The Earth Issue
The Earth Issue Editors In Chief Maela Ohana
Elena Cremona
www.thearchvecollective.com
www.elenacremona.com
Graphic Designer Dipo Kayode-Osi www.kayodeosi.co.uk
Special thanks to Adam Popli and Elizabeth Fleur Willis for their time and assitance.
Print Inquiries elena@theearthissue.com
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www.theearthissue.com www.thearchivecollective.com Facebook: /archivecollectivemag twitter: @earth_issue Instagram: @elenacremona @archivecollectivemag
Cover image ‘If I had one wish‘: Alba Giertz | alba.giertz.com Overleaf: Georgina Parker | georginaparker.com All images published in The Earth Issue are property of the respective artists and no assumption of ownership is made by this publication. The contents may not be reproduced without explicit permission from The Earth Issue, Archive Collective Magazine, and the respective contributors. Printed in the United Kingdom © 2017 The Archive Collective | Elena Cremona
Contents 07. Introduction
the sensuous approach 10. Andrew Gold 12. Alba Giertz 14. Lucas Seres Peltzer 16. Luca Tombolini 20. Ram Vafa 24. Georgia Noble 26. Samuel Zeller 28. Elizabeth Fleur Willis 30. Misty Granade
the investigative approach 36. Carla Cascales 38. Steve LĂŠon Brown 42. Zuri Camille de Souza 46. Jim Frazer 48. Elsa Leydier 50. Ana Maria Guerra 52. Wara BullĂ´t 56. Miguel Rodriguez 60. Rachel Thomson 63. Georgina Parker
the narrative approach 68. Kieran Behan 74. Elena Cremona & Adam Popli 78. Joseph Barnes 81. Marco Barbieri 84. Nora Lowinsky 87. Javier Kaplan
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Introduction Climate change is among the most pressing of contemporary global concerns, not only for the sake of ensuring the safety and wellbeing of future generations, but also because of its tangible and destructive effects on present-day (human and non-human) communities. So pervasive are its effects that activist and author Naomi Klein has called climate change the world’s « meta-issue, » in that environmental degradation renders vulnerable every living being on Earth. In light of current global disasters- from droughts to wars for resources, from floods to marine pollution, it has become increasingly clear that these complex challenges must be tackled as an urgent and united social effort. The movement towards more sustainable societies requires not only shifts in technology and policy, but also a radical transformation of our underlying social values. The need of the hour is to create innovative platforms for dialogue and collaboration between policy makers, academics, cultural thinkers, environmentalists, scientists, and different sectors of the civil society. Coming together to effectuate change requires a deep cultural shift; one which allows us to recognize our shared interests in environmentalism, negotiate solutions, and move together in a mutually beneficial direction. The problem is that for many of us, climate change remains an abstract concept; learnt through the dry language of science and statistics and far removed from tangible everyday existences.
Arts and culture have always played a powerful role in raising awareness about complex issues, galvanizing public opinion around a shared vision, and effectuating mental or physical transformation. This role is vastly under-realized when it comes to climate change, but creative thinkers are increasingly coming together to bring innovative perspectives to environmentalist efforts and strategies. Art has the power to advance environmental movements in ways that are unavailable to most other approaches, in that it appeals to people on the level of intuition and meaning. Its inherently trans-disciplinary form can help create new narratives which could lead to alternative, compelling solutions. As a catalyst for change, art should not be ignored or underestimated. Our aim with this issue was to create a collaborative and experimental space in which artists, writers, photographers, and other creative professionals could vocalize their thoughts on this intersection between art and environmentalism. Because, in the words of Ansel Adams,
“ T he quality of place, the reaction to immediate contact with earth and growing things that have a fugal relationship with mountains and sky, is essential to the integrity of our existence on this planet.”
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We therefore need to find ways of reaching deeper understandings of environmental issues, by engaging with them through multiple and trans-disciplinary approaches. How can we find ways of talking about climate change that are inclusive, non-hierarchical, sensitive to positionality and flexible to change? How can we inspire responses that are not only rational but also emotionally charged and subjective?
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the sensuous approach :
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rtists who engaged with the theme of environmentalism by drawing inspiration from the beauty of the natural world. Natural landscapes, colors, tones, moods and elements acted as a starting point for their creative expression, with the intention of re-engaging the viewer with nature through poetic and emotional representations.
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Andrew Gold As our vantage point shifts, our relationship with the ocean changes. Closer up, some may find images of water challenging or threatening. Our past experiences can make it difficult to perceive a scene objectively, for what it is. Yet, as the distance increases, a level of safety is established, allowing us to see the ocean beyond its power and embrace its turbulence, chaos and beautiful formations. It becomes possible to get lost in an image, and hopefully experience the sense of calm, stillness and wonder I experienced as I created these photographs. These images, from the series “Above� were shot on medium format color negative film and printed in the darkroom.
Photographer www.andrewgoldphoto.com
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Stand tall babe
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Your voice was so soft
Alba Giertz Alba Giertz is a Swedish artist based in Stockholm. Her work is deeply related to her own journey through the storms of life, acting as a tool for emotional release and a means of finding substance in a world that can seem empty and vapid. In 2011-2015 she took a break from photography following a bout of delusion and depression, but found her way back into the arts in the summer of 2015 - this time choosing a narrower focus in the sub fine art scene. Here, she found herself unapologetically free to express a more sombre aesthetic. Creativity can act as a channel to ventilate morbid thoughts. And for Alba, the relationship between art and emotion has been symbiotic. Through sharp observations she uniquely unchain transient feelings from time, skillfully mixing enigma with precise realism. By emphasising imagery with her original writing her output tumbles between being shy and loud, clear and ceaselessly filled with passionate mystery.
