Dear Janine/all (Janine, I'm guessing you are doing the manual linking of this discussion into YASMIN and the other networks?)
I've really enjoyed the posts so far and it's a resonant topic for me. My intellectual training occurred within the context of Santa Cruz feminist science studies (Haraway, Traweek, etc.) and it's only recently that these academic interests have found an explicit activation within my work in the art sector. Most explicitly these have been valuable in our working group on Place and Practice for the Pacific Rim New Media Summit 2006, of which Roger was a chair; and the recent exhibition Geomatics and Informatics: Three Stories at the 2007 Shanghai Science and Art Exposition <http://www.dannybutt.net/ geomatics/>, in which I was delighted to include Janine's work. Feminist science and technology studies is a body of work which has consistently disproved and displaced “formulaic, if cherished, general statements about what science is or isn't”, as Traweek puts it. "There are many methods called 'scientific method' by their practitioners, not one such method.” So at the beginning I think it is important for us to not generalise too greatly about the relationship that art will have with Climate Science, as there are not only many different (and as Andrea notes, politicised) ideological/normative assumptions at play in the field, but also, from my surface reading, many methodological orientations which are not completely divorced from the political/ideological. This is somewhat dangerous territory for an outsider to wade into, but one of the endearing things about visual artists is their tendency to treat such serious consequences for their affective value, rather than being constrained by terms internal to those debates, and I think this holds a key to the role artists play in these questions, they somehow sharpen our sense of the political which is at stake in the different professionalised domains where knowledge around our planet circulates. These professional domains, including and perhaps especially the scientific ones, mobilise a kind of sublime in Kant's sense, where the shock and awe of large-scale planetary change is conveyed through metaphor and visualisation techniques that make us aware of our subjective limitations in comprehending it all. Of course, this is where the climate change skeptics also find their opportunity for fomenting solipsism - "*we cant know for sure what's going on*, better to not get too worried about the doom and gloom promoted by the intellectual elites." So the politics of the sublime is where artists are, I think, on fertile ground for their investigations. There is something here about the level of abstraction in the climate change discussion and how this can be made sense of. To put together a complete plan of action for this group on how we collectively should respond to global warming is not so helpful because it's a system which has dimensions that are hard to define and a very diverse range of potential responses which have to be taken into account. As I have investigated previously, critiques of universalism get raised when a system is described through a particular cultural lens which ignores or excludes the experience of others - for example, in colonial settings there are often tensions between Western environmentalists who focus on a "protective" relationship to the environment, and indigenous peoples who may experience it in the context of resource use and maintenance. The gap between who is defining the idea of defining "climate" and who merely experiences it comes into play as central in motivating or demotivating action. Thus again, the gap between the everyday climate change skeptic watching Fox News and the scientific fraternity for whom the evidence is overwhelming are questions of cultural politics. For me artists bring us closer to these questions of subjectivity, as they always have. It's something about subjective affect which can open us up to the varied dimensions of climate change in the scientific world, and perhaps help us avoid both denial and demotivation that can occur in the face of something so vast and complex, yet with such specific effects, particularly nearby in the small Pacific islands. Regards, Danny On 2/11/2007, at 4:02 PM, Janine Randerson wrote: > A complilation of the posts so far: feel free to respond to these > threads on ADA > > ANDREA POLLI > [...] As an artist working with weather and climate ideas, I've been > thrilled by the opportunities presented by the recent explosion of art > exhibitions related to climate and sustainability, but it has > brought up > some larger questions in my mind about the role of art in society. > Here > are the questions in two groups: > > 1] Artworks operate within various economies, whether they are gallery > works or works of public art. How does this positioning in the > marketplace affect the message and effectiveness of the work? In > particular, how does the marketplace affect the interpretation of > works > addressing the urgent issue of climate change? Must artworks always be > seen in the context of some market? Is this