[Leonardo/ISAST Network] Art & Climate Discussion moderated by Janine Randerson on YASMIN

[Leonardo/ISAST]

Leonardo, Co-sponsor of the YASMIN Network, is pleased to announce a new 
topic, moderated by Janine Randerson:
 
Can Art be a 'mediator' between climate, science and society?
 
Discussions will take place beginning in November on both the YASMIN and 
Aotearoa Digital Arts (ADA) discussion lists.
 
YASMIN list:http://www.media.uoa.gr/yasmin/
Aotearoa Digital Arts list: http://www.aotearoadigitalarts.org.nz
 
The November YASMIN-ADA discussion focuses on the relationship between 
art and climate science, within the broader framework of science-art 
discourse. Art is often framed positively as a "mediator" between 
science and society. However, negative readings of the relationship 
between climate science and art have positioned artists as 
"appropriators" of techno-science, who simply "aestheticize," or relate 
to science in a "shallow" way or, still worse, "misread" climate 
science. In recent  years, art has been widely considered elitist, 
anthropocentric and unreceptive to social requirements.
 
Science also has a public relations problem. In the book /Making Climate 
Forecasts Matter/ the scientists Stern and Easterling admit, 
"...research addressed to questions framed by climate science is not 
necessarily useful to those whom climate affects." (Easterling, 1999: 
3).  Results from a UK poll published through /The Guardian/ (July 2007) 
found that the public is highly informed about climate change, yet most 
people are still skeptical about the seriousness of the threat. The 
majority surveyed believed that scientists and politicians are 
overstating the anthropogenic effect on the weather.  We have reached an 
impasse where there is a high level of public awareness about climate 
change, indeed an over saturation, yet there is no corresponding mass 
action or direction.
 
So how can art, science and the public reception of these knowledge 
fields, overcome perceived failings and differences, and link together 
productively to face an uncertain future for sustainable life? This open 
provocation aims to generate perspectives from artists, scientists, 
curators and the public on the following questions:
 
- Is an emergent mode of "relational" art developing that is more 
receptive to public anxieties and concerns about climate and atmospheric 
pollution? 
 
- Does climate science need art? Is the collaboration between artists 
and scientists useful for both parties and for society-at-large?
 
- Does the ambidextrous figure of the "artist-scientist" or 
"scientist-artist" become more relevant at a point of crisis like 
climate change?
 
- What expectations do curators and artist-participants have for the 
audiences of current group exhibitions such as Eco-Media, (Madrid, 2007) 
Weather Report (Boulder, 2007), and The Trouble with the Weather 
(Sydney, 2007)? Are new audiences expected?
 
- How do art projects and exhibitions function in relation to climate 
activism? Are aesthetic experience and political consciousness 
diametrically opposed?
 
- Can art influence public policy on climate change? Is there a social 
imperative for artists to act politically?
 
- Roger Malina proposes in the introduction to the Eco-media catalogue 
(2007), "The arts, as all other forms of human activity, must be 
contributors to the new cultural vision of a different kind of 
techno-scientific society. Currently artistic interactions with science 
and technology are "homeopathic"; they need to become systemic."
 
- How can this call for a systemic reconfiguration of 
science-technology-art interactions be actioned?
 
Janine Randerson,
/Leonardo Lovely Weather Art and Climate Project,/
October 2007
 
Confirmed participants include:  Sabine and Karin (Eco-media), Out of 
Sync (Maria Miranda and Norie Neumark, AUS), Danny Butt (Ecomatics and  
Geomatics), Sally McIntyre (NZ), Ruth Wallen, Aviva Rahmani, Andrea 
Polli (Weather Report, USA), Ramon Guardans (Spain) and others. All 
contributions to the discussions welcome.
 
How to Register: Visit the YASMIN (Your Arts-Science Mediterranean 
Network) site and register your email address:
 
http://www.media.uoa.gr/yasmin/index.php?yasminText=form

Leonardo/ISAST is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization. Donations are 
tax-deductible in the U.S. To learn more about Leonardo/ISAST's 
projects, programs and activities, visit http://leonardo.info

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