Photographer www.alba.giertz.com
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Inhabiting the aftermath Lucas Sere Peltzer “Landscape is a medium in the fullest sense of the word. It is a material means like language or paint, embedded in a tradition of cultural signification and communication, a body of symbolic forms capable of being invoked and reshaped to express meanings and values.�
W. J. T. Mitchell, Landscape and Power.
We are inhabiting the aftermath of our negligence to the environment, inexorably intertwining the signification of landscape with contemporary threats. Landscapes are charged with this bond. I am exploring the delicate state of nature by dwelling into both: landscape and bond. Searching for (charged) reagents within singular moments, I aim to open new circuits of reactions for sustained memory. Photographer www.ialmostcutmyhair.com
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Luca Tombolini LS VIII is the latest series in a breathtaking collection of prints by Luca Tombolini, a self-taught photographer from Milan. Specialized in fine art landscape photography, Luca uses large format cameras to capture the dreamy scenes he encounters in his explorations of the great outdoors, translating the images onto large scale prints through drum scanning. His artistic practice is a meditative inquiry into the link between landscape and Unconscious, looking to spaces devoid of human presence as a means of reflecting on one’s own existence.
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Photographer www.lucatombolini.net | IG: @lucatombolini
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Ram Vafa
My background as an artist is really kind of simple: I create because it gives reason to exist, and having reason to exist creates chance to serve purpose. It breaks down all barriers between language and communication and allows me to connect on a universal level. Through memory, sounds and emotions in forms of colour, fluid movements and environmental elements, I can express my part in communicating a level of understanding. Even from before I could remember I was always trying to create through abstraction, painting landscapes and pencil sketches of my favourite Nintendo characters, it was the one thing I could count on as a kid. But through the years it took a backseat and faded into a transparent possession; what I loved most was forced out of my vision through a lack of self-awareness. Starting from our most susceptible years during school education, to failing my first business venture... I lost my craft. But through a turn of events and experiences I came to realise how important it is to not only acknowledge our possessions and express on both internal and external levels, but to further develop our selfawareness, which can help us to highlight and address issues within our environment. To help me do that I juggle a part time job to keep myself afloat, and use whatever I have left to invest into my craft, selling my work along the way. Through acrylic mediums and resin on hand crafted wooden base canvas’s I found I could create these focus points I speak of. This is where the fluid movements of our rivers, the cut edge detail carved into mountain edges and the vibrant wavelengths within colours that align best with us become my go-to. My inspiration for all shapes, colours and movements you see within my work; I have our environment to thank for that. Helping me attach the physical form of nature’s movements with the sounds that can be perceived within colours, allows me to create work holding more than just visual value, but the universal language of humanity with our environment as an anchor point.
Painter IG: @ramkaractor
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Georgia Noble It is my aim that my works provoke questions of the metaphysical and subtly hint at the sublime, challenging preconceptions of our existence within nature and addressing our inferiority and mortality in relation to it. The paintings are made in response to my own experiences and relationship with the natural environment. From a young age I have consistently immersed myself in the landscape; swimming in the ocean and skiing in the mountains.
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From these engagements, I have not only learned to appreciate the unrelenting beauty that these environmental wonders possess, but have also been enlightened to the dangers they can present and how, one-on-one, we are hugely dominated. Reward should always come from respecting this bond. In the studio, I paint impulsively and let this connection be the main source of my inspiration, often incorporating elements from photographs or sketches that I have made on location and, using oil paint, build my compositions through methods of abstraction to create a final image that is free from formal structure and is open to interpretation. Painter www.georgianoble.com
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Samuel Zeller
Samuel Zeller is a Swiss self-taught photographer who previously built his career as a graphic designer. He keeps his culture and language in mind while he works on projects abroad. He strives to capture the serenity and beauty found in human-built spaces that aren’t usually associated with ‘good aesthetics’ - like industrial facilities; often pushing the rules of composition and colour associations learnt during his designer years. Samuel Zeller’s series Botanical is a photographic interpretation of the classical botanical illustrations from the 18th to 20th century. Zeller explores the refracted reality caught in the translucent glass, which reminded him of the textured watercolour paper used in old illustrations. Framed by the delicate silhouette of the greenhouse, the subjects become paintings, to be preserved forever. They are “an utopic image, a representation of reality altered by the optical propriety of glass and processed by the digital camera”. The series reads as a tribute to the traditional botanical illustrators, who have now been in large part replaced by more modern photography techniques.
Photographer www.samuelzeller.ch
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Elizabeth Fleur Willis Gaia invite me to you your house some time Let me drink all your mums wine Take everything she owns like it’s fine Fuck her shit up like there’s no crime here
Well you wouldn’t want me to do that to your mother Is that because who she is and what she owns has worth? Well then don’t do this shit to the earth The earth is your mother and you should treat her better Don’t cut down her trees just so you can make some P’s And melt her ice caps because your more concerned with iced frapp -uccino, it’s mean though The way you buy things and then throw Them away, like old trash, new day New craze and yet what’s crazy Is your utter lack of respect And care For what is there and will be there forever Mother earth Your mother and mine Till the end of time So start treating her the way you’d treat your own mum Or it will be too late And the life you and I know Will be gone, done.
