{"id":359,"date":"2020-11-21T20:53:00","date_gmt":"2020-11-21T20:53:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gcolemanmn.wordpress.com\/?p=359"},"modified":"2023-08-25T11:23:38","modified_gmt":"2023-08-25T11:23:38","slug":"on-environmental-art-making","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gabriel.town\/blog\/2020\/11\/21\/on-environmental-art-making\/","title":{"rendered":"On Environmental Art Making"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Originally published in two parts as part of the Digestable<\/a> newsletter<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the smoke from unprecedented wildfires pollutes skies in east coast cities and hurricane season surges past the alphabet into Greek letters despite only being half over my mind turns as it often does to Grimes.\u00a0\u00a0I know, the Canadian musician\u2019s much anticipated\u00a0album<\/a>\u00a0Miss Anthropocene came out back in February (feels so much longer than that) to generally positive reviews but I haven\u2019t seen anyone really discuss what it means for Claire Boucher to sell an album as being about climate change when in reality the album has virtually nothing to do with the topic.\u00a0\u00a0Even\u00a0Grist<\/a>\u00a0was like \u201cbless her little heart \u2013 using climate change as a metaphor for relationships and fame\u201d but like is this okay?\u00a0\u00a0People die every day \u2013 have been dying and have been displaced by disasters attributed to climate change for over a decade and Grimes just comes in and uses the climate catastrophe as a METAPHOR to discuss issues with her marriage to a fake-environmentalist billionaire tycoon<\/a>?\u00a0\u00a0AND she\u2019s got the nerve to go ahead and green light an ad campaign that puts \u201cGLOBAL WARMING IS GOOD<\/a>\u201d on billboards across North America for the shock factor??! I\u2019m sorry but no.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Okay. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Taking a breath. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I think a lot about what constitutes good environmental art. I\u2019m doing this whole going back to school thing because I deeply believe that storytelling has a key role to play in inspiring and educating folks to stop and reverse this apocalypse-in-progress, make the revolution irresistible and all that.\u00a0\u00a0I\u2019ve already made the case that using climate change as loose conceptual packaging for a work, as in the case of Miss Anthropocene, is\u00a0not\u00a0<\/em>good environmental art making, so what is?\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Well\u2026 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m not quite sure <\/p>\n\n\n\n

