GEORG DIEZLER, CURATOR
in May 2006

Things are getting very exicting shortly before the opening of the first series of exhibitions in the Salo region. The project has been made possible by 1 1/2 years of frequent meetings mainly between Tuula Nikulainen and me, but without all the people caring for their environment in the region and Finland all

this wouldn’t be possible. Great ideas without supporters cann’t get realized, means this show is a gift to the people of the wider Salo region, for Finns and all the people enjoying every time they are visiting Finland. Green Art Halikonlahti has become a great present which is given by all these ones forward looking contributing finances as individuals, company, foundation, etc..

First result: through long talks, building trust and a prospect for at least a triology 2006, 2008 and 2011 agreed by our partners Salo Art Museum, City of Salo, Halikonlahti. This offers such a wonderful prospect going deeper into topics dealing with art and ecology. Such longterm thinking offers to stengthen a network for the baltic sea region and some additonal regions. Wouldn’t University College Falmouth/Cornwall/UK be supporting me by offering researching deeper into art, nature and the environment through a research fellowship, including all the freedom being engaged in international cooperations my engagement would have been much more difficult. Working on Green Art Halikonlahti I have recieved valuable feedback by being part of an international network of „ecoartists“ with its vibrant discussions, lecturing on international scientic conference about the role of arts for restorations of the environement. By all provided support the foundation of this project is mostly our personal engagement without any hestitation and not counting euro cents.

When we first introduced this idea about what I am calling art and ecology, Tuula and I were often confronted with doubts of Finish artists, comments like we as artists will be excluded, none in Finland is dealing with this topic. When we posted the call for proposals we have received more then exspected. Some artists excluded themselves refusing to put in  proposals, nevertheless we continued. Laura Luostarinen, Tuula Nikulainen and I decided on the artists being presented in this show, which generally could be descripted as observations how people are dealing with their environment. This show is about awareness, responsibility, natural and social studies, some artists are dealing with subjects of environmental science, represented is a wide range of expressions known generally in the arts.One might question should photography be presented in such an exhibition because of the chemicals used, video arts, etc. without any hestiation I comment yes, each piece of art is an important mosaic of the whole, offers various ways to reflect, discover, act towards better ways of living. Artists works in Green Art Halikonlahti are not accusing someone or something but it is sort of refective arts, nevertheless it is purely art, art that matters.

It is through the aesthetic experience that the artist is able to bring light to topics of environmental devastation, through the inspiration of the artwork that the visitor becomes aware of the issues and through the conservation resources provided that people can take personal action in protecting the natural world.

Topics:

• ENVIRONMENTAL
• ACCORDS LOCAL - IMPACT GLOBAL
• IMPACT WASTE REDUCTION - LANDFILLS       
• DIMINISHING NATURAL RESOURCES
• WATER - CONTAMINATED WATER - POLLUTED OCEANS
• ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH- INGESTED PESTICIDES - TOXIC HABITATS
• TRANSPORTATION - AIR POLLUTION   
• OIL DRILLING
  URBAN DESIGN- URBAN SPRAWL    
• THREATENED BIODIVERSITY
• URBAN NATURE    
• LOCAL SPECIES EXTINCTIONS - GLOBAL SPECIES EXTINCTIONS
• ENERGY POWER PLANTS - GLOBAL WARMING

What has happened cann’t be erased but we all as community can take small responsibility that mistakes, environmental damages will not be repeated, that we learn from the past for the future, that we get engaged for a better sunny future, Stopp... writing sunny future - should I use this expression? The figurative term sunny future meanwhile has another meaning consequences of global warming, shorter warmer winters, melting polar ice , rising water, heavy storms, fludded land, etc.. 

April 26th, 2006 has been the 20th anniversary of Chernobyl, the second concret sarcopagus might be destroyed by the heat soon, eventually workers will manage to build fast enough the third concret sarcopagus. Many lobbygroups and politicans are still promoting nuclear power plants. A fashionable word is sustainabilty, nuclear power is in fashion and desasters by nuclear power they demonstrate in the most shoking way what longterm and sustainability means. Here I stopp going deeper into politics.

We are dealing with arts and i continue with a selection of thoughts and comments of various discussion groups about art and ecology, with such a collection first I apologize for not being able to name the people who have given the content I am making references to. It is also much about sense and non-sense of labeling.

"The Sustainability Sham"

We struggled for four years with how to think about sustainability. I suppose we could have attempted to undertake visual arts projects on a zero carbon or carbon neutral basis, but we did not.

On The Edge does what is viable and one of the challenges when working outside the metropolitan centres is that much of the urban arts infrastructure is not viable.

