stimulates or forces the viewer to do something. But does not the artist create, let's say, an art object for been seen, perceived, thought, and associated by the audience? Yes, we can say that the artist creates a situation in which the viewer gets an experience that is art. But isn't this the object of all the works of, for example, Marina Abramovic?
ARTSPACE, Rirkrit Tiravanija's Pad Thai, 1990 [on line] At: https://www.artspace.com/magazine/art_101/book_report/what-is-relational-aesthetics-54164 (Accessed 16.08.2022)
If compare with my art - it is for perception, for communication through the material. As music creates an image through sounds, so in my understanding art should convey certain ideas and/or conclusions and/or directions. If the artist simply gathers the audience to cook Thai food for them, where is the message or at least where is the difference from ordinary life - visiting a Thai restaurant or taking away food?
2. Pedagogical works = education. Participatory role in sustainable practices and lifestyle. Socially engaged sculptures.
When I was a child in an average family in Moscow, I understood that throwing garbage on the road is bad, but the impact of using plastic on the environment or spilling gasoline on the ground I did not know the consequences of this. Education is one of the most critical aspects of our world. Only through education can many catastrophes be prevented, as well as development can be produced.
I think that part of my works can be called educational because I involve the viewer in the process of creation (for example, my project with the Wave from part 1 of the course) = learning through doing.
Water, 2022, wood, cardboard, hardboard, paper for recycling (scavenge) and paints, colours, 350 x 1300 x 200 cm.
Social engagement requires follow-up action from society. Thus, to complete the Joseph Beuys oak planting project, it took 5 years of community involvement.
Joseph Beuys, 7000 Oak Trees 1982 [on line] https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/beuys-7000-oak-trees-ar00745 (Accessed 16.08.2022)
As well as using recycled materials and constantly talking about the problems of plastic, overproduction, water and air pollution, one way or another, these works become an anthem for awareness of these problems.
After many years of working with materials, there was a feeling of creating something unnecessary for people, and even generating consumer demand, and then a large amount of rubbish. Therefore, I realized that I need to recycle what is already there on the planet. At the same time, I do not need to buy more new items to create art. It's like an ideology of life: produce less, don't pollute, and don't create what people don't like or perceive. The ideal model for me was the creation of "talking" objects that communicate on an emotional and mental level, made with respect for oneself and the environment.
3. Natural phenomena as a method
DREAM IDEA MACHINE, TRACES: Walter de Maria [online] At: http://www.dreamideamachine.com/?p=19224 (Accessed 16.08.2022)
The attraction of the forces of nature can also be considered from the point of education. After all, if we begin to repeat, duplicate, or create something similar, we will first of all study the original source. From this point of view, every artist is engaged in learning about the creative process as a natural phenomenon.
4. Time-based artwork
Usually, time-based media are video, slide, film, audio or computer based. Part of what it means to experience the art is to watch it unfold over time according to the temporal logic of the medium as it is played back. (TATE, TIME-BASED MEDIA: Refers to art that is dependent on technology and has a durational dimension [online] At: https://www.tate.org.uk/art/art-terms/t/time-based-media (Accessed 17.08.2022))
For example, Time-based artwork by MAOTIK
Digital artwork called Symbiosia depicts effect of climate change on trees in Paris
Dezeen Alyn Griffiths 25 July 2019 [online] At: https://www.dezeen.com/2019/07/25/digital-artwork-depicts-affect-of-climate-change-on-trees-at-foundation-cartier/ (Accessed 16.08.2022)
Computer-based artworks could be the most gentle way to consider environmental issues. Connect a large number of sensors to trees or even to the flow of people in the room and here is the ready date for presentation and analysis. Only after all the question arises - at what cost? For example, the popular NFTs are widely criticized by climate change activists.
Production, purchase, and sale of NFT artworks require powerful processors and machines to store the entire digital base plus crypto currency. This leads not only to high energy costs (i.e. more electricity production) but also to CO2 emissions.
“Joanie Lemercier is a modern art creator who wanted to make his works more sustainable and lower his impact on the planet. … decided to publish a blog post … calculating that his release of six crypto artworks consumed in 10 seconds more electricity than his entire studio in the previous two years.” (Owning Digital Art – What Is the Environmental Cost? AGNIESZKA CICHOCKA 5 JUNE 2022 [online] At: https://www.dailyartmagazine.com/environmental-cost-digital-art/ (Accessed 17.08.2022))
5. Activist and protest art
Environmental protesters have glued themselves to the glass protecting Sandro Botticelli’s Primavera which is on display at an art gallery in Florence. (The Guardian, Climate activists in Italy glue themselves to Botticelli painting, Fri 22 Jul 2022 damien gayle [on line] At: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/jul/22/climate-activists-in-italy-glue-themselves-to-botticelli-painting (Accessed 17.08.2022))
5 Environmental Artists Tackling Climate Change BY ELLIE SMITH 2022, Benjamin Von Wong [online] At: https://www.countryandtownhouse.com/culture/environmental-artists/ (Accessed 16.08.2022)
Calling for action by the government or authorized organizations is the main goal of activists. But how to separate ordinary activists from hooligans, artists and bribed activists?
Sticking yourself to a world cultural property or blocking the roadway with a well-painted picture is not unambiguous. The consequences of such actions lead to costs, and additional work of other people to restore law and order. In other words, negativity breeds negativity. Qualitative awareness of the problem occurs only after the voluntary and conscious awareness of this problem.
6. Artists working with environmental scientists, architects and urban planners
“Using toxic runoff found in the Ohio River region, artist and professor John Sabraw produces his own DIY pigments -- bold yellows and reds that are sourced from the oxidized sludge of abandoned coal mines. Rather than using imported iron oxide from China to make his paint colors, he taps into the water's heavy metals left over from abandoned coal mines, bringing to light the region's pollution problem in the process.” (HUFFPOST By Katherine Brooks, Jul 15, 2014 18 Green Artists Who Are Making Climate Change And Conservation A Priority [on line] At: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/environmental-art_n_5585288 (Accessed 17.08.2022))
An ingenious combination of science and art. Einstein played the violin, it helped him connect a different logic, and start looking at questions from a different angle. Because, for example, some skills are used to calculate a mathematical formula, but completely different skills are used to play the violin and perceive music. Here too - when an artist with his "free" approach begins to cooperate with the theoretical mind of a scientist, then the results turn out to be non-standard.
7. Representational artwork
Spiegel Kunst für den Artenschutz Papp-Pandas reisen um die Welt 11.06.2014 Wong [on line] At: https://www.spiegel.de/fotostrecke/paulo-grangeon-pappe-pandas-artenstreben-hong-kong-reise-fotostrecke-115534.html (Accessed 16.08.2022)
Art depicting real things directly points to the object. The inspiration and idea come from the real tangible world. In my opinion, this is a difficult area to work in because it can easily slip into kitsch. In my example, the French artist Paulo Grangeon makes papier-mâché pandas in direct proportion to their number on the planet. This is a direct and very uncompromising way to tell the public - "this is just so much!" and it could be almost kitsch. But by placing these paper animals in atypical places for exhibits - a theatre, an aeroplane or under the Eiffel Tower - it seems that the whole planet is opposed to a simple theatrical environment. The problem of the disappearance of a species is compressed and thus becomes clearer for perception.
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