Art and Ecology: Migration, Photography, and the Aesthetics of the Defenseless

Administrative Announcements and Course Context

  • Class Schedule Change: The instructor reminds students that for this specific week, the class is being held on Wednesday.

  • Excursion Payments: A reminder was issued regarding unpaid fees for the upcoming trip.

    • Students experiencing difficulties are encouraged to contact Yacobo or the teachers to resolve issues individually.

  • Course Milestones: This is the final class where instructors will provide direct input.

    • The course is being taught for the first time at KU Leuven.

    • Preparation for the upcoming oral exam is a priority, intended to be an interesting exchange between teachers and students.

  • Session Objective: The goal of the current session is to wrap up themes, introduce new material, and provide context and connections between topics addressed throughout various previous classes.

The Białowieża Forest: Animal Agency and the Crisis of Migration

  • Case Study: Biaowo Viesha Forest: Located on the border between Poland and Belarus, this forest is described as a tragic and dramatic ecological case.

  • Border Infrastructure: A massive fence has been constructed through the middle of the forest to prevent human migrants from entering the EU.

  • Impact on Wildlife: The fence has bisected animal populations.

    • Highly affected animals include lynxes and bisons.

  • Scientific Monitoring: Katarzyna Novak from the Mammal Research Institute of the Polish Academy of Sciences has documented the situation.

    • Despite initial expectations of a manageable impact, the results have been devastating.

  • The Dehumanizing Overlap: The situation represents an intersection of dehumanizing migrant treatment and the destruction of animal life due to human-to-human political conflict.

  • Art and Ecology Intersection: While migration has not been the central focus of the course, it is highlighted as being deeply interconnected with modern ecological questions.

Lasting Behavioral Effects of Barriers: The Iron Curtain Case Study

  • The Mexico-USA Border: An image of a desert wall between the USA and Mexico is used as a "dismal version" of the environmental art by Christo and Jeanne-Claude.

  • Legacy of Barriers: Even if physical fences are removed, migratory routes are not easily restored.

  • Historical Comparison - Red Deer:

    • Study location: The border between the Czech Republic and the former West Germany.

    • Context: An electric fence stood during the Cold War until the late 1980s and was removed over 25 years25\,\text{years} ago.

    • Finding: Modern Red Deer still refuse to cross the line where the Iron Curtain once stood.

    • Biological implications: The life expectancy of a deer is approximately 15 years15\,\text{years}. Therefore, no deer currently alive ever encountered the physical barrier, yet the avoidance behavior is ingrained as if it were in their DNA.

  • Animal Anxiety: Animals in the Biaowo Viesha Forest are observed to be extremely anxious, refusing to approach the fences.

Photography as Research and the Legacy of Susan Sontag

  • Personal Practice and Ground Sea: The instructor discusses how their own photographs of fences in Calais became instrumental for the writing of the book Ground Sea.

  • Photography as a Tool: Students are encouraged to use their phones to capture images as reminders and essential keys for writing and research material.

  • Susan Sontag’s On Photography:

    • The ecology of the medium: Sontag is a foundational reference for writing relevantly about images.

    • The last 20 pages20\,\text{pages} of her book consist entirely of piled citations and quotations.

    • Homage to W. B. (Walter Benjamin): Her method of using citations is a tribute to Benjamin.

  • The Negative Epiphany:

    • Sontag describes seeing photographs of Bergen Belsen and Dachau at a bookstore in Santa Monica in 1945 at age 12.

    • She defines this as a "negative epiphany"—a sudden shock or revelation that divides life into "before" and "after."

    • The violence of the medium: Sontag argues photography is inherently a violent medium because of its power to reveal such reality.

Personal Epiphanies and the Dolphin Encounter

  • Positive Epiphany: The teacher contrasts Sontag’s negative experience with a personal, positive epiphany encountered while sailing.

  • The Incident at Sea:

    • Location: Atlantic Ocean, west of the Canary Islands.

    • Condition: The vessel entered a "wind acceleration zone" during stormy weather.

    • Participants: Four people—the instructor, their partner, and two young children.

  • Interaction with Non-Humans: When the winds calmed, a school of dolphins accompanied the boat.

    • The instructor observed a dolphin leader jumping out of the water with apparent joy.

    • This was interpreted as encouragement from "more than human interactors."

  • Academic Application: This experience led to the creation of a nautical chart and a manifesto within the Ground Sea framework.

Theoretical Frameworks: The Urchin vs. The Mollusk

  • Concept of the "Weak Image": A manifesto for images that are not typically "strong" or monumental but possess resilience through their perceived weakness/wetness.

  • Jean Michelet's Biological Metaphors:

    • The Urchin (The First World): Represents a world dependent on oil, cars, and isolation. It is a "masterpiece" that has become a prisoner of its own perfection (the "Kremlin Of The Urchin"). It is stuck with no way out.

