Synopses & Reviews
"Linda Weintraub creates the first thorough and illuminating study for rethinking the environmental impact of art practices, and the meaning of aesthetics, in relation to larger ecosystems. Through a carefully curated selection of international artists, she lays the foundation for a deeper analysis of the complexity and diversity of eco practices, linking these to other movements, past and present. The critical language is accessible and invaluable for understanding and analyzing the historical and conceptual underpinnings of ecologically based art works. All those interested in shaping the uncertain future will find
To Life! a must-read."and#151;Patricia Olynyk, Artist, Director, Graduate School of Art, Florence and Frank Bush Professor of Art, Sam Fox School of Design and Visual Arts, Washington University in St. Louis.
"To Life! is an informative guide that illuminates and elucidates environmental problems and ecological relationships. This remarkable multidisciplinary effort cuts the jargon of both the art and science worlds to bring the inspiration and insights of EcoArt to environmentalists, conservationists, and the general public."and#151;Daniel Simberloff, Nancy Gore Hunger Professor of Environmental Studies, University of Tennessee
Review
and#8220;An indispensable addition to fine art libraries, museum collections, and libraries focusing on environmental science and conservation. . . . Highly recommended.and#8221;
Review
and#8220;I believe this book will become an essential reference work for all those working as, or thinking of becoming, eco artists."
Review
and#8220;This book is not only ideal for students but should also be essential reading for educators and curators alike.and#8221;
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"The book is a work of artist profiling and art theory, woven with clear and thoughtful insight. It belongs on the bookshelf of every intelligentsia."
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"To life! is thus offered to inspire more attempts to find ways out of our problems."
Synopsis
The ubiquity of digital images has profoundly changed the responsibilities and capabilities of anyone and everyone who uses them. Thanks to a range of innovations, from the convergence of moving and still image in the latest DSLR cameras to the growing potential of interactive and online photographic work, the lens and screen have emerged as central tools for many artists.
Vision Anew brings together a diverse selection of texts by practitioners, critics, and scholars to explore the evolving nature of the lens-based arts.
Presenting essays on photography and the moving image alongside engaging interviews with artists and filmmakers, Vision Anew offers an inspired assessment of the mediumand#8217;s ongoing importance in the digital era. Contributors include Ai Weiwei, Gerry Badger, David Campany, Lev Manovich, Christian Marclay, Land#225;szland#243; Moholy-Nagy, Walter Murch, Trevor Paglen, Pipilotti Rist, Shelly Silver, Rebecca Solnit, and Alec Soth, among others. This vital collection is essential reading for artists, educators, scholars, critics, and curators, and anyone who is passionate about the lens-based arts.
Synopsis
To Life! Eco Art in Pursuit of a Sustainable Planet documents the burgeoning eco art movement from A to Z, presenting a panorama of artistic responses to environmental concerns, from Ant Farmand#8217;s anti-consumer antics in the 1970s to Marina Zurkowand#8217;s 2007 animation that anticipates the havoc wreaked upon the planet by global warming. This text is the first international survey of twentieth and twenty-first-century artists who are transforming the global challenges facing humanity and the Earthand#8217;s diverse living systems. Their pioneering explorations are situated at todayand#8217;s cultural, scientific, economic, spiritual, and ethical frontiers. The text guides students of art, design, environmental studies, and interdisciplinary studies to integrate environmental awareness, responsibility, and activism into their professional and personal lives.
Synopsis
and#147;A valuable, timely, and stimulating collection.and#8221;and#151;Geoff Dyer, author of
The Ongoing Moment and#147;Vision Anew is a remarkable compendium of important artists, practitioners, theorists, and essayists, who muse on what constitutes creativity in the lens and screen arts today. The book reveals how the intersection of a mobile Internet with photography and video has radically changed what we expect from the witnessing camera. I think this book is destined to be essential reading for all those thinking about the future of our visual culture.and#8221;and#151;Mark Lubell, Executive Director, International Center of Photography
and#147;Brings together prophetic historic texts with the best of recent thinking to create an essential reader. This book provides a critical framework that genuinely supports a creative life in photography; its pluralism in the range of ideas and voices speaks out for what is new and what is enduring in the vital dynamics of photographic culture.and#8221;and#151;Charlotte Cotton, author of The Photograph as Contemporary Art
About the Author
Adam Bell is a photographer and writer. Coeditor of
The Education of a Photographer, he has written for numerous publications, including
Afterimage, The Brooklyn Rail, The Art Book Review,FOAM Magazine,
photo-eye, and
Paper Journal. He is currently on staff and faculty in the MFA Photography, Video, and Related Media Department, School of Visual Arts.