Poet, Illustrator www.elizabethfleurwillis.com
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Misty Granade
I go again and again to nature for themes in my work. I am delighted and fascinated particularly by insects and how they provide so much for us even while we find them such a nuisance. But I am also drawn to the colours and textures of the land and sea. Since so much of my work is abstract, I find texture, motion, and repetition to be excellent shorthand for these unbelievably large places and ideas.
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I have always loved the ocean. It is vast and impossible as I stand on the edge and look toward the distant horizon. While the Florida panhandle might not be the most exotic of vacation spots, it has been my family’s favourite beach destination for more than twenty years. The looming probability of those beaches being lost in my lifetime to rising sea levels caused by global warming both horrifies and saddens me.
Grayton and Prithvi Highway embody thoughts of these locations for me. The two places where my soul is at peace and I am reminded of my transient time on this unbelievable planet.
Painter misty.granades.com
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In my mind, the bass line underlying the sea’s melody comes from the wind-blown and dusty mountains of Nepal during dry season. The Prithvi Highway from Kathmandu to Pokhara snakes down through the mountains, providing both unbelievable views of the mountains along with a heaping portion of dust for my nose and eyes. What is lush and fertile during the summer months is bone dry by November and December. I think about the mountains of Nepal nearly every day. I find myself replaying the hours spent riding the bus and feeling overwhelmed by the size and beauty of the mountains.
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the investigative approach :
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rtists who used their artistic practice as a means of exploring topics at the frontier of nature and culture. Their works investigated the human relationship with the natural world, and attempted to understand how people perceive, approach, or interact with their surrounding environments. The investigative approach delved into the possibility of reimagining the way we engage with the natural world, or proposing new ways of co-existing within in.
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Vilde Rolfsen When I started my degree at Kingston University back in 2011, I wasn’t really that worried with the environment, but my engagement with the issue grew over the years I spent in London. This might have something to do with the fact that I grew up in Norway, a fairy small country with little impact on the environment worldwide. But as I lived in London I started noticing all the waste around on the ground and in parks, and I also noticed that most of it was used plastic bags. I wanted to do a project to draw attention towards this issue. I didn’t want to do something that was too ‘in your face,’ because I think that puts people off. No one likes being told to do something. So I landed on creating a body of work where the images are aesthetically pleasing to look at, and the viewer can make up their own minds when they see what the image is. It was natural to me to take inspiration from mountains and glaciers, which I have grown up with in Norway.
Artist www.vilderolfsen.com
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Étimo
Carla Cascales Étimo is a sculptural project by Greek artist and designer Carla Cascales. It was born from experimentation in volume design using discarded, rescued and rebuilt materials. Étimo comes from the Greek language and means “origin”. “Since I discovered the Japanese view of beauty I was captivated, specifically by wabi-sabi; the admiration for imperfect, mutable, and incomplete things. Wabi Sabi comes as a refreshing change from our perfection driven culture, fueled by the fear of entropy, which traps us in endless cycles of buying and discarding low quality products produced with no concern for people or for the environment.
These concepts apply not only to objects but also to people. It reminds us to accept the passage of time, considering it a natural part of beauty. The process of displaying our scars make us stronger. These are concepts in harmony with life, which help us to be happier and live better. My sculptures mix geometry with the beautiful imperfections of nature and purity of polished materials. These sculptures are unique pieces, nonrepresentational, built from the finest materials rescued or found. All the materials I use to build the sculptures are pieces that can no longer be used in industrial manufacturing, such as broken or irregular parts of marble, wood or granite that have been discarded despite being beautiful. I love to look for them, then rescue and reuse them, creating new volumes.”
Designer & Artist www.carlacascales.com
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Tied in to this concept is that of kintsugi, a technique used to repair fractures of ceramic with resin or varnish, sprinkled with gold. It suggests that breakage and repairs are part of the history of an object, and therefore should be accentuated and not hidden. An object is believed to be more beautiful, and stronger, for having once been broken.
Steve LĂŠon Brown
Photography has always been the most natural way to express myself, allowing me to communicate visually, and share, the things I find interesting. For ten years I have been making imagery, cataloguing my development as an artist, piecing together a visual archive of my consciousness. It takes time to narrow down what it is you want to discover and document. For me at the age of twenty-eight, my interests lie in learning how we as human-beings adapt to our fast-paced society. How we construct and alter our increasingly precious landscape. We now live in a predominantly constructed environment; overpopulation, climate change, technology - these are all driving forces of our present situation. How we live, what we create, things we alter - these subsequently change the fragile system of creation itself. The growing conflict between nature and humans is my starting point when beginning a project; I hold great compassion for our fragile environment but at the same time I’m captivated by human alteration and progress. I combine this interest with the physical act of travel in order to realise the project, whether by foot or by bicycle. For me, the journey is the key - it is only through exploration that you can truly connect to your environment; it molds my concept from the start. It’s during this process of exploring, stopping, looking, sitting that my series of images develops and begins to fall into a coherent idea, adding a deeply personal sense of achievement. My future projects will be realised along the idea of environment and journey, in the hope of bringing to light thoughtprovoking places, images & stories.
