Green Arts World Café

(Write-up of some of the discussions which took place @ the CREATE Centre – 26/11/07)

  How might this be different from the more mainstream arts establishment?

Green arts tends to have more heart and soul – mainstream arts often reflects back values of global capitalism…

• Discussion of Frieze Art Fair 2007… themes of sex, death, flood, fire, famine, war etc… where were the positive visions for the future?
  
• Role of mainstream art as commodity… art that will accumulate value.  Consumerism, status etc… but unsustainability of consumerist culture.
  
• Green arts… redefining world vision?  Have different values, positive visions for the future, encourage & enable people to (re)connect with Nature/enjoy being outdoors…
  
• Do green arts also show apocalyptic visions?  Role of despair/hope… also ambivalence?
  
• Despair & empowerment
  
• Aspect of consumerism… grab it now, while it still exists!
  
• Are green arts ‘preachy’?

Materials

• Green arts tend to employ sustainable materials… biodegradable?  Using site specific materials?  Rubbish found on-site?

Community

• Green arts often seek to involve local communities

    Can the arts communicate and create sustainability?

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  The Advocacy role of art can work at both a personal and a strategic level.
  
  
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   The influence and inspiration of Art and Artists (creative practitioners) is underestimated.
  
  
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  Art is a process of being informed and forming – emerging creativity
  
  
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  Advocacy – is only one form of communication.  Art can also illustrate. Art can create powerful shared experiences – “moments of love for the earth”….experiential knowing
  
  
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  Communication – can be broken down into 4 sectors Advocating, illustrating, inquiring, and listening.

   Does this differ from how you perceive Nature?

·        Who are the mainstream artists?  Who are the audience?

·        What message are we getting across?  Do we want to shock, inspire, wake up, challenge, play?

·        Creativity = driven  by passion… can’t change passion, but can influence ideas/ways of thinking… motivation etc

·        Can famous people help us to relay information about the world’s environmental issues?  Do they care?  Is their perception of the environment good?  Are they good role models?

Labelling/judgement/(negative) assumptions

·        How do we identify ourselves as artists?  Do we label pigeonhole ourselves as ‘green artists’?  Will this ‘ghettoize’ us?

·        Working under aliases

·        Being a black sheep

·        “Being told my work is too banner-waving!”  (Do we not NEED to wave banners at this time of ecological catastrophe???)

·        “I have to contain myself in order to be taken seriously”

·        Redefine ourselves?  BE THE CHANGE

·        Just be it… the power is in the reception!

How should we represent ourselves in GAN?

·        By stealth? Or charm? 

·        Contagious spreading of enterprising skills…

·        A subtle approach

·        Get outside of boxes, find edges and push it!

·        Don’t relate ourselves to the art world – relate ourselves to the wider world, then address the art world!

Will an arts event labelled as ‘green’ exclude people?

·        Problem of preaching to the ‘converted’?

·        How do we infiltrate the mainstream?

·        How do we include ethnic minorities?  Get the right gender balance?

·        We need to specifically invite different audiences… broaden from mainly just white middle-class etc

·        We need to think how to ‘brand’ GAN events, exhibitions so that they are inclusive etc

·        Also need to access/permit heart & breathing spaces within our events…

·        Popular perception of art = exclusive, difficult to understand… need to choose alternative spaces for green arts (apart from galleries, theatres etc) eg. art on farms, in parks etc

• Look at engagement with places, interest groups, organisations, festivals etc – eg. Wildlife networks, Festival of Nature etc
  
• Event organisers needed
  
• Tap into pre-existing networks
  
• Set up a GAN website, discussion group etc
  
• Establish more community connections… create community celebrations; develop spaces as community assets (with long-term sustainability)…
  
• Develop expressions of climate change + empowerment that goes somewhere ie. have positive outcomes eg. Knowle West carbon makeovers
  
• Elicit green ideas from community
  
• Empower community
  
• Develop local community connections with greater community eg. Bristol… Knowle West project mapping co2, with route marking monitors on trees from Knowle to Arnolfini