Brian Eno launches Hard Art collective uniting artists and scientists against climate crisis

Brian Eno has founded Hard Art, a new collective bringing together artists, scientists, and activists to address the climate crisis and humanitarian emergencies caused by political collapse. The group aims to foster interdisciplinary collaboration to spark systemic change through cultural rupture. Eno, who received the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at the 2023 Venice Biennale Music and debuted his experimental biopic 'Eno' at London's Barbican on April 20, 2024, has a long history of social engagement. In 2021 he launched Earth Percent, a charitable platform where musicians donate a percentage of their earnings to climate causes, with a goal of raising $100 million by 2030. Hard Art, which began meeting in late 2022 at Eno's recording studio, now counts about 150 members including visual artists Jeremy Deller, Cornelia Parker, and Gavin Turk, writer Jay Griffiths, designer Es Devlin, and filmmaker Asif Kapadia. The collective operates on a model of popular assemblies and has published a manifesto fanzine titled 'The Work WE Need to Do.' Its first public event was the Fête of Britain in Manchester in February 2024, celebrating imagination. Hard Art has partnered with the online platform Metalabel, co-founded by former Kickstarter CEO Yancey Strickler, to share content and future activities. Eno coined the term 'scenius' to describe collective genius, emphasizing that addressing the democracy crisis is prerequisite to tackling climate change.