Changes in the environment and the shrinking biodiversity aroused the concern of the usual suspects – ecologists and biologists – but not only. These phenomena equally attracted the attention of historians and artists who want to place the consequences of these changes in content and visually depict them.
The term “environmental art” emerged on the art stage. This term has a twofold meaning:
Nature appears in art in a variety of forms, from photorealism to abstraction. Art imitates it by trying to visually resemble objects the way they look in reality. Abstract forms are likewise a replica of nature, but they go through one’s own interpretation, the result of study, observation and contemplation of natural phenomena and forms.
Art opens our eyes to the complexity and beauty of the natural world and manages to visualize the complex interactions on humans with nature. Art has the power to educate the viewer on important environmental topics like conservation, sustainability, biodiversity or endangered habitats. The goal is to change people’s mentality about what they consumer, both literally and esthetically.
Artists started researching the visual resources of agricultural science and practice. They are trying to delve into the processes of food and fiber production and attract the interest of their audience to them, especially that of urban people who are not familiar at all.
Actually, art and agriculture have always been related, ever since the time of pastoral landscapes but only now can one come across a bright red plastic alligator crawling towards the nearby pond on their way to a greenhouse.
At one of the latest editions of Art Basel, the world expo of art galleries, experts and collectors held the discussion “The Artist as a Farmer” (in the literal sense). The idea came from the Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas who pointed out that “the future belongs to the countryside”.