Humcore Waste Jan 21
Contemporary Ecological Arts: The Theme of Waste
Introduction to the Theme of Waste
Focus on contemporary ecological arts dealing with waste, specifically highlighting the work of Jim Shaw.
Jim Shaw's piece titled "Eat".
Composed of refuse, particularly old McDonald's Happy Meal toys that have been mashed and melted together.
The title "Eat" signifies the accumulation of trash, serving as a commentary on consumer waste.
Historical Context
Many contemporary artists focus on waste and refuse, primarily active in the last fifty years, especially in the twenty-first century.
This period is termed the contemporary period of art, where trash art and junk art emerges.
Reference to 19th-century artist Édouard Manet, who painted "Rag Paper" in 1869, signifying early interest in trash-related themes.
The art form involves traditional methods like painting on canvas rather than utilizing refuse directly.
Theoretical Framework by Amanda Butskis
Amanda Butskis’s difficult yet rewarding text, exploring intersections of art history, philosophy, and moral theory concerning environmental issues.
She notes the shift in environmentalism from a multifaceted view (scientific, political, epistemological, ethical) to a narrowed focus on global warming and sustainability.
Mid-20th-century demands included systemic change (nuclear disarmament, democratization of food production).
Contrast with contemporary environmental efforts that emphasize lifestyle management rather than collective action.
Critical Perspectives on Ecological Art
Buscus introduces trash as a subject to combat the restrictive green loop of thinking that limits ecological discourse.
Mention of Slavoj Žižek's view that ecologists are particularly engaged with trash.
Connections made with previous art movements:
Earlier examples include the imperial landscape as a paradigm and land art exemplified by Robert Smithson’s use of industrial forms.
Contemporary art diverges by explicitly addressing waste and toxicity through various mediums.
Key Contemporary Artists Addressing Waste
Edward Burtynsky: Focus on industrial scales of waste, praised and criticized for aestheticized views of toxicity, like photographs of nickel tailings in Southern Ontario.
Chris Jordan: Known for photographs showing the decaying bodies of birds found with plastics in their stomachs.
German artist Hans Haacke and others using landfill waste to invoke themes of consumption and environmental impact.
The Focus on Specific Artists
Hungarian-born artist ANTIGONE, who crafted a wheat field on a landfill site in New York City, titled "We Feel a Confrontation" (1982).
Explores the paradox of utilizing valuable real estate for the planting, growing, and harvesting of wheat amidst urbanization and waste.
Different perspectives of her work are captured through performative, confrontational photographs highlighting urban and rural interactions.
Dialogue Between Art and Ecology
Connection to the discourse of ecology and its interrelation with gender, contributing to notions of "ecofeminism."
Emphasizes individual experiences with environmental harm, particularly involving women.
Comparisons made with artists like Mura, who performed maintenance art, cleaning museum steps as an act of art itself.
Notable 1969 manifesto by Mierle Laderman Ukeles on maintenance art:
Distinguishes between "development art" (pure individual creation) and "maintenance art" (sustaining and preserving created works).
Maintenance Art and Environmental Consciousness
Ukeles’s engagement with sanitation workers is pivotal in understanding the unseen labor behind urban cleanliness and the cultural implications of waste.
Ukeles’s work leads to a broader dialogue about gender roles in the labor of art vs. maintenance.
The proposal of "earth maintenance" directly connects her work with environmental issues.
Touch Sanitation Project
Ukeles engaged 85 sanitation workers, personally connecting through handshakes and documenting the social labor involved.
Examined contrasts in labor expectations based on gender, reflecting the art versus maintenance paradigm across urban landscapes.
Community Responses and Exhibitions of Junk Art
Discussion of a specific exhibition called "66 Signs of Neon" by Noah Purifoy and Judson Powell following the Watts Rebellion (1965).
Artists collected debris post-uprising and created art from it, emphasizing community involvement and reflection on loss.
The artwork connects with broader themes of environmental justice, specifically addressing how communities of color are disproportionately affected by waste.
Statistical and Sociological Aspects
Nathan Hare’s piece on black ecology underscores the intersectionality of environmentalism.
Notes that unmarked environmental movements often ignore specific racial and socio-economic realities, leading to environmental racism that affects lower-income and communities of color.
Environmental degradation is frequently more evident in impoverished neighborhoods compared to affluent areas.
