art & the anthropocene

A R T & T H E

A N T H R O P O C E N E

S M 3 1 3 8 T H E C R E A T I V E C I T Y & U R B A N C R I T I Q U E

F R E D R I C K L A W O L M S T E A D

THE CULTURE OF NATURE

“In the broadest sense of the term, landscape is a way of seeing the world and imagining

our relationship to nature. It is something we think, do, and make as a social collective.”

-Alexander Wilson

F R E D R I C K L A W O L M S T E A D

PASTORAL PAINTING & LANDSCAPE DESIGN

LYNNE COHEN

LYNNE COHEN

MARK RUWEDEL, THE ITALIAN NAVIGATOR HAS SAFELY LANDED

MARK RUWEDEL, THE ICE AGE, LAKE MANLY, ANCIENT FOOTPATH FROM NEVARES SPRINGS TO THE LAKE, 1996

MARK RUWEDEL, CROSSING #7, 2005

ROBERT ADAMS – NEW DEVELOPMENT ON A FORMER CITRUS-GROWING ESTATE, HIGHLAND, CALIFORNIA, FROM “LOS ANGELES SPRING” 1986

“At that time a lot of the world was oddly obscene to photography – that is it couldn’t

be portrayed… There seemed to be a horror of facing the environment that we’d

made for ourselves. I felt, “okay, this is the hand that you’ve dealt me – these are

the fruits of mid-period American capitalism that you’ve given us. Well, look at

them.” - LEWIS BALTZ

P U L L & L I F E O F O B J E C T S ( 2 0 1 3 )

Cornelia Parker

MARY MATTINGLY

M A R Y M A T T I N G L Y

Cornelia Parker

The Furies (Titian Again), 2013 Floating a Boulder, 2012

M A R Y M A T T I N G L Y

Cornelia Parker

The Damned (Titian Again), 2013

P R O D U C T I O N L I N E -

M A D E I N C H I N A & M A D E I N T A I W A N

P O - C H I H H U A N G

Huang’s work Production Line – Made

in China & Made in Taiwan is based on

his familiar essay Blue Skin: Mama’s

Story, relating the trajectory of his

mother’s working life, from farm to

factory and back to farm again, and

encompassing the evolution of the

Taiwanese economy, including the

offshoring of the clothing industry.

By linking two sub-projects, two places

and two exhibitions, Production Line –

Made in China & Made in Taiwan

follows a circuitous industrial route of

migration, from the Taipei Biennial to

the Shenzhen Sculpture Biennial and

back to Taipei again, producing a blue

denim shirt co-designed by the artist

and a manufacturer. The work thus

focuses attention on history, culture,

the economy, and relations of

production and consumption.

M A X

L I B O I R O NLiboiron’s academic work focuses on

how invisible, harmful, emerging

phenomena such as “slow” disasters

and toxicants from plastics become

apparent in science and activism, and

how these methods of representation

relate to action.

SEA GLOBES (2013-2014)

“This series of sea globes are genuine New York City souvenirs. The plastics came from the Hudson

River in south Brooklyn, and the rocks are made of bituminous coal from in a landfill that closed in the

1930s at Deadhorse Bay, which now resides underwater at high tide, also in south Brooklyn. The snails

are from a well-known taxidermy shop in SoHo. Overall, the sea globes are accurate representations of

the waterfront environment in New York City today.”

MAX LIBOIRON

E N V I R O N M E N T A L M O N I T O R I N G D I A R A M A S

M A X L I B O I R O N

C O A S T M I N I N G ( 2 0 1 4 )

“In the installation Coast Mining,

Taiwanese artist Wu Chuan-lun

exhibits a selection of objects he

found at the beach that look for all

the world like rocks, but are actually

plastics or industrial byproducts that

blur the boundary between natural

and artificial.

The objects remind the viewer that

humanity has largely lost its direct

relationship to the earth and the

materials of nature, so much so

that we can't always tell the

difference.

This is why Bourriaud calls the

exhibition "a tribute to the coactivity

among humans and animals, plants

and objects"; it is a reminder to deal

gently with nature - and not just to

the art crowd.”

C H U A N - L U N W U

C O A S T M I N I N G ( 2 0 1 4 )C H U A N - L U N W U

W A T E RI V A N H O E R E S E V O I R , L O S A N G E L E S

In 2008, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power dumped

400,000 black plastic balls into the the Ivanhoe Resevoir to block out

the sunlight to protect drinking water.

I V A N H O E R E S E V O I R , L O S A N G E L E S

I N T O

E T E R N I T Y

M I C H A E L M A D S E N ( 2 0 1 0 )

MEGACITIES

M I C H A E L G L A W O G G E R ( 1 9 9 8 )