Charles H. Traub is chair of the MFA Photography, Video, and Related Media Department, School of Visual Arts, and president of the Aaron Siskind Foundation. His many books include Dolce Via: Italy in the 80s, The Education of a Photographer, and In the Realm of the Circuit, and his writings have been published in Connoisseur, Fortune, Newsweek, Aperture, U.S. News and World Report, Afterimage, Popular Photography, American Photographer, and The New Yorker.
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Table of Contents
Online Auxiliaries for Instructors and Students
Acknowledgments
Preface
Schematics/Indexes/Glossaries
Art Genres
Art Strategies
Eco Issues
Eco Approaches
Art: Artistic Infrastructure
Introduction
Eco Art Is
Eco Art Is Not
Eco: Ecolog ical Operatives
Introduction
Eco Art Themes
Eco Art Aesthetics
Eco Art Materials
Twentieth-Century Eco Art Pioneers
Ant Farm (USA) and#149; Conspicuous Consumption
Herbert Bayer (Austria) and#149; Watershed Management and Beautification
Joseph Beuys (Germany) and#149; Energy Generation as Social Sculpture
Hans Haacke (Germany) and#149; Ecological/Political/Cultural Systems
Helen and Newton Harrison (USA) and#149; Strategies to Sustain Life
Friedensreich Hundertwasser (Austria) and#149; Built Environments as Living Systems
Allan Kaprow (USA) and#149; Performing a River
Frans Krajcberg (Poland) and#149; Integral Naturalism
Mario Merz (Italy) and#149; Template of Life and Dynamism
Carolee Schneemann (USA) and#149; Primal Immersions
Bonnie Ora Sherk (USA) and#149; Urban Oasis
Alan Sonfist (USA) and#149; Preservation of Living Systems
Mierle Laderman Ukeles (USA) and#149; Honoring Maintenance
Twenty-First-Century Eco Art Explorers
Brandon Ballengand#233;e (USA) and#149; Species Reclamation
The Beehive Design Collective (USA) and#149; The True Cost of Coal
Mel Chin (USA) and#149; Soil Remediation
Chu Yun (China) and#149; Planned Obsolescence
Critical Art Ensemble (USA) and#149; Contestational Biology
Fernando Garcand#237;a-Dory (Spain ) and#149; Neo-Pastoralism
Bright Ugochukwu Eke (Nigeria) and#149; Acid Rain Check
Nicole Fournier (Canada) and#149; Poly Agriculture
Amy Franceschini (USA) and#149; Do-It-Yourself Energy Generation
Gelitin (Austria) and#149; One with Nature
Andy Goldsworthy (UK) and#149; Anthropocentric/Ecocentric Beauty
Andy Gracie (UK) and#149; Bioelectronics
Tue Greenfort (Denmark) and#149; Salvation through Conservation
Terike Haapoja (Finland) and#149; Cross-Species Affinity
HeHe (UK and Germany) and#149; Air Pollutants
Natalie Jeremijenko (Australia) and#149; Citizen Ecologists
Yun-Fei Ji (China) and#149; Failings of an Engineering Triumph
Eduardo Kac (Brazil) and#149; Painting with Life
Jae Rhim Lee (South Korea) and#149; Cultivating the Human Body
Maya Lin (USA) and#149; The Sixth Extinction
Michael Mandiberg (USA) and#149; Tactical Media Campaign
Viet Ngo (Vietnam) and#149; Corporate-Scale Eco Art
Marjetica Potrc (Slovenia ) and#149; DIY Renewal for Slums and Condos
Red Earth (UK) and#149; Deep Time
Pedro Reyes (Mexico ) and#149; Pistols into Spades
Tomand#225;s Saraceno (Argentina) and#149; Sun/Wind/Flower Power
Simon Starling (UK) and#149; Energy Foibles and Follies
Gerda Steiner and Jand#246;rg Lenzlinger (Switzerland) and#149; Twin Perils and#151; Excess and Scarcity
Tavares Strachan (Bahamas) and#149; Prepping for Global Warming
SUPERFLEX (Denmark) and#149; Toolbox for Social Justice
Reverend Billy Talen (USA) and#149; Stop Shopping Gospel
Tissue Culture and Art Project (Finland and UK) and#149; Victimless Leather and Meat
Lily Yeh (China) and#149; Holistic Healing and Renewal
Marina Zurkow (USA) and#149; Turf Wars and Global Warming
The Future
Addendum: Personal Survey and#151; What Do I Believe?
Suggestions for Further Research
Index