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Bridging the Binaries: Assessing Ecoart Practices within the Context of Environmental Activism

by Ann Rosenthal

First published in n.paradoxa Volume 9 (Eco) Logical January 2002

In 1962, marine biologist Rachael Carson published Silent Spring in which she exposed the impact of pesticides on human and planetary health. Carson warned, "Like the constant dripping of water that in turn wears away the hardest stone, this birth-to-death contact with dangerous chemicals may in the end prove disastrous." Almost 40 years after Silent Spring, Carson's words rang true as Dr. Sandra Steingrabber accepted the Rachel Carson Achievement Award at the Women Assessing the State of the Environment (WASTE) summit in Pittsburgh (November 8-11). As Dr. Steingrabber discretely nursed her newborn on stage, she reported that breast milk is the most toxic human food, yet she chose to breast feed because its health benefits could not be replicated. Steingrabber spoke poetically of the uterus as a delta which bathed the fertilized egg in springs of blood. The power of her words awakened our hearts as her facts spurred us to action.

Steingrabber's weaving of science and metaphor is a potent strategy used by artists to educate and activate the public on environmental issues. When my colleague Steffi Domike and I learned of plans for WASTE, we saw an opportunity for women ecoartists to be informed by the crafting of a U.S. women's environmental action agenda for the United Nations World Summit on Sustainable Development 2002. Additionally, we recognized a space in which to evaluate our field within a context of environmental activism. Working with Dr. Ellen Dorsey, Director of the Rachel Carson Institute at Chatham College, we integrated artists into WASTE through a web of ecoart exhibitions and a one-day symposium, Bridging the Binaries.

For artists who took part in the exhibitions, the summit, and the symposium, a shift in perspective emerged. As Pittsburgh artist Reiko Goto reflected, "I am often very anxious about the concept of working together, but after yesterday, I know exactly what it means. We all shine by recognizing and resonating [with] each other... To encourage and to be encouraged are important to accomplish [the] tremendous amount of work [needed] to change and expand the world." WASTE transported us beyond the confines of an art world that critic Suzi Gablik characterizes as ego- rather than eco-centric.

The selection of our symposium title, "Bridging the Binaries," suggests ecofeminist analyses that expose a "logic of domination" underlying sexism, classism, racism, and naturism. As a strategy, bridging the binaries conjures alter-tales to our mechanistic thinking inherited from the Scientific Revolution, which splits mind and body; views the body as a machine rather than a living system; and elevates spirit over matter which, by extension, sees the earth and those closest to it as an exploitable resource.

Our morning panel, "Assessing the Field" laid fertile ground for an engaged discussion on ecoart and the role of artists in response to WASTE. Led by New York artist Jackie Brookner, we explored how artists bring strategizing skills to people and nature. What is "art" in this context? Panelist Susan Steinman's public art installations connect common daily experiences to broader social issues, shifting her practice from the production of objects to collaborating with communities. Working with scientists and policymakers, Aviva Rahmani crafts solutions to water degradation for large landscapes and makes visible the intersections between human and non-human systems. For these artists, the resulting "art" may be a community garden or a restored wetland, bearing little resemblance to the commodities of the art market.

The afternoon panel, "Eco-Techne" moderated by Steffi Domike, surveyed how artists are subverting technologies to serve people rather than capital. Electronic media artist Nell Tenhaaf discussed her current project ­an interface for a plant and bacteria-based waste water treatment system, at St. Norbert Arts and Cultural Center Manitoba, Canada, which suggests the inseparability of human and non-human processes. Josely Carvalho presented her "Book-of-Roofs" web project and video of endangered peoples and forests in her homeland, Brazil. I presented "Future Natures," an embodied installation that includes an interactive image database navigating nature, the body, and technology. These panelists clearly offer models for a human-centered technology that provides an intimate interface between nature and culture.

A key discussion point throughout the day was developing replicable models for change. Mo Dawley, Art Librarian at Carnegie Mellon University, stressed the value of sharing rather than guarding our intellectual property ­ a critical prerequisite to building on each other's "field experience". Echoing throughout WASTE was a call for visibility and visualization of issues and information, and broadening "the environment" to include social justice and human rights. As evidenced by the symposium, ecoartists are developing processes for asking deep questions, revealing connections between human and non-human natures, and educating the public about sustainable, systems-based solutions. As a case in point, Jackie Brookner highlighted her recently installed environmental sculpture which is part of a wetland water filtration system for a public swimming complex in Germany, eliminating the need for any chemicals.

The symposium concluded with a discussion of what we might bring to the U.N. World Summit. We developed a general consensus that artists have valuable insights and methodologies to share with activists and policymakers. We agreed to continue our discussion and explore the opportunities.

Ecofeminism insists that theory must inform practices that lead to sustainable social and environmental change. For ecoart to be effective, we must offer our work as a viable strategy within this larger sphere of activism. As artists who are engaged in revisioning our relationship to one another and the planet, our work can bridge the binaries to reclaim and integrate; to honor feeling as a way of knowing, and to reveal the weave of history and memory, evolution and ecology that we hold in trust for the future. To realize this agenda, we need eco-centric assessments of our field and methodologies. Our greatest challenge may be to suspend our desire for recognition within our own field to advocate the value of our work outside our discipline. Though these two goals need not be mutually exclusive, our commitment to the rights of all species for healthy environment--beginning with our first environment of women's bodies and mother's milk--must guide our work.

Chatham College | Chatham Masters in Digital Technology | Rachel Carson Institute