On The Edge is also caught between the values and ethics that we aspire to, and the politics and pressures of working within institutional frameworks. Values and ethics are a continuing focus of the work, because sustainability is at least in part how we work.

To me sustainability is a useful word, because you can think about it in all of these ways - ecological, cultural, personal, and in terms of what is required for the practice, and that underpinning it is the dynamic processes of development.

„Environmental Renaissance - An Enlightening Exhibition taking you to Where the Future Lives“ .... utilizes the universal language of Art to communicate the message of the Urban Environmental Accords established during UN World Environment Day 2005 and highlights forward looking conservation programs to contribute to the advancement of systemic change that builds toward a sustainable future.

Works of art that demonstrate the artist's ability to inspire dialogue between the public and the exhibition topics through exceptional artistic talent.

It is through the aesthetic experience that the artist is able to bring light to topics of environmental devastation, through the inspiration of the artwork that the visitor becomes aware of the issues and through the conservation resources provided that people can take personal action in protecting the natural world.

In sectors, situations and regions where people aren't involved in ecoart, sustainable is one of the terms that is widely used, distorted though it often is, but also carrying the potential to mean a VIABLE way of being in the world, not a fixed way. Exploring viable ways of being in the world
is, from my perspective, central to both ecological art, social sculpture and the interdependent forms of being linked to this planet.

In some contexts using the term sustainable has been a useful strategy to open up dialogue about the different and often contested ways that "sustainable" is understood... the social sculpture process has then centred around creating the space for conflicting views to be explored, for new kinds of listening, for new vision to be developed and shared.

Humans finding ways to inhabit the world and shape a society that enables all other life forms to survive and flourish.

Reclaiming the Land

Acknowledging the conditions arising from harmful past land uses and  evolving methods to address them, landscape architects, artists, scientists, educators, engineers, lawyers and civic leaders have embarked on efforts to reclaim and reuse polluted lands. This conversation will address such topics as toxic pollution, waste disposal, reclamation design, public lands and urban renewal, looking at the potential for innovative collaborations that engage in contemporary land patterns and processes.

This event is part of the Vera List Center's year-long theme "Considering Forgiveness."

when the last tree is cut and
when the last glaceir(water shed) is destroyed
we will have to drink gold
or sulphuric acid......

I think its also important to not be looking at these issues in terms of us vs. them - sustainability vs. ecological, etc.... In whatever ways the word sustainability has been sabotaged or compromised it is now in mainstream use and needs to be confronted and addressed. Also the word "beyond" in and of itself doesn't necessarily imply that the thing before it is finished. The horizon is never ending.

It seems to me that she made a conscious effort to do something different and didn't want to learn or "take" anything from Ecovention.  This is typical among contemporary art curators and all of these terms and names are merely attempts to look innovative in a field that's as competitive as any other.

It's also typical for many artists to not want to be associated with labels, especially younger artists who perceive these labels as something from the past. Naming aside, I personally am trying to look at all exhibition efforts to address ecological art, sustainability in art, etc... as positive. The art world and the larger world need to hear from all of us. We need to be careful not to isolate what we do for the sake of terminology - there is a much larger world out there "beyond" academia.

Curators do what they need to do for political reasons within their institutions and in order to get an audience and media attention. Without these they lose their jobs and funding sources.

Sustainability is a word in mainstream usage now - like it or not. It's taken 20 years for Global Warming to get the widespread media attention it now gets, after it was sabotaged into Climate Change. If other artists wish to use the term regenerative, that's great - then it too will eventually come into artworld use. Artists can work independently of these terms but curators and critics will eventually plug them into one or another.

However, I would also include the following labels: functionalist, interventionist. . . relational, lyrical, and dialogical; or how about a new one, survivalist art?

It is about inventing creative ways to protect biodiversity through applications of ecological systems theory and aesthetics; using cross-disciplinary tools (art, pyschology, creativity, scientific knowledge, political savy, marketing) to design new ways of living with the least negative impact, social and environmental responsibility.

Victor Margolis he states "sustainability involves meeting the needs of the present without sacrificing the capacity of future generations to meet their own needs, and doing so with equal attention to social and environmental justice." This is a fairly broad use of the term from my understanding of the word. He also agrees with Hildegard Kurt who as he states has "criticized the artworld for viewing sustainability in terms of environmental subjects instead of as a larger cultural challenge." OK, then the art world should coop the word and redefine it to meet our aesthetic interests?

As artists it was our task to continue to invent new metaphors for the values we promote, the arts of observation and reflection.