The ART of Conservation

Why not put Art at the Heart of our Green Message? For many of us the monochromatic flatness of the written word especially the bland messages we read leave us feeling despairing and flat (in 60 years all tillable soil will have disappeared, in 10 years all orangutan habitat will have been depleted, all polar ice caps will have melted………). Consequently, the task of redressing the harm we are doing to the planet seems too great.

In this post we discuss the various ways artistic expression has blossomed in sprouting the green movement’s creative roots.

Cartoons and art about green themes such as habitats and animal extinction can raise awareness and can uplift the audience to pique interest or achieve a change of heart (with the use of blunt realism, satire or good natured humour). 

Art-works sourcing Upcycled and Repurposed materials, eg Portugese artist, Alexandre Farto who chips away at the exteriors of old buildings, creating incredibly powerful portraits. (Presumably, created with the owners’ consent.) That’s one way to make a point, and save on Paint Materials and Canvases. Banksy is another Guerilla Street Artist whose works are based around pro-peace, justice and environmental themes.

Alexandre Farto – Guerilla Artist

Isaac Cordal - Politicians discussing climate change. (Berlin)

Here is an image generated by ChatGPT, AI, by my son to convey the power of Mother Nature and a general cure-all for Nature Deficit Disorder, and inactivity in children.

This photograph is a spoof on River Plunge Selfies and says it all ….. It barely needs a caption or explanatory notes.

- Possibly AI (Unknown) - Sourced from Facebook.

Arts as Crafts:

When in doubt about one’s artistic credentials, why not stick to the practical application of making things and upcycling, when it comes to expressing a creative green cause or idea.

Trash Fashion – also known as Rags to Runway gives young people the opportunity spend their time collecting unwanted items and transforming them in to something elegant, using anything from potato sacks to jewellery made from river waste (washed of course). One example of this rags to riches is occurring in the remote Salt Farming community of Fish Island, Kampot, in Southern Cambodia. As seen in the flyer below, youngsters are making their ‘threads’ out of recycled produce bags and other materials. On display recently, at the Fish Island Community Arts Centre, Kampot, Cambodia and creative artist, chef and teacher extraordinaire, Kek Soon and Julien Poulson were on deck to direct the trashy proceedings.

Miguicho fashion show poster

Think: environmental heroes like Miguicho from Galapagos Islands who has spent decades collecting his debris and constructed sculptures out of 1million cigarette butts, literally littered around the Island.  He’s living proof that an older man who has endured every struggle known to man (being abandoned at sea during childhood, poverty, grief, alcoholism) can find direction, meaning and strength by being kind to his body and a champion for our Earth.

Miguichio Source: Elements Group website

Other forms of Creative Expression

Think: Direct Action, Environmental Stunts and Pranks,  FlashMobs  (anything confrontational and with an element of surprise) to galvanise the public to action by bringing people together to interact and engage with ideas and themes in a way that they wouldn’t, normally. Slogans or leaflets, normal lecturesome environmental emails, videos, letter writing to Parliament - don’t necessarily cut it in terms of galvanising action. 

Another example – Rob Greenfield, Environmental Campaigner Extraordinaire who carried all the waste he had generated, for an entire month, on his back.  He was a social influencer before the term had even been invented.

Environmental Campaigner and “Stuntman” – Rob Greenfield

Direct action - I recall the dumping of large volumes of plastic waste at Treasury Gardens, Melbourne, campaigning with Friends of the Earth in the 1980s - to draw attention to the vast quantities of plastics being diverted to land-fill. Hmm…. despite the introduction of Container Deposit Legislation across much of Australia, we still have such a long way to go in our recycling efforts.

Inspiring Educational Videos

One inspiring You Tube clip we stumbled across succinctly explains the underlying causes of sudden changes in our climate. The video reminds us that the content or validity of information are only one device, and require clear, and effective delivery of that information. 

Audio-Visual Ingredients

VIDEO CONTENTS:  a globe, a pen, a hair dryer, a fish tank filled with water, two types of cooking oil.  

Throw one clever Instructor in front of a Video Camera and Shazam!!

After watching about 5 more technical videos about the distinction between El Nino and La Nina – all of which left me distinctly bamboozled, flabberghasted and muddled, this video is exquisite in its creativity, clarity and simplicity. Thanks go to amazing teacher, Brandie Freeman (Sustainable Teacher Blogspot) for teaching the El Nino/La Nina equation to someone who was pretty average at Geography. 

So we see the ideational canvas for employing environmental creativity (eco-creativity as we have coined) extends to infinity, if campaigners just put their imaginations to good use.

Brandie Freeman Teacher Extraordinaire - Sustainable SchoolTeacher.Blogspot.com