Art and the environment, really? This might be a question running through a lot of readers’ minds as they see this title. However, if anyone tried to see what goes beyond the first glance, they’d find that the two are far more intertwined than people would intuitively think.
‘So, how is that?’, you may ask. ‘Oh I’ll tell you’, I’d most definitely answer.
To begin, I’d like to draw attention to the ‘Environmental Art’ movement. As its name suggests, this movement encompasses the use of the environment and nature to create artistic pieces, which are often part of a greater preservationist message.
One can say that these pieces are both artistic and political, as many pieces throughout history, such as Pablo Picasso’s Massacre in Korea, have been.
This movement is an excellent example of how art can be used to implore for environmental activism. It sends a very distinct, powerful message, as not only is it using the environment to create art, but also to call for the conservation of the environment itself. The general population often doesn’t listen until you yell loud enough, and what louder a message could be sent than nature itself being moulded in a way that screams ‘Save Me!’
Another way that won’t jump to the minds of most when it comes to how art is used in environmental activism, since not many view it as art, is the use of posters, banners, and signs in protests. Despite these pieces not being as mainstream or necessarily carefully hand-crafted, they urge us to question what art really is. An answer to that, which many find meaningful and valid, is that it’s anything that evokes emotion within us. By that definition, those protest pieces are beyond artistic; not only do they make us feel, but they stem from extremely fiery feelings within us. They also help us invoke certain actions and changes in the world around us – major grounds for protecting our environment and raising awareness regarding environmental issues.
Another perspective worth exploring is the environment and nature being a major central theme within all sorts of artwork, whether that’s shown in Albert Bierstadt’s Looking Down Yosemite Valley or in Henri Rousseau’s The Flamingos.
Human beings are often drawn to beauty and what is more appealing than the gift Mother Nature has bestowed upon us? The fact that art can so magnificently capture that gift is quite influential. Not only is art able to pause life and nature in time and give it immortality, but it also does so in a variety of ways, using different media. This unique portrayal of the environment and life through diverse lenses helps people admire and appreciate the nature around them, which can tug at their heartstrings and drive them to save the environment through various consumerist and social solutions.
As most of us are aware, music is a particularly influential art form. Therefore, it must come as no surprise that music psychology suggests that music holds a significant ability and power to move people towards social change. Music can help pull people together and unite them towards major social change that can have very promising implications when it comes to the environment. That is particularly true because it can be so closely tied with human emotion and mood regulation. Organisations such as Artists and Climate Change and Climate Music provide the space for artists to collaborate and share their ideas about projects connected to climate change, and encourage musicians to produce new works that are likely to induce positive social changes with regard to our environment.
Two topics that are seemingly unrelated can have far more ties than one could ever imagine, once we take the time to more closely examine them. In this article we consider how that’s just the case for art, music and the environment. The arts really can be a major part of our hope to heal and improve the conditions of our environment and the only Earth we’ve got, so let’s keep an open mind and not take things for granted. I hope that the art I have mentioned can inspire us all, if not to become artists to whom nature is a canvas, brush, and paint all at once, then at least to help protect and take care of our magnificent yet tragically wounded environment!