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Photographer www.steveleonbrown.com
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Counterspaces Zuri Camille de Souza
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They are forced upon us, sometimes hinted at, sometimes explained. We are given sets of rules that lead to the manifestation of these ideas in physical form—the smartest, greenest, most sustainable new concepts within the most resilient urban environments. Whilst I do not believe that we have understood the terms ‘sustainability’ and ‘ecological’ in a manner deep enough for us to define them, I do see the need to incorporate ideas of sustainability into some sort of lived standards. Nature is doing this by itself. Pushing through the cracks, filling in the empty spaces, decomposing the ones that are unnecessary. Nature is reclaiming the city, subverting the rigid architectural rules we impose upon the urban environment. I believe we can learn from these Urban Ecological processes in order to create systems that work; that make life pleasurable; that draw us to be outside and enjoy the spaces within which we live; to, like nature, occupy the city — the public spaces, the gardens, stairwells, parks, streets, walls, benches, riverbanks, rooftops.
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Resilient. Sustainable. Ecological. Biodynamic. Smart. These are terms we are constantly surrounded by as individuals who inhabit the city.
Socially, politically and economically, there is an increasing discrimination within the urban environment — to deny this is naive and short- sighted. Our cities are, like David Harvey rightly says, becoming spaces for absorbing and consuming capital. We need to be able to change our cities when and how we want to. Evictions in the name of urban renewal; rents increasing as a result of new socioeconomic classes being formed; devastating masshousing projects — these aspects of the urban environment need to change. However, without the active participation of people, it cannot happen. Through this project, I engage with how we are situated within a hegemony that constantly tries to de-humanize us. Interactions between the city’s vast layers — material, cultural and historical
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elements — lead to the constant creation and destruction of physical environments. Using Istanbul as a study-space, I visually depict systems of control and subversion through a key that categorizes them in the form of a coloring book. By looking at different ecological spaces within the city, I explore the relationship between the structures we impose upon ourselves and the natural environment within which we exist. My belief is that whilst we try to impose these very systems of control onto nature, it effortlessly ignores us; in the ultimate, beautiful expression of civil disobedience, nature just IS.
Urban Ecologist, Designer www.cargocollective.com/zuricamilledesouza
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Glyphs Jim Frazer These glyphs are derived from photographs of the tracks of bark beetles. When beetle tracks started showing up in my photographs, I didn’t pay as much attention to them as I do now. They’re not the kind of thing you wake up to and decide to pursue. If you’re in the woods, and you encounter these intricate engravings, you take a picture. Only later, I began to pay real attention to the patterns.
When we go into the woods, it’s poignant to see the dead trees where there was once a beautiful forest. And yet, there is a certain fascination and beauty to the patterns engraved into the wood by the beetle larvae as they eat beneath the bark. Their paths form linear, calligraphic signatures that reminded me of the tugras, or personal ciphers of the Ottoman sultans. These symbols, composed of stylized interwoven strokes, were unique to each ruler and served to validate each document he wrote. In the woods, there are thousands of beetles, from thousands of species, in thousands of trees, and each one leaves a trail as different as a fingerprint and as elegant as the Sultan’s signature. Each trail is composed of thousands of bites taken over a period of months as the larva grows and matures. Rather than by the sure stroke of the calligrapher’s pen, the path grows with the insect. My images present these patterns individually, as artifacts: beautiful signatures which, sadly, spell destruction.
Photographer www.jimfrazer.shawnrossiter.com
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I found that millions of acres across the US are affected by the damage caused by these beetles, though they are more common in the West. Reports indicate that global warming has increased the extent and severity of the infestation. Winters are not as cold, enabling more beetles to survive. Summers are longer, allowing the beetles to fly farther and expand their range. Higher altitudes are warmer, giving the beetles access to new tree species that don’t have natural defenses against them.
Elsa Leydier
Braços Verdes e Olhos Cheios de Asas Elsa Leydier’s series Braços Verdes e Olhos Cheios de Asas is an attempt to create a poetic and subjective representation of the Amazon, through the process of construction and deconstruction of images depicting the region. “By revisiting different types of images - vernacular images and images from the press that contribute to the construction of the ‘imaginary of place’, along with photographs I shot in the Amazon region, and by inserting them in a flux of montages, collages, and plastic interventions, the image of the Amazon appears as a visual construction. A construction made from fragments extracted from glossy magazines pages and from an everyday-life, paced by the rhythm of the Rio Negro and the Amazon River. In my photographic work, I aim to interrogate images that are used to define places or people. Through the act of collage, I create encounters between different types of images. By presenting them from different points of view that deviate from the usual stereotypes, I try to reveal the weakness and paradoxes carried by the images. I use images to represent places through the prism of alternative stories and narratives.”
Photographer www.elsaleydier.com
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Future Fossils Ana MarĂa Guerra
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Corals are disappearing. Overfishing, pollution and global warming have already threatened or destroyed an estimated 70 percent of the world’s reefs. According to geologists, we are entering the Anthropocene - a new epoch that is defined by the impact of human activity on Earth’s ecosystem. Scientists are using photogrammetry, a technique that consists of taking 360° photos of an object to transform it into 3D geometry, to monitor coral degradation and 3D printing to create artificial reefs. Future Fossils are sculptures created by merging dead corals with 3D printed corals that were scanned and made available by the Geological Fabrication Laboratory of the Iowa State University. The project questions the use of technology to tackle coral reef degradation in a capitalist system. She suggests that the potential of 3D technologies could be reduced to simply recording the extinction of Earth’s species.
