Leonardo Discussion on Art and Climate Change on YASMIN

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 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