Visualise a tree getting cut down. How would you feel? Indifference is unfortunately a common answer to this question. Alternatively, picture an innocent women being beheaded. Now what emotions flood your mind? Environmental art that combines imagery of these two scenarios seems to have the biggest impact on the viewer. Many of us turn a blind eye to the degradation of the environment that is an unavoidable outcome of our constantly urbanising culture, thinking that it is just now not our most pressing problem. By depicting a combination of human figures with plants and animals, some environmental artists blend humanity and nature, evoking powerful emotions within us and making environmental destruction seem like a problem that is closer to us.
What is all the fuss with environmental art? You do not have to be a hippy or tree-hugger to appreciate the messages that environmental artists currently present. Global effects such as deforestation and climate change are all occurring at increasingly drastic levels. To live sustainably, we need to make the changes put forth by environmentalists; and environmental art is one voice for these advocates. Their art creates a space for dialogue about environmental issues and translates scientific perspectives to the public in a comprehensible manner. This art also appears to have a greater influence on people when it incorporates human imagery.
One artist who combines human and plant figures to examine our interactions with nature is Barthélémy Toguo. His work has many links to two other environmental artists who have had the most impact on me personally; Kate MacDowell and Jason DeCaires Taylor. Near Toguo’s work Get up and Walk (2004) at QAGOMA there is a description stating:
…fragmented body... The rest of this article is available to subscribers of Eyeline
Kate MacDowell, Daphne, 12/2007. Hand built porcelain, 53 x 17 x 40 inches. Photographer Dan Kvitka.