Artist www.ana-maria-guerra.com
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Ana María Guerra’s practice analyses the evolution of photography from the materiality of silver gelatin to the virtuality of 3D technologies. Her work proposes that the history of photography could be considered as a metaphor to understand how the economy has evolved since the industrial revolution until the present. She examines how technological progress has modified the appearance of nature and the devastating impact it has had on the ecosystem.
Know Where Wara BullĂ´t Due to the ongoing global development and transformation of everyday constructed landscapes, I became interested in how the built environment is constantly evolving. While nature is the basis of human existence, the design and construction of the built environment determines how we interpret and, in turn, interact with our surroundings. The complex and co-existing relationship between nature and our built environment is ambiguous and needs reconsideration. This has led me to explore how the transitions of our built environment over time impact the way we see and perceive our own surroundings and consequently, the world.
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Each individual has their own perceptions of the world as a whole that is derived from their personal experiences. These perceptions can be triggered by the representations of a place within the world. Know Where is a photographic exploration based on my perception of my surroundings and a quest to unravel the uncertainty I have in the built environment. Through my daily observations of the places I encounter I am captivated by otherwise banal ordinary spaces such as parking lots and factories. These places imperceptibly reflect the feelings of order and control arising from the continued commodification and use of natural spaces. Photography, as a medium, depicts representations of reality that can be implicit or explicit. The Earth Issue
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Today, technological advancements and digitisation shifts the message of photographs, creating multiple layers of meaning, which cannot be decoded in isolation.
This body of work depicts an imagined future that reflects on humankind’s constant need to construct and colonise nature for our everyday purposes. The question this now raises is; will the ongoing influence humankind has on our future landscape be utopian or dystopian?
Photographer www.warabullot.com
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I have used technology as a tool to create new visions of reconstructed ordinary landscapes as I try to make sense of them and extract them from their original context. The landscapes of Know Where combine unrelated urban and suburban places, industrial and commercial spaces: a world that already exists in our everyday lives. The experimental method of dismantling the photographs then reconstructing multiple fragments of the subject matter creates ‘placeless’ scenes of our surroundings that appear familiar yet unidentifiable. It also reveals mixed desires, to simultaneously engage with and escape or even withdraw from, the built environment. The reconstruction of this intangible reality elucidates a significant shift in how I interpret my surroundings. These artificial simulations of reconstructed environments have resulted in me developing an urge to rediscover nature. In rediscovering nature, the tension between alienation from the natural world and the social premises of the built environment is evident, confirming how humankind is somewhat separated from the natural world due to the commodification of land. Yet the photographs contain fragments of nature that are conditioned by human intervention such as quarries and an artificial beach. These scenes resemble the state of everyday reality, as I know it.
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Miguel Rodriguez Painter www.miguelrodriguezstudio.com
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My work is a synthesis of many different influences, most notably the concept of a “Tangled Bank”, which Charles Darwin introduced in his revolutionary On The Origin of Species in 1859. Darwin writes: “It is interesting to contemplate a tangled bank, clothed with many plants of many kinds, with birds singing on the bushes, with various insects flitting about, and with worms crawling through the damp earth, and to reflect that these elaborately constructed forms, so different from each other, and dependent upon each other in so complex a manner, have all been produced by laws acting around us...”. In this series I seek to reconcile these laws through painting - to see how marks, materials, colours, lines, shapes, space, volume, etc., can be an extension of this concept.
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Rachel Thomson
Rachel Thomson is trained in photography and print media at Central St Martins and an artist based at THIStudio London. She makes images using cyanotype, etching and monotype, exploiting the unpredictability of these analogue mediums she allows the unexpected and imperfections to inform the outcome. For the past six years she has been working with scrap materials and low tech methods of reproduction, as a response to mass production and a wasteful culture. Using the crudest and earliest form of cameraless photography - the cyanotype photogram, she documents ambiguous forms made out of plastic removed from the environment. What began as expediency, a combination of what was readily available and what worked well with the technique has developed into a series of images, entitled ‘Invasive Species’, that reflect her fascination with mimesis as a mechanism for survival and her concern over the effects of plastic pollution on other species. “I didn’t consciously set out to make art that had an environmental message, but it seems to me that art comes from what is around you; right now it would be hard to make art that didn’t include it on some level.”
Photographer www.rachelthomsonstudio.co.uk
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Artist prints Steve LĂŠon Brown
Available for purchase from www.theearthissue.com www.thearchivecollective.com 62
Georgina Parker
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My work stems from an interest in the way we, as humans, understand our environment through map making. The lines of a map illustrate the geographical and social history of a place. By applying a strict set of ordered techniques, I cut maps to manipulate this and make my work. Through my labour, I bring order to the chaos of the world each map represents. A map is a practical object that becomes impractical through my working process. The paper map has also become obsolete under the weight of technology. By reconfiguring the spaces depicted in these dying objects, I render them useful once more.
