These are my thoughts on how art responds to the climate crisis! (In relation to the legacies of modernity and consumer culture)
In 1884, renowned artist and critic John Ruskin delivered a lecture raising concerns about the consequences of England's industrialization. He remarked that there was “something wrong with the sky”.
“It looks partly as if it were made of poisonous smoke; very possibly it may be: there are at least two hundred furnace chimneys in a square of two miles on every side of me. But mere smoke would not blow to and fro in that wild way ... By the plague-wind every breath of air you draw is polluted, half round the world.”
Ruskin described this phenomenon as 'The Storm-Cloud of the Nineteenth Century.' His talk was greeted with derision at the time. And yet, in our current state of environmental uncertainty, Ruskin’s warning feels strikingly prescient.
Many people know what is happening to our planet. But as the effects of climate change may feel far away, uncontrollable, it becomes difficult to empathise. Art has the power evoke empathy. It introduces people to different topics, bridging the gap between separation and understanding. By visually and emotionally engaging viewers, art brings distant or abstract issues into tangible, relatable contexts.
Responding to the climate crisis, many contemporary artists draw on the legacies of modernity and consumer culture, critiquing the very systems that contribute to environmental degradation.
Art's response to the climate crisis in the context of modernity involves a complex interplay of critique, reimagining, and activism. Modernity promoted a dichotomy between humans and nature, positioning humans as dominant. Contemporary artists challenge this by exploring more harmonious relationships between humans and the environment. For instance, Olafur Eliasson's installations often emphasize the interconnectivity of natural phenomena and human experience, encouraging viewers to reconsider their relationship with the natural world. Ai Weiwei's work often combines art with activism, addressing issues like pollution and waste. Similarly, the artist-activist collective Liberate Tate uses performance art to protest against oil sponsorship in cultural institutions, directly confronting the corporate legacy of modernity. Modernity's anthropocentrism is being re-evaluated through speculative and futuristic art that envisions post-anthropocentric worlds.
By questioning the values and practices of modernity, art contributes to a broader cultural shift towards more sustainable and equitable ways of living.
Olafur Eliasson is an artist who uses his medium to highlight the disconnection between urban life and nature, a byproduct of industrialization and consumerism. Eliasson's work responds to the climate crisis through art that emphasizes environmental awareness and sustainability, linking his contemporary approach to the legacy of modernity. To understand this relationship, it is insightful to consider Llewellyn Negrin's discussion on ornamentation and identity in modernity from Chapter 6: “Ornament and the Feminine" in Appearance and Identity; Fashioning the Body in Postmodernity.
Negrin's analysis revolves around the shift in modernity, particularly focusing on how ornamentation was historically deemed excessive and non-functional. This perspective, rooted in modernist principles, prioritized functionality and simplicity over decorative elements. Olafur Eliasson, while working in a contemporary context, engages with these modernist legacies by reintroducing elements of beauty, sensory experience, and emotional engagement in his art. He often uses large-scale installations that interact with natural elements, such as light, water, and air. By doing so, Eliasson challenges the modernist aversion to ornamentation and repositions these elements as central to raising awareness about environmental issues.
Eliasson's approach to the climate crisis involves creating immersive experiences that make abstract environmental issues tangible. For instance, his installation "Ice Watch" involved placing large blocks of ice from Greenland's melting ice sheet in public spaces. This installation serves as a direct, physical representation of climate change, engaging viewers on an emotional and sensory level. In this way, Eliasson addresses the climate crisis not through didacticism but through experiential learning and aesthetic engagement, which can be seen as a response to the modernist focus on functionalism over sensory and emotional engagement.
Negrin's discussion of the feminine and ornamental in modernity highlights how these aspects were marginalized and deemed less valuable within the modernist framework. Eliasson's work, by embracing the aesthetic and experiential, can be seen as reclaiming these marginalized elements. He reintegrates what was once considered 'ornamental'—the sensory, the beautiful, and the emotional—into the central discourse on urgent contemporary issues like climate change.
Art's engagement with the climate crisis through the lens of consumer culture involves a multifaceted critique of consumption habits, waste production, and their environmental consequences. Through different materials, methods and media, art can expose the detrimental effects of consumerism and propose more sustainable ways of living.
John Akomfrah’s work responds to the climate crisis by critically examining the legacy of consumer culture and its impact on the environment. Akomfrah often addresses themes of memory, history, and the socio-political impacts of consumer culture. In works like "Purple" (2017), Akomfrah uses multiple screens to juxtapose images of natural beauty with footage of industrialization and waste, highlighting the destructive impact of consumerism on the environment. By presenting these contrasts, Akomfrah critiques the unsustainable practices that underpin consumer culture and its contribution to the climate crisis.
