Art, Ecology and Citizen Power

Tomorrow, the Dutch artist Marjolijn Dijkman arrives in the UK to begin her residency atClare Cottage in Helpston, near Peterborough. Her stay marks a shift in focus for Arts & Ecology, towards exploring how the arts may engage people locally with environmental change and sustainability. As part of this, Marjolijn has been invited to stay at [...]

The thing we shouldn’t be asking artists to do

Heart of Darkness by Cornelia Parker, 2004 from Earth: art of a changing world, London 2009 This is Climate Action on Cultural Hertitage week – it’s an initiative championed by Bridget McKenzie as a response to the growing number of individuals and organisations calling for a more clearly defined sense of purpose from the arts and heritage [...]

The impossible hamster & RSAnimate: thoughts on “nubs”

Yesterday, the New Economics Foundation released this video to support their report about the irreconcilability of the idea of sustained economic growth with the idea of sustainability itself, Growth Isn’t Possible. It’s made by Leo Murray, one of the makers of The Age of Stupid and the short film Wake Up Freak Out. The Impossible Hamster is a [...]

RSA Arts & Ecology – MA in Art & Environment: 2010

University College FalmouthMA Art & Environment: 2010 For centuries artists have interpreted and represented the natural environment. It has provided materials and subject matter, as well as inspiration and knowledge. In recent times – particularly since the growth of the environmental movement – there has been a dramatic change in our understanding of the many ways our society impacts upon the Earth. [...]

Update on State of the Arts

A week ago the RSA and Arts Council England held the substantial State of the Artsconference, which we hope will become an annual event. The conference tweeters continue to sing with the compelling ideas and discussions that the event prompted. And now content from the London event is becoming available from the RSAs main website and there will be more online soon. Enjoy. [...]

Design and ecology: Julia Lohmann

Design tends to think of the environment in only terms of materials and processes; how do we make things in a way that harms the environment least. So it was great to come across the work of designer Julia Lohmann. I met her about a year ago to write a piece about her in the [...]

Joe McElderry not No 1: how to stop a juggernaut

In a fitting end to Simon Cowell’s four year dominance of the Xmas number ones, this year’s festive pop pick is an expletive-filled polemic against the American military-industrial complex “Killing in the Name”. A man who has always stood with admirable consistency on the law of pop – that sales mean what the public want, [...]

RSA Arts & Ecology – Jan 14 | State of the Arts Conference

State of the Arts ConferenceThursday, 14 January 2010Park Plaza Riverbank, SE1 7TLTickets: £115 (includes VAT)The State of the Arts Conference, organised by the RSA and Arts Council England, brings together a wide range of creative voices to debate the value and purpose of the arts at a time of significant change.We recognise that arts and [...]

Ice Bear by Mark Coreth, for WWF, Copenhagen Dec 10

There’s a lot of discussion about the role of dystopian art in creating new stories about climate and the environment. I have to say, if I was a kid, Mark Coreth’s sculpture of a melting polar bear would scare the bejayzus out of me. Ice Bear is in London’s Trafalgar Square from today. Go to [...]

RETHINK Contemporary Art & Climate Change

Finally got to see some of RETHINK; it’s a wonderful exhibition. The Saraceno is gigantic, but the human biosphere, suspended high in the air, was closed for repair today so I wan’t able to go in it, which saved my vertigo. Allora & Calzadilla’s A Man Screaming Is Not A Dancing Bear (2008) is stunning. Filmed [...]

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