El Anatsui and Transnational Reflections on Waste
Anatsui’s rise to prominence represents a modern-day encounter with trash in art.
His large, woven works constructed from bottle caps prompt discussions on colonialism, materiality, and socio-economic contexts.
Despite critical acclaim for aesthetics, the deeper social narratives of waste and exploitation remain under-discussed in mainstream art circles.
Conclusion
Contemporary ecological artworks prompt audiences to rethink relationships with trash, urging consideration of the labor and specific societal impacts behind waste production.
The lecture encourages reflection on intersectional environmental issues and the representation of marginalized voices within the environmental art discourse.
Contemporary Ecological Arts: The Theme of Waste
Introduction to the Theme of Waste
Focus on contemporary ecological arts dealing with waste, specifically highlighting the work of Jim Shaw.
Jim Shaw's piece titled "Eat".
Composed of refuse, particularly old McDonald's Happy Meal toys that have been mashed and melted together.
The title "Eat" signifies the accumulation of trash, serving as a commentary on consumer waste.
Historical Context
Many contemporary artists focus on waste and refuse, primarily active in the last fifty years, especially in the twenty-first century.
This period is termed the contemporary period of art, where trash art and junk art emerges.
Reference to 19th-century artist douard Manet, who painted "Rag Paper" in 1869, signifying early interest in trash-related themes.
The art form involves traditional methods like painting on canvas rather than utilizing refuse directly.
Theoretical Framework by Amanda Butskis
Amanda Butskis’s text exploring intersections of art history, philosophy, and moral theory concerning environmental issues.
She notes the shift in environmentalism from a multifaceted view to a narrowed focus on global warming and sustainability.
Mid-20th-century demands included systemic change such as nuclear disarmament and democratization of food production.
Modern efforts often emphasize lifestyle management (e.g., recycling, carbon footprints) rather than collective or systemic action.
Critical Perspectives on Ecological Art
Trash as a subject combats the restrictive "green loop" of thinking that limits ecological discourse to aesthetic nature.
Mention of Slavoj ŹiŹek's view that ecologists are particularly engaged with the psychological and physical reality of trash.
Connections with land art: Robert Smithson’s use of industrial and entropy-based forms.
Key Contemporary Artists Addressing Waste
Edward Burtynsky: Focuses on industrial-scale waste (e.g., nickel tailings in Southern Ontario).
Chris Jordan: Documents the metabolic impact of plastics, specifically the bodies of birds filled with microplastics.
Hans Haacke: Investigates landfill waste to invoke themes of consumption and environmental degradation.
Focus on Specific Artists: Agnes Denes and Maintenance
Agnes Denes: Planted a $2$-acre wheat field on a landfill site in New York City, titled "Wheatfield — A Confrontation" (1982).
Explores the paradox of using valuable Manhattan real estate for agriculture vs. urban waste.
Mierle Laderman Ukeles: Famous for her 1969 "Manifesto for Maintenance Art".
Distinguished between Development Art (creation, individual spark) and Maintenance Art (sustaining, cleaning, preserving).
Conducted the "Touch Sanitation Project", shaking hands with all New York sanitation workers to highlight the dignity of labor often rendered invisible.
The Politics of Black Ecology and Environmental Racism
Nathan Hare’s "Black Ecology" (1970):
Argues that the mainstream environmental movement is often skewed toward middle-class white concerns like wilderness preservation and aesthetic pollution.
Black Ecology focuses on the urban environment: overcrowding, lead poisoning, lack of sanitation, and the presence of toxic waste in segregated neighborhoods.
Highlights that environmental degradation is not democratic; it follows lines of socio-economic and racial marginalization.
Environmental Racism: The systemic placement of hazardous or waste-intensive industries in low-income or BIPOC communities, leading to disparately high health risks.
Junk Art and Community Crisis: Watts Rebellion
Noah Purifoy and Judson Powell: Created "66 Signs of Neon" following the 1965 Watts Rebellion.
They collected tons of debris (melted neon signs, lead, wrecked materials) from the streets post-uprising.
The art became a way to process the social loss and structural decay of the Black urban experience through the very materials of its destruction.
El Anatsui: Material Transnationalism
Use of aluminum bottle caps and copper wire to create tapestry-like sculptures.
The materials reference the history of trade between Europe, Africa, and the Americas (the "triangle trade").
Represents a globalized encounter with trash, where materials of consumption reflect histories of colonialism and ongoing economic exploitation.