To understand Akomfrah’s approach, it is useful to reference Caroline Freeland’s discussion in "Share the Fantasy" from the book Fashion: Thinking with Style. Freeland explores how consumer culture constructs fantasies and identities through fashion, which can be paralleled with Akomfrah’s critique of consumerism’s role in environmental degradation.
"Purple" explores the Anthropocene epoch, focusing on the profound environmental changes brought about by human activity. By blending archival footage with contemporary scenes of environmental destruction, Akomfrah emphasizes the historical continuity of consumerism's damaging effects. This method aligns with Freeland’s analysis of how consumer culture’s fantasies obscure the real, often detrimental, impacts of consumption.
Timothy Morton’s concept of ‘hyperobjects’, explained within his book ‘Hyperobjects: Philosophy and Ecology After the End of the World’, further resonates with Akomfrah’s work. Morton writes of massive entities like climate change that are so vast and complex they transcend our typical understanding of time and space. "Purple," can be seen as an attempt to make these hyperobjects more comprehensible by visualizing their effects on the planet.
Ai Weiwei is an artist whose work often sits at the intersection of critiquing both modernity and consumer culture. He highlights how the two are interconnected: modern industrial practices fuel consumer culture, which in turn exacerbates environmental degradation. By using materials and motifs that reflect both cultural heritage and modern industrial processes, Weiwei draws attention to the unsustainable practices rooted in these legacies.
"Sunflower Seeds", (2010), Weiwei’s installation at the Tate Modern, featured 100 million handcrafted porcelain sunflower seeds, made by artisans in Jingdezhen, China. The work comments on the loss of individuality and the impact of mass production - a hallmark of modernity. Each seed, though unique, is part of a massive, undifferentiated whole, reflecting how industrial processes erase individuality and contribute to environmental degradation. By using porcelain, a traditional Chinese material, Ai juxtaposes the artisanal with the industrial, highlighting the environmental and cultural costs of consumer culture’s preference for cheap, mass-produced goods.
The environmental costs of consumer culture were further explored in Dr. Nathaniel Weiner’s 2024 lecture on consumer culture. “...As a set of social, cultural and economic practices, together with the associated ideology of consumerism, [consumerism] has served to legitimate capitalism in the eyes of millions of ordinary people” (Bocock, 1993).
Bocock’s idea of consumerism ‘serving to legitimate capitalism’ is reflected in another of Weiwei’s notable sculptures, "Stacked" (2014). The piece is made from hundreds of stainless-steel bicycles stacked together. The bicycles symbolise the rapid urbanization and industrialisation of Chinese cities, reflecting the environmental impact of modern transportation and urban sprawl. The use of bicycles, a traditional mode of transport, in a mass-produced form underscores the shift from sustainable practices to consumer-driven and arguably capitalist environmental degradation.
Weiwei’s art serves as a powerful commentary on how industrialization and consumerism contribute to the climate crisis.
Through these examples, it becomes clear how art responds to the climate crisis by fostering a deeper understanding of the issues at hand and promoting a cultural shift towards sustainability. Artists like Olafur Eliasson, John Akomfrah, and Ai Weiwei illuminate the intricate connections between industrialization, consumption, and environmental degradation. Their works serve as powerful reminders of the urgent need to address the climate crisis, encouraging viewers to reflect on their roles within these systems and inspiring collective action towards a more harmonious and sustainable future.
Art, therefore, is not just a reflection of the climate crisis but a catalyst for change, offering new perspectives and solutions in the fight against environmental degradation.
Bibliography -
Bocock, R., 1993. Consumption. London: Routledge.
Eliasson, O., 2014. Ice Watch. [Art installation] (In possession of: Public display).
Freeland, C., 2010. Share the Fantasy. In: Fashion: Thinking with Style. London: Bloomsbury, pp. 45-67.
Morton, T., 2013. Hyperobjects: Philosophy and Ecology After the End of the World. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
Negrin, L., 2008. Appearance and Identity: Fashioning the Body in Postmodernity. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Ruskin, J., 1884. The Storm-Cloud of the Nineteenth Century. [Lecture] Delivered at Royal Institution of Great Britain, 4 February.
Tate, 2010. Ai Weiwei: Sunflower Seeds. [Art installation] (In possession of: Tate Modern).
Tate, 2014. Ai Weiwei: Stacked. [Art installation] (In possession of: Tate Modern).
Weiner, N., 2024. Consumer Culture and Environmental Impact. [Lecture] Delivered at University of Cambridge, 15 March.