Art and Climate Change

World of Art

by Maja Fowkes, Reuben Fowkes

An overview of ecologically conscious contemporary art that responds to today’s environmental crisis, from species extinction to climate change. Art and Climate Change collects a wide range of artistic responses to our current ecological emergency. When the future of life on Earth is threatened, creative production for its own sake is not enough. Through contemporary artworks, artists are calling for an active, collective engagement with the planet in order to illuminate some of the structures that threaten biological survival. Exploring the meeting point of decolonial reparation and ecological restoration, artists are remaking history by drawing on the latest ecological theories, scientific achievements, and indigenous worldviews to engage with the climate crisis. Across five chapters, authors Maja and Reuben Fowkes examine these artworks that respond to the Anthropocene and its detrimental impact on the planet’s climate, from scenes of nature decimated by ongoing extinction events and landscapes turned to waste by extraction, to art coming out of the communities most affected by the environmental injustice of climate change. Featuring a broad range of media, including painting, photography, conceptual, installation, and performance, this text also dives into eco-conscious art practices that have created a new kind of artistic community by stressing a common mission for creators all over the world. In this art history, the authors emphasize the importance of caring for and listening to marginalized and indigenous communities while addressing climate uncertainty, deforestation, toxicity, and species extinction. By proposing scenarios for sustainable futures, today’s artists are reshaping our planet’s history, as documented in this heavily illustrated book. 155 color illustrations

Genres: Art, Art History, Ecology, Nature, Science, History

294 pages, Paperback

First published April 7, 2022

Reviews

[Nina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well researched and acutely up to date, this book looks at art not from an art historical or genre perspective, or from a perspective of the most accomplished artists of our time, but from the angle of the most relevant art tackling climate change, environmental problems and the social and political issues that are entangled in it. The book is well organised in different sections, starting with geological aspects and the changes forced upon our planet as a whole by humans. It continues to look at soil, rivers, oceans, glaciers and the sky, closely followed by a section focusing on plants and another on animals and non-human persons. The final section zooms out from the close view again to look at ecologies as a whole, the transformations made or necessary to curb and survive climate change, and future outlooks. The examples quoted in the sections are very interesting and the context explained very well (which is necessary for many research-based artworks that are not easily understood by just seeing the artwork).
All in all a very inspiring read!

[suneater · Rating 1 out of 5]

serves as more of an archive of contemporary climate change art - each chapter references a good number of artworks and describes what they are, who the artists are, what materials were used, what the works are supposed to mean/achieve/portray, but i find that it lacks critical engagement with the actual artworks themselves and only one measly paragraph is dedicated to one work at a time. it severely lacks depth and body - there is no art criticism in this, and there is barely any climate criticism either once you look past the sprinkling of basic facts about global warming that anyone could easily google or find out about on wikipedia.

dnf page 90

[Clare O'Beara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Artworks by world artists relating to the environment.
Words which may be new: plastiglomerate, a mess of plastics melted together into a lump. Synanthropes - plants that adapt to living in artificial habitats, such as in waste dumps. Extractivism - process of taking out without returning anything. Ballast flora - plants that spread to new lands by being carried as seeds along with ballast rocks in ships.

The book has dense text, a paragraph often almost a page long. The author expects the reader to be familiar with the industries, problems and their causes. A brief explanation accompanies the artworks. These may be photos, a pile of mock gold ingots made from earth, a scattering of smashed zircon, a plastic flower. Artists are often protesting a problem, like the expansion of open-cast mining near a town, or laying pipelines across a natural area. Protesting, but not offering solutions, or not on the scale that is needed. Some of the works require context explanation, like a white bathtub full of oil with a pair of hands emerging, while others are immediately understandable, like a photo of a broken plastic bottle with a plant rooted in it.

I enjoyed the section on riverine ecologies, because that had photos of rivers, and on post-glacial landscapes, for the mountain and ice photos. I saw several references to Naomi Klein's This Changes Everything, an excellent book. Many other books are referenced.

Particularly interesting to me was the black locust tree as an invasive plant in Hungary, until at the end of 300 years it was fondly adopted as a national tree, colonising derelict sites. Also, a Polish project using sea buckthorn to cleanse a mining site and produce superfood berries. I like positive stories. There are some tragic stories, relating to animals particularly. But there's a great photo of a Przewalski's horse against a red sky with wind turbines. I'd buy that.

Further reading starts p. 275, index p. 288.
I read this from the RDS Library. This is an unbiased review.

[Nestor · Rating 5 out of 5]

In a world where predatory and voracious ultra-right capitalism is gaining ground, often masked by attractive yet deceptive rhetoric that promotes environmental destruction and denies the reality of climate change, this book stands out as a vital counter-narrative. It articulates the voices of artists who are urgently warning us about the looming threat of the sixth extinction, a crisis that is undeniably the result of human actions—essentially, we are the ones launching the metaphorical meteor. This book serves as a refreshing breath of air amidst the smog of misinformation and apathy.

For me, this is the best book I have read this year and undoubtedly one of the most impactful works on climate change. It masterfully intertwines two critical topics: the urgency of addressing climate change and the transformative power of art. By blending these themes, the book not only informs but also inspires, urging us to reconsider our relationship with the planet and the role of creativity in advocacy. Its compelling narratives and artistic expressions resonate deeply, making it a necessary read for anyone concerned about our future.

The ultra-right is so desperate to obtain short-term profits, destroying the environment, and alienating consumers with practices such as those described in this book. Until when will society tolerate this type of leadership and rebel, it seems that never... well, let them continue consuming shitty products, with the degraded environment increasing shitflation.

[Thomas Conner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Leaned heavily on academic language but still very good