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RESEARCH - GREEN ARTISTS

GREEN ARTISTS.

Within my practise I aim to explore a variety of environments and landscapes using sculptural forms and text to examine the detrimental effects that global warming, climate change and pollution have on these environments. The key concept within my work is to explore the relationship between social and scientific theory and sustainability, seeking to construct a broader view of humanity's relationship with nature and how we are ultimately shaping and changing the world that we live in.

Through my research i have uncovered a variety of green artists who are making climate change and conservation a priority within their work. They are tying together the scientific and creative worlds together in acts of beauty and activism. Sculptors, painters, photographers and more have the power to make environmentalism a priority and bring green initiatives to the forefront of cultural conversations.


Photographer Chris Jordan puts consumption into perspective with his series “Intolerable Beauty: Portraits of American Mass Consumption.” His works show the debris we as a society leave behind, from massive dumps of cell phones, to crushed cars and circuit boards, all squeezed together in hypnotic quantities. “I am appalled by these scenes, and yet also drawn into them with awe and fascination,” Jordan explained in an email to The Huffington Post. “The immense scale of our consumption can appear desolate, macabre, oddly comical and ironic, and even darkly beautiful; for me its consistent feature is a staggering complexity.”

Image result for chris jordan's portraits of consumption

For the 2012 installation “Sandstars,” Gabriel Orozco arranged over 1,200 objects from the Isla Arena, Mexico trash repository on the Guggenheim Museum’s floor, accompanied by a dozen large, gridded photographs depicting the individual objects in a studio setting. The found treasures bring hints of the ignored wastelands into a gallery setting, forcing viewers to confront the effects of industrial and commercial refuse.
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Both artists display the effects of human consumption whether it be industrial or commercial, but with different stands. Jordan's message is aimed at the masses whereas Orozco's work is very personal and close to home. But both are portraying that collectively we are committing a vast and unsustainable act with nobody taking charge or holding themselves accountable and in the process doing irreparable damage to the planet.

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