Photographer www.georginaparker.com
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the narrative approach :
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rtists who attempted to shed light on a specific environmentalist issue, bound by a temporal and geographical context. At times this took the form of journalistic or documentary-style storytelling, as a compelling way of raising public awareness about issues outside the scopes of our everyday lives. In other cases, their art was used as a vehicle for activism, specifically rallying for action or change. These projects aimed to inspire the viewer to join forces in the efforts against environmentalist issues such as climate change, destruction of natural habitats, deforestation, or land and water pollution.
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Magali Salinas, Founder and President of Amazon Shelter
Entangled Edens Interview with Kieran Behan 68
Hi Kieran, could you give us a quick introduction to yourself as an artist? Kieran Behan, photographer, film-maker and founder of a project called Crystalmafia, based in Berlin, Germany for the past decade.
When did you start shifting towards environmentally conscious art, and what caused the shift? Something inside of me started changing a few years ago. I realized I had lost my inner connection to the natural world. I had distinct childhood memories of lush oceans and teeming forests that felt forgotten. That shook me.
Once you started engaging with more of this type of subject matter, did you find that others were receptive to what you were doing? Did you find it easy to identify a community of other artists and creative people who shared similar aspirations and mentalities as you? Naturally, as human beings we band together in groups of like-mindedness, magnetizing people around us that feel and think the same. This can be very dangerous. We float in a fog of forgetfulness. I think most of us live inside an echo chamber, perhaps we can call this a simulation of sorts. Exploring our consciousness is one crucial step in the many changes we must make on our planet if we are to find a way for the survival of our species.
What has been your most exciting project so far (in the domain of environmentalist art)?
Immersing myself in projects that shift my perspective helps me grow as a person. My times spent in the Peruvian Amazon taught me the importance of our relationship with the natural world - to respect each being because everything is so truly ALIVE. Living inside a van for two weeks on the Californian coast, shooting the music video for Somebody Is, allowed me to have patience and compassion for those who are struggling. I love to be around kiddos. Collaborations designed with children in mind become the most rewarding step in the right direction, as working with the youth activates hope for the future. We had a program in Mumbai working with 25 children between the ages of
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We are a part of the memories of evolution These memories carry knowledge These memories carry our identity Beneath race, gender, class, age Beneath citizen, business, state, religion We are human beings And these memories Are trying to remind us Human beings, human beings It’s time to rise up Remember who we are - John Trudell
five and fifteen that was co-ordinated by the wonderful organization “Dharavi Art Room.” This experience I hold very close to my heart.
Do you find that your work leads to concrete actions and mindset shifts amongst those who engage with it?
I don’t calculate or measure the shift. Comparing myself to others just breeds fear and fear is what holds me frozen. There is a process - the steps I can take to create a safe supportive space for expression within my own work that activates an emotional response in others. I have this pull coming from a very deep place inside of myself. When I follow a humble path and fall into a “flow” then I can trust my instincts to guide me in the best way possible. As I absorb more in this lifetime, when I learn how to communicate clearly with my ancestors, I find a sort of stillness - an inner peace.
What, in your opinion, are the current issues which people need to wake up most urgently to? Worldwide 5% of the world’s population is guarding 98% of the world’s biodiversity. There is a way we can bridge the modern and indigenous worlds, to help us remember what we have forgotten. Unconditional unification with the earth.
“The land is not a resource. It is an entity that you have a relationship with and you respect, like your grandmother, mother, and aunts. We have to be good stewards. We have to take care of the land. We have to feed her and offer her prayers. In return, we are blessed with good health. Everything comes full circle.” - words from a Lakota mother during the Standing Rock pipeline protests.
Tell us a bit about your latest film, which you shot in the Amazon.
This project is still in it’s beginning baby steps - perhaps it will become my life’s work or a series, perhaps it morphs into something further still. I hope to film a cinematic dialog within the rainforest. Without the cultural traditions and life experience of the Amazonian people, any undertaking to portray this place risks becoming inconsequential or opportunistic. My concept centers around storytelling as a vehicle - reflections of shared humanity. I want to explore individual relationships within the forest through the people and places I have met in my travels. During my scouting sessions, I have learned humility. To take my ego down a notch and refrain from judgment. To taste the whole dynamic picture.
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1st image | Magali’s animal shelter Both a place to sleep and a sweet spot for volunteer work. Founded by Magali, this shelter is nestled on the outskirts of Puerto Maldonado in the jungle of the Madre de Dios region. The money from donations goes straight into the care of 55 wild animals on site- all rescued from abusive situations and traffickers in various states of planned release. Here she is holding three of the youngest monkeys. They require an intense amount of care; regular bottle feedings, health checks and close love contact to replace the trauma of being ripped from their mothers and families by poachers. Magali maintains a sensitive sixth sense, supporting all the beautiful creatures in her home with deep compassion. She deserves funding and recognition for the wonderful work she is doing.
3rd image | Canto Luz Canta Luz is a registered nonprofit organization working with local indigenous communities by supporting the preservation of their cultures, healing modalities and environment. Six hours down river from Puerto Maldonado, the trip takes quite a bit of effort to reach from the Rio Madre De Dios as you must hike through many groves of ancient forest. The entrance is lined with two trees carrying natural markings in the shape of eyes on their bark. Mariya Garnet is one of the founders of this sanctuary. She explained a traditionally male-dominated trade is now starting to see a growing number of female practitioners. It has been more customary for women to work with plants associated with female tasks of birthing and taking care of household members and children; traditionally it was men who worked with plants that required ventures into the depth of the rainforest. As Ayahuasca tourism grows it shapes cultural changes and cultural interpretations, demanding more female curanderas within the shift.