    • The Mollusk (The Second World): Represents an alternative that starts from scratch using only natural elements (wind, water, earth).

    • Characteristics: Soft, unprotected, vulnerable, and unable to isolate. It must remain connected to the deep ocean and sunlight.

    • Examples: Cockles and abalones.

Contemporary Art and the Market: Astrid Nobel and Edward Burtynsky

  • Astrid Nobel:

    • Her studio visit revealed the use of cockles from the Wadden Sea.

    • Her process involves keeping her works wet so they can evolve, embodying the "weak/wet image" theory.

  • Edward Burtynsky:

    • Known for his Oil series and "petro-sublime" photography.

    • The Ambivalence of Oil: Burtynsky views it as both a source of energy that makes everything possible and a source of dread that endangers habitats.

  • Market Disparities:

    • Reflections on the art market: Jeff Wall's work has sold for $3,000,000\$3,000,000.

    • Burtynsky’s "hammer price" for oil works is approximately $7,000\$7,000 to $8,000\$8,000, though others reach $100,000\$100,000.

    • Emerging artists like Nobel work outside these massive commercial scales, focusing on regenerative practices.

Analysis of Aerial Photography and Historical Postcards

  • René Desclais (Early 20th Century): Progenitor of kite aerial photography.

    • Methods: Used balloons to take photos from up to 1,000 meters1,000\,\text{meters} high.

    • Imperial View: This "top-down" perspective influenced modern photographers like Burtynsky.

  • The Ideology of the Caption:

    • Original Caption: "View of Newport Beach with its characteristic checkerboard pattern."

    • Alternative (Instructor's) Caption: A view of a dune landscape being eroded by an "artificial orthogonal urban grid."

  • The Postcard Project (Oosthenkerke):

    • Location: A rehabilitation clinic in a hospital on the Belgian coast.

    • Format: 62 reproduced postcards62\,\text{reproduced postcards} from the late 19th century to the 1950s.

    • Physical Dimensions: The installation was 6 meters6\,\text{meters} long and 1 meter  57 high1\,\text{meter}\;57\,\text{high}.

    • Insights: Postcards revealed World War I as an early "eco-site" of destruction and exposed tensions between native inhabitants and wealthy tourists (sea culture).

Terminology and Political Context: Defining "Indigenous"

  • The Term "Indigenous": A critique of its casual usage.

  • Political Definition: In academic and indigenous studies, the term should be reserved for political contexts involving settler colonialism.

  • Misuse Case: A marine biologist claimed to be "indigenous" to Belgium (Inheims in Dutch).

  • Distinction: The instructor notes that while one may be "native," the term "indigenous" is inappropriate for Belgium as there is no framework of settler colonialism.

Sustainable Photographic Practice and the Cyanotype

  • Robin Kelsey (Harvard): Argues that art must reduce its ecological footprint and transition from a "boundary-making machine" to a "boundary-breaking machine."

  • The Cyanotype Process:

    • Categorized as a "weak image" because the paper is literally wet and vulnerable during the process.

    • Perspective: "Worm's eye view"—photographing from the height of plants/animals with the head in the sand.

  • The Sea Rocket (Cakile maritima):

    • A plant that grows closest to the shoreline and helps create dunes.

    • Symbolizes regeneration and resilience.

  • Sustainable Darkroom Experiments:

    • The instructor created a sustainable darkroom in a hospital clinic.

    • Natural Bleaching: Proved that chemicals are unnecessary for bleaching photographs.

    • Plant Agents: A tea/soup made from Sea Rocket or Catnip (Nepeta cataria) can naturally bleach a print in 60 minutes60\,\text{minutes}.

    • Toning Agents: Madder powder (historically used for makeup and oil paints), rosemary, safflower, fenugreek, and laurel.

The Hanover Principles and Ecological Ethics

  • Andres Pardo Picone’s Adaptation: Applying the Nine Hanover Principles (originally from sustainable design) to photography:

    1. Insist on the rights of humanity and nature to coexist.

    2. Recognize interdependence.

    3. Respect the relationship between spirit and matter.

    4. Accept responsibility for the consequences of design.

    5. Create safe objects of long-term value.

    6. Eliminate the concept of waste.

    7. Rely on natural energy flows.

    8. Understand the limitations of design.

    9. Seek constant improvement through shared knowledge (culture of sharing vs. capitalization).

  • Aesthetics of the Defenseless: A concluding aesthetic category focusing on images that seem weak but derive power from the agency of nature (the "agency of plants").

Questions & Discussion

  • Question (Instructor): "I was wondering if anyone else here actually in the room sometimes sails or has been sailing?"

  • Response (Student): "Yes… Croatia, nice."

  • Question (Instructor): "And did you have good or bad weather circumstances?"

  • Response (Student): "Okay."

  • Closing Interaction: The instructor asks if there are any final responses or thoughts before the break. There are no immediate questions, leading to a ten-minute break.