Artists Take on Climate Emergency: From Activism to Ecological Art
Fifteen years following Bill McKibben's initiative for climate change art through 350.org, artists have taken action, particularly after the 2009 COP15 and the emergence of Greta Thunberg's Fridays for Future movement. Creative expressions are evident in Extinction Rebellion's Red Rebel Brigade, which has even been recognized by the Victoria and Albert Museum. Ed Hawkins developed Warming Stripes to visualize temperature data, while Tomás Saraceno constructs inflatable biospheres. David Buckland's Cape Farewell program, established in 2001, encourages collaborations between art and science, featuring projects like Michael Pinsky's Pollution Pod. The roots of ecological art trace back to the 1970s, with contributions from figures like Helen and Newton Harrison, Agnes Denes, Alan Sonfist, and NILS-UDO. Recent exhibitions such as Indicators (2018) and Eco-Visionaries (2019-20) highlighted artists like Olafur Eliasson tackling climate issues, while PAV in Turin delves into bioart and ecological themes.
Key facts
- Bill McKibben called for art to address climate change in 2005
- Extinction Rebellion's logo was acquired by the Victoria and Albert Museum
- Red Rebel Brigade created by Doug Francisco of Invisible Circus, Bristol
- Ed Hawkins created Warming Stripes data visualizations
- Tomás Saraceno creates inflatable biospheres
- David Buckland founded Cape Farewell in 2001
- Michael Pinsky's Pollution Pod geodesic domes reproduce polluted urban air
- Helen and Newton Harrison made Making Earth in 1970
- Agnes Denes planted Wheatfield in Manhattan in 1982
- Agnes Denes's Tree Mountain (1992-96) in Finland has 11,000 trees on a 38m hill
- Alan Sonfist's Time Landscape (1978) in Greenwich Village
- NILS-UDO's Hommage à Gustav Mahler (1973) in Bavaria
- Indicators: Artists on Climate Change at Storm King Art Center in 2018
- Eco-Visionaries at Royal Academy of Arts in 2019-20
- Pinar Yoldas's Plastoceptor and Stomaximus
- Olafur Eliasson's The ice melting series (2002) and 2015 Paris ice blocks
- PAV – Parco Arte Vivente in Turin founded by Piero Gilardi
- Marco Scotini curates at PAV since 2014
- Arahmaiani's Politics of Disaster exhibition at PAV
Entities
Artists
- Bill McKibben
- Greta Thunberg
- Doug Francisco
- Ed Hawkins
- Tomás Saraceno
- David Buckland
- Michael Pinsky
- Helen Harrison
- Newton Harrison
- Agnes Denes
- Alan Sonfist
- NILS-UDO
- David Brooks
- Mark Dion
- Ellie Ga
- Gabriela Salazar
- Pinar Yoldas
- Olafur Eliasson
- Piero Gilardi
- Marco Scotini
- Arahmaiani
- Maurita Cardone
Institutions
- 350.org
- Extinction Rebellion
- Victoria and Albert Museum
- Invisible Circus
- Cape Farewell
- Storm King Art Center
- Royal Academy of Arts
- PAV – Parco Arte Vivente
- Art Institute of Kansas City
- Guggenheim Bilbao
- United Nations
- Fridays for Future
- Artribune
Locations
- Bristol
- London
- New York
- Manhattan
- Greenwich Village
- Hudson Valley
- New York State
- Finland
- Pinziö
- Bavaria
- Berlin
- Paris
- Greenland
- Iceland
- Turin
- Italy
- Santa Cruz
- Kansas City
- Copenhagen
- Indonesia
- Southeast Asia
- China
- Africa