Transcript File - Sinthia Cousineau

Environmental Art
A Presentation By:
Sinthia Cousineau
What is Eco-Art?
Definition for Eco Art:
1)A term used for forms of art dealing with
ecological issues
Goal: To help improve our relationship with
the natural world
Goals of Eco-Art
Eco art aims to do the following:
 -To create an understanding of nature and its processes,
& allowing us to understand current environmental
issues.
 -Allowing us to be concerned with environmental forces
& materials we can use to create artworks.
Example: wind, water, lighting, earthquakes.
 -To have us rethink our relationship with nature and
consider some solutions on how we can better co-exist
with it.
 -To restore ecosystems in artistic and aesthetic ways.
Brief History
 -Began in the 1960s
 -Several artists began sculpting with nature materials
 Examples: snow volcanoes, lighting, earth & deep sea
sites.
 -Most of these works are temporary & exist now only on
photographs
 Often these works are filled with messages:
environmental, or ontological (concerned with nature of
being)
Types of Eco Art
1) Landscape Manipulation (using nature to create art)
2) Important Message (Environmental, social, or political)
3) Using recycled materials
“We do not inherit the earth from
our ancestors, we borrow it from
our children.”
- Native American Proverb
Land Art
“Landscape manipulation”
Land Scape Manipulation
Robert Smithson
(1938 -1973)
-An American artist famous for
his use of photography in
relation to sculpture & land art
-He manipulated the natural
environment
-Used rocks & stones
Spiral Jetty
1970
 -1,500 feet long
 15 feet wide
 6,650 tons of earth
& black basalt
 -Located in Utah's
Great Salt Lake,
surrounded by
industrial
wasteland
Andy Goldsworthy
 -A British Artist who
created outdoor
sculptures using
natural materials
like: pedals, leaves,
snow, ice, rocks and
twigs.
“Stone River”
Art with an Environmental
Message
Nele Azevedo’s
Green Message
 -She carved thousands
of small figures which
she placed on important
monuments to have her
audience watch them
melt.
 -Her sculptures question
the role of monuments in
cities.
 -Mainly, her art address
the urgent matter of
climate change & how it
threatens our existence.
1,000 ice figures on the steps of Berlin’s
Gendarmenmarkt Square
Christo & Jeanne-Claude
 -A Bulgarian American and his American Wife.
 -The couple was interested in provoking their audience to think
about the immediate world.
 -In 1972-1976 created “Running Fence”, consist of cloth
attached to street poles. A veiled French of 24.5 miles crossing
the private property of 59 ranchers to reach the Pacific Ocean.
 -Inspired after the Continental Divide.
 -Aimed to create a new way of seeing familiar landscape
Running Fence (1976)
Art from Recycled Materials
Julie Peppito’s
Sandhi Schimmel Gold
 -Used junk mail
and other paper
waste to create art.
 -Using postcards,
brochures or any
paper people tend
to throw away.
 -Creates mosaic
portraits using
these papers & non
toxic paints.
Bernard Pras
 -A French artist who
used anamorphosis
(sticking objects on a
canvas to give more
volume)
 -He turned trash into
treasure
“The Great Wave”
Sayaka Ganz
 -Inspired by the
Japanese belief that
“all objects have
spirits” and those
thrown away weep in
the trash bins at night.
 -She creates animals,
to bring live again to
these discarded
objects
Uri Eliaz
 -An Israeli Artist
 -Creates
sculptures using
objects he found
only in the
ocean.
Educational Benefits
This type of Art teaches students about:
-nature
-responsibility for the planet
-current environmental issues
-how to create art with ecological materials
-That they can use art as a means to spread
an important message
-Inspiring change in the World
What is biodiversity?
 Biodiversity is
the variety of all
life forms on
earth
• Made up by the
different plants,
animals, microorganisms and
the ecosystem of
which they are a
part.
Why is biodiversity so
important?
 Supplies all life forms with
raw materials which we need
in order to survive
 Trees: Oxygen >> Paper
 Cotton: Clothing
 Crops: Food
 Healthy plants and wildlife
How we contribute to
biodiversity
 Humans are the number one
species who contribute to the
loss of biodiversity, as we are
using up all of the earths
precious resources
 Biodiversity is threatened
by climate change
HOW?
 Overconsumption:
• Overhunting
• Overfishing
• Deforestation
 Forgetting to turn the lights
off
 Mass production
How can we make a difference?
 Support local and small run
businesses:
- local: little transportation
pollution, organic produce
 Eat meat free one or more days a
week
• - cuts down on waste, air and
land pollution
 Take public transport, ride your
bike or carpool
• - reduces air pollution
 Remember to turn your light off!
• - reduces carbon monoxide
pollution