Art Attack: The Earth Charter & Art

Barnett Newman - "the primary function 

of art is to express man's relation 

to the absolute." 

One of the many reasons art is such a powerful outlet and learning tool is because it cannot escape its place in reflecting to some extent the spirit of the times. Even so called avant-guard works, or those works 'said to be before their time', are an outcome influenced from their times and are a kind of reply. It could be argued that the avant-guard might even be a sign of critical reflective thinking responding to a critical thought of the world. 

More and more daunting environmental concerns have been portraying themselves through art. Many have begun to arise that call for change in environmental paradigms or a realization of what is at stake though joining art with education. 


The Earth Charter Initiative 
The Earth Charter Initiative is a unified effort to promote humanities transition to sustainable lifestyles by promoting shared values and principals outlined through the Earth Charter (EC) declaration. Though during the Rio Earth Summit they were not able to get nations to agree upon these values, they have been  able to breach a well rounded lot of focus groups that have non-political manifestos, such as: business, education, religion and spirituality, UN and global governance, communication and media, youth, climate change, local communities and governments, and art. :)

Jonas Correa's Monument to The Earth Charter
(1998)

Their consideration of art as a main focus group for their cause is likely do to its' nature of challenging current paradigms, influencing the public, and instigating change. Conversely, the EC has also inspired artists in the development of their artwork.
The sculpture on the right by Jonas Correa was made for the EC in Mato Grosso Brazil. It depicts the Earth being held up by a tree, surrounded by 5 children linking hands. The 5 children represent the 5 continents; their linking symbolizes the collaborative efforts of humanity to protect and secure the planet. The purpose of the sculpture was to promote the values and principals of the EC and was unveiled in a exuberant event in order to draw attention and contemplation to the cause. The EC comments that their "message of the interconnectedness of humanity is strongly conveyed" in this work.

The EC hops to continue inspiring artists in their work.
Hit the jump for more EC inspired artwork. Plastic arts, exhibitions and posters, video, music, poetry, children's art work, and performances 

Attention Artists! I want to take this opportunity to further encourage art inspired by the EC Initiative by bringing attention to the universality of its values and principals outlined in the EC. These shared values and principals were written to appeal to all that appreciate humanity on Earth in order to create a wider public consciousness and commitment. Therefore, one should not feel constrained by sticking to some kind of check list. Rather, I believe it is most liberating to read their Charter, critically think and reflect, and internalize it to be able to express it in coordinance with individual creative thought and feeling.

My artwork for instance usually has underlining 'green-y' messages. They may or may not be expressed in an exhibitions thesis descriptions, but are inevitably portrayed one way or the other. Artwork promoting social and environmental consciousness and questioning has a symbiotic relationship with the agenda of the EC. It may be argued that all artwork does, since it causes critical thinking and reflection bringing individuals closer to self-actualization.

"What is the explanation of the seemingly insane drive of man to be a  painter and poet if it is not an act of defiance against man's fall and an assertion that he return to the Garden of Eden? For the artists are the first men."   - Barnett Newman

Here Today - Moving Images of Climate Change
The following project, directed by Julie Doyle, a media studies scholar, David Harradine, an artist, and others, is multidisciplinary approach to exploring visualization of climate change. Possibly without knowing and following their own creative agendas they are also promoting the EC. They including stakeholders in creating an educational piece of art directed at climate skeptics and stagnant believers. Their multidisciplinary approach analyses how art and media "deal with levels of abstraction, how they are affected by context, and how they address the relationships between the visual, the poetic and the political (University of Brighton Faculty of Arts 2011)."

The artists are attempting to create a project that will empower and engage people by portraying visuals of climate change around the themes of:

•  embodiment.
•  time.
•  place, space, & landscape

(Video currently Not Available)

Will post ASAP.

Activity
Make your own creative work showing the movement or changes from climate change. Includes research on a climate change aspect and explanation of planning and design.
(needs elaboration)




___Resources___
Earth Charter Initiative Resource Library - for guidelines
Earth Charter Art Page - for inspiration

___Cite___

The Earth Charter Initiative 2011, The Earth Charter, accessed on the 10th of September,  <http://www.earthcharterinaction.org/content/>


University of Brighton Faculty of Arts 2011, ‘Here Today – Moving Images of Climate Change’, University of Brighton Faculty of Arts, accessed on the 10^th of September, <http://arts.brighton.ac.uk/study/media-studies/research/here-today--moving-images-of-climate-change>