Photographer www.crystalmafia.com
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2nd image | Saksaywaman Before the jungle expeditions and together with my good friend Catherine, we decided to spend a few days around Cuzco building up the courage for her imminent departure and my six-week solo sessions into unknown territory. On a rainy morning, we walked curving through small stone streets up to the base of the ruins. An adorable older gentleman offered something special instead of typical tourist scenarios for the main entrance. We followed him to his village. He explained that his community was building a school for their children and offered horse rides through the sites in order to collect money for the construction. A beautiful woman on a white horse led us around the valleys and rocks for hours, offering us fresh fruit and a gorgeous smile. As the weather shifted the sky opened, gleaming this perfect Peruvian blue.
Elena Cremona & Adam Popli
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“Modern culture and society is moving into a new era, a system driven by power, money and exploitation, where greed seems to be put above the wellbeing of our planet.�
Elena Cremona, Photographer www.elenacremona.com
Adam Popli, New Age Artist www.adampopli.com
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Dressed in white, Adam boldly stands solitary within the empty landscape, holding two polystyrene heads as a statement for the current state which humanity has reached – an irreversible stage of natural degradation and exploitation. Adam twists and turns, posing in eerie looking postures, relating directly to the un-natural changes Man has established on Nature, holding high a female and male head and covering his face, allowing the performance piece to be gender-less and ambiguous.
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Elena Cremona and Adam Popli are a collaborative duo who have come together to create works of art inspired by their love of the planet and the immediate need to preserve Nature. Through both mediums of photography & performance art they challenge their audience to delve deep into conscious, regarding Mans relationship with planet earth. Modern culture and society is moving into a new era, a system driven by power, money and exploitation, where greed seems to be put above the wellbeing of our planet. Elena and Adam find it important to use their work as a form of communication, to draw attention to the severity of environmental damage and degradation of natural resources – to awaken consciousness and create a sense of awareness and respect for our irreplaceable landscapes; to not only challenge the mind set of society, but to evoke an emotional and tactical connection between Man and Nature.
The role of photography in environmentalism and climate action It is taught to us, from a young age, that we must either be a “science person” or an “arts person.” Why is it that we fail to teach our youth that all forms of expression are equal and complementary? It’s a shame that society falls into a structure where people are put into boxes based on what they decided to study or specialise in for a period of their life. In doing so we undermine the human ability to be passionate about a multitude of creative pursuits, whether one chooses to describe a new theoretical formula for string theory, or perform modern dance on stage. How is it that doing one makes one less qualified to do the other? I’ve spent years writing reports for a plethora of scientific topics: utilising tables and diagrams to display data in more visually appealing ways, fitting in the boxes and standards that others have set out for us to follow; such is the nature of modern scientific theory. But Art, with its ability to transcend anything that has come before, breaking the boundaries of normality, means people who have succumbed to a given place in society can be reached, touched, and possibly inspired. The environment is viewed as something other than ourselves. We are taught that we are somehow separate from ‘the environment’. This in itself is the tragedy of our modern world; if we see ourselves as detached from nature, we begin to believe we can survive without it, and that leads to neglect and disrespect. If we are to truly stand up for the environment, we must see it as connected to humans. We must aim to reach a position of equilibrium between human society and the natural environment, where the two worlds we fashioned from the one earth we have are able to function as a single fluid entity. A paradigm in which technology does not hinder or destroy the natural world, but rather works in sustainable unity with it, drawing inspiration from nature, and giving back to it by protecting the source.
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The modern industrial system has been built on the carcasses of the natural capital that existed before it. Bio-mimicry is a prime example of how our technology takes aspects of other organisms to inspire scientific advances in areas of medicine, infrastructure, resource management, food production and so forth. The trees and plants we depend on for carbon dioxide sequestration and oxygen also filter our water, cycle nutrients and keep our soils together, preventing desertification, erosion and landslides.
In an era of smart-phones and image saturation, where everyone is a photographer of sorts, standing out as an artist is more challenging than ever. How can one photograph transcend the ocean of images and capture interest or attention? As photographers, our goal is to create a narrative that is truly unique using a camera, to tell a story that cannot easily be put into words, to inspire people who look at our images to change the way they live, and perceive the world around them. The power of the photographic image can be utilised in discussion, communication and education. I have faith in the ability of photography to impact society, in that an image is able to emotionally and psychically affect the individuals within in. With regards to the destruction of our natural world, and the defining issue of climate change, the way these threats are conveyed through creativity and art plays a pivotal role in their transformation from abstract concepts to personally relevant issues.
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As nature dies, biodiversity shrinks; representing the resilience of the system to deal with change. In science this is called a positive feedback loop (which isn’t a positive thing). As a long-term enthusiast of wildlife photography, I have often pondered the nature of photography. As a visual medium for creativity, it transcends all languages and culture. In an instant, an image captured can define a generation, or turn the tide of war. Photography is a method of expressing how one sees reality.