beneficial to addressing > climate change? > > 2] Currently in the US, science is highly politicized, particularly > the > science of climate change. How do these politics affect art and > science > collaborations dealing with climate change? Weather and climate > research > has a certain amount of unavoidable uncertainty. This uncertainty has > been used to discredit science and has been exploited to support > various > political agendas. Art often presents a personal interpretation of > information. How does the personal expression element of art intersect > with the uncertainties of weather and climate science? Can this > intersection help or hinder public understanding of science? What > is the > responsibility of the artist to present 'correct' science in art/ > science > collaborations? With an element of uncertainty, how is 'correct' > science > to be determined? > Thanks; > Andrea > ******************* > ROGER MALINA > > Andrea, > You raise some important issues= which I would put > in a larger context of climate and culture ( not > just art and climate). As pointed out by Julien > Climate, like landscape, are cultural constructs > not perceptual "truths"= so your question about > how to embed current scientific understanding > accurately within art works i think needs to be > part of a larger question. Among other things > artists construct 'grand narratives" ( thus > the american landscape painters romanticised the > american west as a destination for migration), > or Turner in his weatherscapes gave dominion > of the weather to human beings. > > As emphasised by Ramon Guardans one cannot > separate 'climate' from other aspects of > the 'earth system'= and one concern is that > as we work within cultural organisations like > galleries we tend to 'simplify' in order > to make apprehensible. The art market, like > the market of ideas, likes to attach personalities > to ideas= to make them negotiable. I am not > sure that the art gallery system is any different > in this respect from any system where negotiation > is taking place. > Roger > > ROGER MALINA > You may be interested in a new experiment > in on line publishing called THOUGHTMESH > http://vectors.usc.edu/thoughtmesh/ > > It is being developed by Jon Ippolito, > Craig Dietrch, John Bell, Chirag Mehta > > I have deposited a text that I wrote called > LOVELY WEATHER: Asking what the arts can do for the sciences > http://vectors.usc.edu/thoughtmesh/publish/111.php > > The system creates a "mesh' of citations and > semantic connections to the texts. Perhaps other > yasminers writing on art and climate would be > interested in depositing their texts into THOUGHTMESH > > here is an excerpt of my text: > "If we truly want to understand ecological networks and climate > systems, > we have to inhabit other 'scales' and develop new kinds of senses. We > have to become aware of invisible dynamics at work to which our > unaided > senses are oblivious. Some artists choose to work through the various > kinds of sensors and other interfaces to make explicit these new > landscapes; others choose to access the large, and growing databases > about the world around us, but to make the content of these databases > apprehensible and sensible. We forget that the way we structure > thought, > language and metaphors themselves, spring from our sensory > experienscales, inevitably our way of thinking, our languages and > metaphors will > change. Both artists and scientists are needed to explore these new > territories and make them apprehendable." > ********************** > IAN CLOTHIER > > Roger’s message and text has many points worthwhile but I thought I > would add to some particular aspects of what he had to say. > > Understanding integrated systems is extremely important. The > weather of > course is an outstanding example of systems in integration. Take for > example a recent news item distributed by the Telegraph Group, which > discussed seeding storms with dust in order to change the direction of > cyclones and tornadoes, moving them away from large cities. The > very end > of the article referred to a possible conundrum: in the US there could > be lawsuits over damages caused to properties the storm is diverted > over. > > Leaving aside the question of what actually doing this might be > like and > whether it is actually possible, what is clear is that the weather > does > not stand beyond us, but we exist in an integrated system with it. > This > is true from storms to fires, to swimming at the beach in summertime. > > So the question really is not what can we do to the weather, but > rather > what is the weather trying to tell us? As a paradigm of a chaotic > situation, one aspect of chaos theory related to nonlinearity in > weather > is the breakdown of simple cause and effect – one cause could at a > later > time have a different consequence. And as it happens, we need to look > beyond Western European thought, for a heritage of models of > integrated > systems. > > As Malina says, it is time for an evolution in awareness in the West. > Another consequence of the engagement with nonlinearity is the fact > that > nonlinearity is cited in engineering and physics, and in post- > structural > notions such as the rhizome. We need to abandon the notion that one > person or thought is always correct, and look to the ways a > perspective > is both right and wrong. Dissolving academic boundaries and adopting > multicultural viewpoints might appear to be idealistic, but the > work has > already begun. > > The invitation said we should introduce ourselves, so I am an artist > writer with an interest in cultural hybridity and nonlinearity. > Some of > my projects are themed on hybridity, such as the district of > Leistavia, > which has an audience initiated constitution and includes substantial > and detailed measures in regard to wood conservation and recycling. > Leistavia is a meritocracy with ecologically sustainable values > driving > the economy. > > Other projects are themed on nonlinearity, which has involved the > use of > sensors, augmented reality and currently robotics. However while these > two themes appear to be of a different order or type, actually they > intersect in some unexpected places. Url: intercreate.org/ian. > ********************************* > NORIE AND MARIA (OUT-OF-SYNC) > Thanks, Janine, for moderating this discussion and we look forward to > taking part in it. In relation to our own work, Talking about the > Weather, and an exhibition we co-curated at UTS Gallery, Sydney > (with Jacqueline Bosscher), The Trouble with the Weather -- here > are some initial thoughts on your opening questions. > > 1.Is an emergent mode of relational art developing that is more > receptive to public anxieties and concerns about climate and > atmospheric pollution? > > Our project description for Talking about the Weather, which > involves social encounters in public places, directly addresses this, > so hope you dont mind if we just repeat it here: > Talking About the Weather is an ongoing cross media project sparked > by our response to the terrifying spectre of global climate change. > Sheer terror at the possibilities that are being talked about led us > to talking about the weather. In this project weathertalk is no > longer a banal exchange of local weather conditions, but instead we > ask people to donate their breath - the breath, which they would > normally use to talk about the weather and the same breath that is > spread far and wide as described bemphasises the dynamic nature of > the atmosphere and our part in its > creation and destruction. As Tim Flannery says, every breath you take > makes you part of a dynamic system called the atmosphere, or the > aerial ocean. > > 2.Does climate science need art? Is the collaboration between artists > and scientists useful for both parties and for society-at-large? > > There are various ways this collaboration takes place. In our > exhibition, "The Trouble with the Weather" we sought the > collaboration of University of Technology, Sydney scientists in the > exhibition catalogue where Stuart White and Jade Herriman, from the > Institute for Sustainable Futures and Tally Palmer from the Institute > for Water and Environmental Resource Management. They wrote catalogue > essays and, among other things, suggested the importance of art in > bringing issues of climate science to society-at-large. As Tally > wrote: > �This exhibition challenges us. The images and sounds break into our > senses, perhaps more clearly than other, more linear ways of > understanding. These luminous works call out for adventure, courage > and a willingness to learn new ways of thinking. New ways of tackling > this trouble with the weather�. > > 3.Does the ambidextrous figure of the artist-scientist or > scientist-artist become more relevant at a point of crisis like > climate change? > > This does not relate to our own work nor particularly to our > exhibition. Our focus was more on artists engaging with the issue and > on opening new ways for the public to engage. What made it all the > trickier was that one minute climate change was not on the agenda and > then suddenly it was so ubiquitous in the media that people were > talking about climate change fatigue. In both instances, there was > also a fear factor that we saw art as enabling people to bypass. > > 4.What expectations do curators and artist-participants have for the > audiences of current group exhibitions such as Eco-Media, (Madrid, > 2007) Weather Report (Boulder, 2007), and > The Trouble with the Weather (Sydney, 2007) Are new audiences > expected? > > Here's what we said in our curatorial statement: The Trouble with > the Weather: a southern response brings together artists from the > South Pacific, Australia and South America, working across media, to > respond to global warming. Using humour and the absurd, displays of > excess, sensual environments, intense imagination, and personal and > emotional responses, the artists offer us new ways to engage with > this politically overloaded and emotionally charged subject.