and also <\/p>\n\n\n\n

it\u2019s complicated <\/p>\n\n\n\n

so I\u2019m going to split this into two parts. This week I\u2019ll take on some narrative pitfalls environmental art often falls into and in next week\u2019s column I\u2019ll discuss some different possibilities for environmental art making and stretch the idea of what environmental art can be.\u00a0\u00a0Sound good? Let\u2019s roll.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Part I: Pitfalls and Cliches<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Good environmental art thinks outside of conventional narratives.\u00a0\u00a0There are certain stories we grow up with that teach us how to think about the environment, the\u00a0Mother Nature Allegory<\/em>, the\u00a0Extraction Parable,<\/em>\u00a0and the\u00a0I Love the Earth\u00a0<\/em>piece<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0Artists gravitate towards these stories because they are the narrative air we breathe: they\u2019re in advertising, in conversations, and in our heads.\u00a0\u00a0It\u2019s easy for an artist to tell a story they already know and the story\u2019s familiarity means the message is immediately clear to the audience.\u00a0\u00a0The success these narratives have in making change however, is not so clear.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Mother Nature Allegory personifies the Earth or nature, usually as a woman, and humanity as their children or\u00a0husband<\/s>\u00a0romantic partner.\u00a0\u00a0Most of us grew up with Shel Silverstein\u2019s book The Giving Tree, and we can see contemporary portrayals in Darren Aranofsky\u2019s film\u00a0mother!<\/a>\u00a0and songs like Imogen Heap\u2019s\u00a0Earth<\/a> and Bj\u00f6rk\u2019s\u00a0Sacrifice<\/a>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWith clairvoyance \/ she knew what you needed \/ and she gave it to you \/ now her desires are repressed\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Extractive Parable tells of a person or group of people mining or otherwise extracting resources from a fragile or volatile landscape.\u00a0\u00a0The characters ignore warnings not to take more than they give and their greed or ignorance causes them to suffer greatly.\u00a0\u00a0Dr. Suess\u2019s The Lorax is a good example as is\u00a0Fire Coming Out of The Monkey\u2019s Head<\/a>\u00a0from Gorillaz\u2019s Demon Days album.\u00a0\u00a0Another children\u2019s book\u00a0Milo and the Magical Stones<\/a> by Michael Pfister puts an interesting twist on the parable by adding a second positive ending, one where sustainable extraction is implemented and the characters in the story are better off for it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are some interesting creative directions people can take with the previous two categories, but the I Love the Earth category lacks even that possibility.\u00a0\u00a0The I Love the Earth piece isn\u2019t usually even narrative, it\u2019s just a declaration of (conditional) love for (certain parts of) the planet or land the artist inhabits and requires virtually no mental effort to write or to listen to.\u00a0\u00a0Woodie Guthrie\u2019s\u00a0This Land is Your Land<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 originally written as a retort to God Bless America \u2013 is a good example.\u00a0\u00a0It\u2019s a nice sentiment if you don\u2019t think about the colonial legacy the lyrics uphold but really,\u00a0what has the song done<\/a>, and more importantly does the song make you think?\u00a0\u00a0Charity singles like We Are The World and Michael Jackson\u2019s\u00a0Earth Song<\/a>\u00a0also fall into this category but the peak of this unoriginality is Lil Dicky\u2019s star studded song\u00a0Earth<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0The song features lyrics like \u201cHi, I’m a baboon \/ I’m like a man, just less advanced and my anus is huge \/ Hey, I’m a zebra \/ No one knows what I do, but I look pretty cool \/ Am I white or black?\u201d and the inspired chorus \u201cWe love the Earth, it is our planet \/ we love the Earth, it is our home.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0Oh and profits from the song and related merch go \u201ctowards helping the earth\u201d according to Dicky\u2019s website.\u00a0\u00a0That sounds very honorable and totally not like a scam.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Using an established form for environmental works doesn\u2019t have to be clich\u00e9 and there are some very interesting and creative twists people have put on these forms.\u00a0\u00a0My issue with the method is my same issue with a lot of the tactics mainstream environmental organizations keep using \u2013 if they worked, we wouldn\u2019t be watching California burn and Bangladesh drown.\u00a0\u00a0If evoking Mother Nature was all it took to stop oil companies from drilling and governments from permitting, we wouldn\u2019t be in this situation so why not try something different?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Part II: Possibilities<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last week I discussed some pitfalls to environmental art making which is all well and good but this week my sights are set at what we can strive for, rather than what we should avoid when coming to environmental songwriting. First a disclaimer: I\u2019ll do my best to back my arguments with evidence but I do have a taste in art that is my own and I have a specific individual relationship with the environmental movement and climate change so what I think is effective environmental art may not do it for you or other people, and that\u2019s alright.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the biggest issues with environmental art making is how to evoke environmental themes without being too on the nose or clich\u00e9.\u00a0\u00a0This is an especially tricky with climate because it is pretty much always talked about through the language of science.\u00a0\u00a0Art is important in the climate movement particularly because science is \u201ccomplicated\u201d enough that folks either blindly accept or doubt scientific reason without really ever engaging with the content.\u00a0\u00a0Science having its own language makes it difficult to translate into art without\u00a0over-abstracting<\/a>\u00a0or resulting to\u00a0clich\u00e9<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0However, there are some really amazing examples of folks using the language of science to make compelling work. Bj\u00f6rk\u2019s entire\u00a0Biophilia<\/a>\u00a0album for example distills concepts from biology, geology, and planetary physics into fantastic pieces of music.\u00a0\u00a0She does this successfully by finding metaphorical resonance between biological concepts and human emotion \u2013\u00a0Virus<\/a>\u00a0for example paints the virus-host relationship as a self-destructive love between two people.\u00a0\u00a0Erykah Badu also finds success with the science approach, essentially reciting a scientific paper about the effect of cell phone signals on bee navigation in the intro to\u00a0Dial\u2019Afreaq<\/a>.\u00a0As an individual track it doesn\u2019t make much sense but because it\u2019s embedded in an entire mixtape about cell phones (yes she did that and you should listen<\/a>) it REALLY works.\u00a0\u00a0My favorite example of an effective use of science is Anohni\u2019s song\u00a04 Degrees<\/a>, which zooms on a single scientific fact: that if we stay at our current emissions levels we\u2019re on track for four degrees of planetary warming, and milks every bit of emotional resonance out of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4 Degrees does another important thing to climate work \u2013 it plays with perspective.\u00a0\u00a0Instead of predictably lamenting the future of our world or admonishing us for not doing anything Anohni takes a completely different approach and instead eggs the destruction on:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I want to burn the sky, I want to burn the breeze<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I want to see the animals die in the trees<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oh let\u2019s go let\u2019s go, it\u2019s only four degrees<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s an evocative approach, and an important one.\u00a0\u00a0The default perspective in environmental writing is the guilty-ridden “we” and Anhoni purposefully ditches this perspective for a masochistic and villainous “I.” Mary Annaise Heglar, a self-described amateur twitter troll who was\u00a0recently blocked by Exxon<\/a>, has\u00a0discussed the problem of \u201cwe\u201d<\/a>\u00a0in climate change.\u00a0\u00a0The dominant narrative is that \u201cwe\u201d are to blame and that \u201cwe\u201d need to be making change, when in reality the people that must be held accountable for this crisis are a handful of oil execs and a bunch of politicians.\u00a0\u00a0Though I personally love it, Gotye\u2019s (yes\u00a0that Gotye<\/a>) song\u00a0Eyes Wide Open<\/a>\u00a0falls for this trap \u2013 the song is a string of self-flagellations united around the chorus \u201cwe walk the plank with our eyes wide open.\u201d Yes, our eyes are open now, but you know whose eyes were open longer?\u00a0Exxon\u2019s.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The last thing I want to discuss is the role of emotion in environmental songwriting, two emotions in particular, hope and grief.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0It\u2019s pretty settled in the climate community that hope has no place in climate conversations but it bears repeating in this context.\u00a0\u00a0Traditionally climate writers, and certainly musicians and artists making work about the environment, face pressure to find a ray of hope to thread through their work \u2013 but it\u2019s become apparent that this hope has fueled quite a bit of\u00a0inertia and complacence<\/a>\u00a0within the climate community and the larger public.\u00a0\u00a0Instead, climate folks make the\u00a0case for climate grief<\/a>\u00a0 and art, as one of the most effective tools humanity has for sharing emotion, shouldn\u2019t be afraid to grieve either.\u00a0\u00a0My favorite climate songs are the ones that have a singular aching image of grief at their center: like the rising tide at Arcade Fire\u2019s\u00a0Windowsill<\/a>, tUnE-yArDs\u2019s\u00a0Water Fountain<\/a>\u00a0without water, St. Vincent\u2019s\u00a0Black Rainbow<\/a>, and Imogen Heap\u2019s\u00a0Little Bird<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0To explore an example more fully, here\u2019s the first verse of Little Dragon\u2019s\u00a0Nabuma Rubberband<\/a>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The last bird smash into a skyscraper under the Hong Kong lights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It fell pale like a saint, landed on the night train, feathers blown right<\/p>\n\n\n\n