How does a person capture in a photo the effects of ‘invisible’ gases created by human activity, saturating the Earth’s atmosphere and oceans over generations to alter the thermodynamic systems of marine and terrestrial environments? Whether dealing with issues surrounding conservation, land or sea, poverty, education, clean food and water, equality, consumerism, peace and justice or climate action; ultimately the goal of the artist is to shed light on a subject they care about, hoping to inspire others to feel or act. In 2015, something incredible occurred; 197 countries came together to form the Paris Agreement, aiming to curb global temperature increase to a maximum of 2°C with aims for 1.5°C. Nearly a year on from the adopted consensus, only 81 of the countries have ratified (accepted) the agreement, the UK being one of those that has not. The terms of the agreement were intended to come into force on the 4th of November 2016. For this agreement to have become effective, 55% of the countries would have to accept. The world around us is beautiful and abundant, but its being depleted at such unprecedented rates. The generation who are now poised to take over, have the chance to saturate all spheres of influence with their passion, art and creativity. Put pressure on your governments and local organisations to help ratify agreements and be part of an international community! If we are to make a change, we must support one another in our efforts, and not give in to isolationism in face of adverse challenges that will arise with the changing climate. Join the discussion with Joseph Barnes on instagram: @joe_climate
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Water in the Desert The Earth Issue
Marco Barbieri “Water In The Desert is a project that brought me on a journey to a missing sea.� 81
Photographer www.mbarbieri.com
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Water In The Desert is a project that brought me on a journey to a missing sea. It is about water, power and deceptive appearances.
Cotton exportation became so important that the cotton plant was represented on the Uzbeki state emblem. On the other hand the Aral Sea, once the fourth largest lake in the world, is rapidly vanishing from the map. Initially the objective of this series was to document the disappearance of this lake, one of the biggest (and most overlooked) man-made environmental disasters on earth. The project soon evolved into a reflection on the many contradictions of a country which, just like its inhabitants, is stranded somewhere between East and West.
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In the sixties, the Russian government decided to transform Uzbekistan into a haven for cotton production. Canals were built using the water from the Syr Darya and Amu Darya, the two main rivers of the country, and the land gradually became green.
Nora Lowinsky
Tread lightly. Something I have learned from returning to “el país grande del sur” for more than a decade. We cannot continue perceiving and treating the Earth as simply a place for us to claim, build upon, destruct, desecrate. We can no longer ignore the Earth’s messages for us to stop our patterns of behavior and our patterns of perception. I have not been back to Big Sur since the devastating Soberanes Fire in July 2016, which destroyed thousands of acres of forest, homes and invaluable wildlife. The most costly wildfire to suppress in American history raged on for three months, blazing more ruthlessly than ever because of the ongoing drought in California, but more largely due to global warming. The fire started because of an illegal campfire in Garrapata State Park. Every corner of this great earth is in danger. We as a species pose the danger. Our heedless need for conquest lies even in the smallest of details.
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I voyage to the mountainous and remote coastal area of Big Sur in an attempt to capture the intangible aspects of its absolute natural beauty. I share my photographs because I want to proclaim — I have been here, to this sacred place and I recognise it as a compass for achieving nirvana. I invite you through my images to share in a spiritual awakening. I represent this place and this experience as belonging to me, but as accessible to you through my images and through your own pilgrimages to nature.
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I need to take responsibility as a person whose art is practiced in, and inspired by, Big Sur. I need to let the land heal. I need to remove my ego. I need to allow the land and its native inhabitants time to regenerate. This is the message I received from the Soberanes Fire, but the message was in fact direct from Mother Earth. For that reason, I have stayed away from Big Sur for the rest of the year, even after the fire subsided. She told me to take time away from a place beloved to me. She told me that I am the land and the land is me. When I touch the Earth, I feel more than the dirt under my hands, I feel Her life source and energy. She is deeply hurt from our irreverence, and if we do not tread lightly, she will retaliate with a force that is greater than us. It is painful to know that we have a choice. The Earth will flourish and experience a period of wanton prosperity, whether we are here or not. If we want to be part of that growth, we need to listen to Her now, not tomorrow, and we need to do so collectively.
Artist www.noralowinsky.com
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Javier Kaplan These photographs are part of my series “Death Valley”. What started as a commissioned work-trip to photograph the lost city of Villa Epecuén ended up being a journey that told the story of a dead zone. Villa Epecuen was flooded by seawater in 1985. When the waters finally receded after covering the town for 25 years, it left visible the wreckage of the city structure. As soon as I arrived at the site I felt off and completely uninspired; the broken-down city just seemed sad, and uninteresting. The vibe was horrifying. I started to walk away from it and as soon as I did, I noticed the dead flora - all the trees and plants, killed by the influx of salt water, dried up from the roots. The still-standing dead nature was gorgeous to look at, all pale white and curved, it had the beautiful contradiction of being both mesmerizing and heart breaking at the same time, but beyond that there was something else about them. The trees seemed like ghosts, so then it hit me: these were the witnesses of the town’s story. These trees had been there way before the city had ever been built and were still standing today after it had vanished. I ended up shooting with a strong flashlight, because the first shots I took with natural light just didn’t look right. I realized I was approaching it the wrong way, because these trees were subjects: they had a resonant personality. I had to capture them with the approach of portrait photography rather than landscape.
Photographer www.montykaplan.com.ar
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We are part of a system driven by power, money and exploitation, where personal gain is often prioritised over the wellbeing of our planet. We are part of a growing movement that challenges this status quo, and we hope that you’ll join the discussion. Thank you.
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Š 2017 The Archive Collective | Elena Cremona
