Art and ecology: online resources.The combination of art with ecology offers unique opportunities to build interdisciplinary connections in your curriculum through individual and collaborative projects in which students study ecological issues, envision artistic solutions to ecological problems, and share their ideas through artworks The following sites will help identify pertinent ecological issues and provide valuable resources for both you and students to explore. Artist Sites There are a number of Web sites that feature contemporary artists whose work addresses ecological issues. The Art:21 Web site (www.pbs. org/art21/artists/chin/clip2.html) profiles artist Mel Chin Mel Chin, b. 1951 Houston, Texas is a conceptual visual artist. Motivated largely by political, cultural, and social circumstances, Chin works in a variety of art mediums to calculate meaning in modern life. and offers two short video clips on his Revival Field project, in which he restored the ecology of a hazardous waste Hazardous waste Any solid, liquid, or gaseous waste materials that, if improperly managed or disposed of, may pose substantial hazards to human health and the environment. Every industrial country in the world has had problems with managing hazardous wastes. landfill site landfill site n → vertedero landfill site n → centre m d'enfouissement des déchets landfill site land n by planting jimsonweed jimsonweed, n Latin name: Datura stramonium; parts used: flowers, leaves, roots; uses: asthma, Parkinson's disease, irritable bowel syndrome; precautions: children, pregnancy, lactation, patients with nervous disorders; liver disease, heart and other transformative plants that eliminate toxic substances from the soil. Reclaiming damaged environments and ecosystems in artistic and sustainable ways is a goal shared by many ecological artists. In the early 1980s, Patricia Johanson worked with a group of engineers, city planners, scientists and local citizens to transform Fair Park Lagoon in Dallas, Texas “Dallas” redirects here. For other uses, see Dallas (disambiguation). The City of Dallas (pronounced [ˈdæl.əs] or [ˈdæl. from a dangerous, polluted body of water into a public place teeming teem 1 v. teemed, teem·ing, teems v.intr. 1. To be full of things; abound or swarm: A drop of water teems with microorganisms. 2. with life. Learn more about Fair Park Lagoon and other environmental art projects designed by Johanson on her Web site (www.patriciajohanson.com). Mierle Laderman Ukeles has served as artist-in-residence at the New York City New York City: see New York, city. New York City City (pop., 2000: 8,008,278), southeastern New York, at the mouth of the Hudson River. The largest city in the U.S. Department of Sanitation since 1979 where she is currently involved in redesigning and reclaiming the Fresh Kills Landfill The Fresh Kills Landfill on the New York City borough of Staten Island in the United States, was formerly the largest landfill in the world, at 2200 acres (890 hectares),[1] and was New York City's principal landfill in the second half of the 20th century. on Staten Island, the largest garbage landfill in North America (69.20.65.248:8082/home.html). View images of some of Ukeles' past performances, installations, and environmental art projects at the Ronald Feldman Gallery Web site (www.feldmangallery.com/pages/ artistsrffa/artuke01.html). Lynne Hull's sculptures and environmental installations, which she calls "trans-species art," are designed to restore wildlife habitat damaged by human encroachment and encourage people to reassess their relationship with other species. Learn more about Hull's work and how your students can make their own backyard sculptures to shelter wildlife on her Web site (www.eco-art.org). Organization Sites Environmental organizations are another good source of information and educational materials for classroom use. The Center for Global Environmental Education Web site (cgee.hamline.edu) includes an online unit for K-8 classrooms titled "Self Expressing Earth" that combines ecology with the expressive arts to teach environmental education. Ecoartspace (www. ecoartspace.org) is a nonprofit organization Nonprofit Organization An association that is given tax-free status. Donations to a non-profit organization are often tax deductible as well. Notes: Examples of non-profit organizations are charities, hospitals and schools. working internationally with individuals and organizations that are interested in using art as a tool to create radical approaches to restoring the Earth. Greenmuseum.org (www.greenmuseum.org) is an online museum of environmental art dedicated to advancing creative efforts that improve our relationship with the natural world. Their Web site features the work of over seventy-five environmental artists, online exhibitions, news items, a "toolbox for educators," links to related sites, and more. At the Wave Hill Glyndor Gallery Web site, you can take your students on a virtual tour of a 2004 exhibition titled "Reduce/ Reuse/Reexamine" (www.wavehill. org/arts/reduce_reuse_reexamine re·ex·am·ine also re-ex·am·ine tr.v. re·ex·am·ined, re·ex·am·in·ing, re·ex·am·ines 1. To examine again or anew; review. 2. Law To question (a witness) again after cross-examination. . html) that features the work of seventeen contemporary artists who use a range of discarded materials and conceptual strategies to explore issues of consumption, waste generation, and removal. Online Readings If you or your students are researching ecological art, be sure to check out ecovention, (www.greenmuseum.org/c/ecovention) an online version of the book by the same name, written by Sue Spaid, and published to coincide with a 2002 exhibition at the Contemporary Arts Center The Contemporary Arts Center (CAC) is a pioneering contemporary art museum located in Cincinnati, Ohio. The CAC is a non-collecting museum that focuses on new developments in painting, sculpture, photography, architecture, performance art and new media. of Cincinnati. The site juxtaposes ecological facts alongside case studies of environmental projects that artists have carried out while collaborating with scientists and community members. Finally, Hilary Anne Frost-Kumpf's 1995 essay titled "Reclamation Art: Restoring and Commemorating Blighted Landscapes" (slaggarden. cfa.cmu.edu/weblinks/frost/FrostTop.html) is an excellent source of historical information on artworks that have been proposed or constructed by artists as a means to reclaim landscapes that have been damaged by human activities. Craig Roland is an associate professor of art education in the School of Art and Art History at the University of Florida University of Florida is the third-largest university in the United States, with 50,912 students (as of Fall 2006) and has the eighth-largest budget (nearly $1.9 billion per year). UF is home to 16 colleges and more than 150 research centers and institutes. in Gainesville, Florida. He is the author of The Art Teacher's Guide to the Internet (Davis Publications, 2005), and an advisory board member for SchoolArts. rolandc@ufl.edu |
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