while underground, tunnels reveal voiceless men, the hurt that they feel<\/p>\n\n\n\n

from being born in the wrong place at the wrong time, with the wrong face.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I think with the right blend of emotionally resonant imagery a song doesn\u2019t even explicitly have to reference environmental ideas to be an environmental anthem.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0This is why, in conclusion, I want to declare Lorde\u2019s debut album Pure Heroine an Official Climate Album.\u00a0\u00a0At first glance there doesn\u2019t seem to be much in terms of environmental imagery, but there\u2019s a threat of violence and destruction strung through the album from \u201cwe\u2019re so happy \/ even when we\u2019re smiling out of fear\u201d in\u00a0Tennis Court<\/a>\u00a0to the flaming hair and \u201cexplosions on TV\u201d in\u00a0Buzzcut Season<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0Beyond that, the album speaks acutely to the anxiety and dread that Millennial and Gen-Z folks feel coming of age in an era of imminent ecological collapse: \u201cThis dream isn\u2019t feeling sweet \/ we\u2019re reeling through the midnight streets \/ and I\u2019ve never felt more alone \/ it feels so scary getting old\u201d in\u00a0Ribs<\/a> and these excellent decolonial lyrics in\u00a0Team<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

So all the cups got broke, shards beneath our feet but it wasn\u2019t my fault<\/p>\n\n\n\n

and everyone\u2019s competing for a love they won\u2019t receive<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018cause what this palace wants is release<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you\u2019re looking for more thoughts on climate writing you should check out Mary Heglar and Amy Westervelt\u2019s podcast Hot Take<\/a>, and if you\u2019d like to fill your ears with climate grief, I put all these songs and a few others into a playlist<\/a>.  Take care everyone, talk to you next week!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Originally published in two parts as part of the Digestable newsletter As the smoke from unprecedented wildfires pollutes skies in east coast cities and hurricane season surges past the alphabet into Greek letters despite only being half over my mind turns as it often does to Grimes.\u00a0\u00a0I know, the Canadian musician\u2019s much anticipated\u00a0album\u00a0Miss Anthropocene came… Continue reading On Environmental Art Making<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[22,16,20],"class_list":["post-359","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-digestable","tag-culture","tag-environment","tag-music","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gabriel.town\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/359","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gabriel.town\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gabriel.town\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gabriel.town\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gabriel.town\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=359"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/gabriel.town\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/359\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":746,"href":"https:\/\/gabriel.town\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/359\/revisions\/746"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gabriel.town\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=359"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gabriel.town\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=359"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gabriel.town\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=359"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}