Un art écologique. Création plasticienne et anthropocène

Should artists be observers or militants, aesthetes or action men? At the time of Anthropocene, i.e. the geologic period when human activities had a significant impact on Earth’s ecosystems, the second thesis is given preference. The artist must be in the avant-garde of a change of mentalities, to contradict Edgar Morin’s theory, according to which Homo sapiens sapiens actually became Homo sapiens demens, given how he enjoys destroying his living conditions. The author presents the pioneers of work with the earth, water, the elements (Christo, Smithson, Turrell, Gina Pane, Ana Mendieta), and shows how current creators are pushed by urgency to intervene in increasingly political ways– like Beuys at Kassel in 1982 when he planted 7000 oak trees. His objective was to respect the tree, to enter the era of ecosophy (at least the Greek language benefits from the environmental crisis!) Particle Falls by Andrea Polli (visualizing the rate of fine particles) or Fukushima-Dynamo by Yann Toma (parable on the Japanese nuclear accident) are but a few recent examples of this committed art.

• Un art écologique. Création plasticienne et anthropocène, by Paul Ardenne, La Muette/Le Bord de l’eau, 2018, €27.