� Its > not so much that we wanted new audiences, though we did actually get > some, but to offer new ways in to the concerns at a time of overload > and fear. > > 5.How do art projects and exhibitions function in relation to climate > activism? Are aesthetic experience and political consciousness > diametrically opposed? > > Not at all, we see aesthetic experience as opening up to political > consciousness �in an open ended and non-didactic way. Re this, we > agree with Roger Malina's recent post about art's developing new > senses. > > 6.Can art influence public policy on climate change? Is there a > social imperative for artists to act politically? > > Talking about imperatives seems somewhat tricky� And it�s hard to > know these days what influences public policy, living in Australia > where massive public mobilisations, eg, against the war in Iraq went > nowhere. We see it as important to keep a place alive where art can > also disturb social rules and regulations � so there can be an > artistic climate of diversity and multiplicity. > > 7.Roger Malina proposes in the introduction to the Eco-media > catalogue (2007), > The arts, as all other forms of human activity, must be > contributors to the new cultural vision of a different kind of > techno-scientific society. Currently artistic > interactions with science and technology are homeopathic; they need > to become systemic. How can this call for a systemic reconfiguration > of science-technology-art interactions be actioned? > > Your question here seems to raise a wider quscience, about new > media art and its relation to technology. Steve > Dietz has argued that we�re now at a point where 'new media art' > needs no longer to focus on technology per se. This seems important > to us, to be able to move beyond a formalist attention to technology > (which sometimes fell into beta testing for industry) to explorations > where as artists we can explore what's happening in techno-scientific > society with any technology or media. > > Best > Norie Neumark and Maria Miranda > http://www.out-of-sync.com > > **************************** > JANINE RANDERSON > thank you to all the respondents to the Lovely Weather thread so far, > > I posed a few questions at the beginning of this thread, and already > several more critical issues have emerged through posts from Roger, > Andrea, Ian and Norie. I think now is a good point to probe some > responses from other artists about some of the following issues: > > 1) Andrea Polli raised the complex issue of the affect that economic > demands of the gallery system may have on the production of > art/climate-science projects. She also asked whether the > subjective/interpretive position that artists often occupy, could work > against the need for correct science in a field which has an > unavoidable > uncertainty factor. > > 2) Roger Malina replied by emphasising that the art gallery system is > not necessarily different from any other human system where > negotiation > is taking place between climate science and culture at large. He makes > the point that an artists’ response is just as valid as a > scientists’, > if we consider that “climate” itself is a cultural construct. > > (: my art practice moves between the discourses of media hyperbole and > scientific data. For example I have displaced media images of > floods/storms that have not been proven to be directly caused by > climate > change, but they are often read in this way. I don’t think it is > damaging to the science if art practices occupy a broad spectrum of > positions from scientifically observed fact to the sensational (if > it is > read in context) – but what do scientists think about artists > ‘misreadings?’ ) > > 3) Ian Clothier responds to Roger’s text “What can art do for the > sciences” by urging that we look beyond Western modes of thought to > respond to the nonlinear integrated system of climate: he suggests > that > dissolving the boundaries of knowledge areas and adopting > multicultural > viewpoints is no longer just an ideal: this work has already begun in > practice. > > (:indigenous knowledge seems to be crucial to the discourse around > climate change. Is art an area where indigenous voices can be heard > more > clearly than other discourses?) > > 4) Maria and Norie from Out-of-Sync responded to the initial questions > with a description of their own artwork “Talking about the > Weather”. > They have also recently curated the exhibition “The Trouble with the > Weather: A Southern response” at UTS gallery in Sydney and they > provide > an insight into some curatorial decisions. > > Norie raises the issue of “climate change fatigue” through over > exposure > of the “crisis” in the media. > > (:this resonates with me as well – is art a small voice that gets > lost > among the clamour? Or does “keeping a place alive” for art, a > different > mode/space of thought, have a separate function to activism and of > course media which try to mobilise a mass audience. Does it matter if > the audiences for art projects are limited?) > > _______________________________________________ > Ada_list mailing list > [email protected] > http://aotearoadigitalarts.org.nz/ _______________________________________________ Ada_list mailing list [email protected] http://aotearoadigitalarts.org.nz/
