ART-PRESENTATION:Eco-Visionaries

Unknown Fields, The Breast Milk of the Volcano (video still), 2016-18, Video, sound, colour; 10 minutes, In association with the Architectural Association, Courtesy of the artistsThe exhibition “Eco-Visionaries: Confronting a planet in a state of emergency” examines humankind’s ecological impact on the planet. As early as the 1950s, scientists started raising serious concerns about the damaging effects of modern life on the environment. Since then, experts have been joined by creative practitioners in an effort to draw wider attention to the fragility of the planet and to stabilise its endangered ecosystems for future generations.

By Dimitris Lempesis
Photo: The Royal Academy of Arts Archive

Tackling issues from climate change to food shortage, species extinction and resource depletion the exhibition “Eco-Visionaries: Confronting a planet in a state of emergency” brings together artists, designers and architects from across the globe who are confronting these environmental issues through their practice. At a critical moment in the history of the planet, the exhibition presents innovative works that reconsider the relationship between humans and nature and offer alternative visions for the future. The exhibition features works by 21 international practitioners in a wide range of media, including film, sculpture, immersive installation, architectural models and full-scale prototypes, all interrogating how art and architecture can help us respond to a rapidly changing world. Highlights include the UK debut of “win > < win” (2017) by the artist collective Rimini Protokoll, the installation explores ecological empathy by confronting audiences with a tank of live jellyfish, one of the few species who actually benefit from the effects of global warming. Alexandra Daisy Ginsberg’s new project “The Substitute” (2019), which draws upon rare zoological archival footage as well as experimental data from artificial intelligence company DeepMind, enables visitors to come face-to-face with a life-size digital reproduction of a northern white rhinoceros. The last male of the subspecies died in 2018. Work by artists with a long-standing environmental agenda include: “The ice melting” series (2002) by Olafur Eliasson. This photographic series showing the process of ice melting evokes the impact of small human actions on the shrinking polar ice caps. Tue Greenfort, from Denmark, present “Tilapia” (2017), a series of black-and-white prints arranged as a shoal of tilapia fish, one of the most consumed varieties of fish in the world but also one of the most invasive and predatory species. Also the exhibition includes works by designers and architects from around the world, including the New York-based architecture studio WORKac, who presents “3.C.City: Climate, Convention, Cruise” (2015), a speculative project for a floating city designed to facilitate dialogue and debate between people and marine species, inspired by the work of the legendary multidisciplinary collective Ant Farm in the 1970s, which also is on display. In “The Breast Milk of the Volcano” (2016-18), the research studio Unknown Fields presents findings from an expedition to Bolivia and the Atacama Desert, source of over half the world’s reserves of lithium, questioning the sustainability of the lithium-based batteries that power most contemporary electronic devices. The London-based architect and researcher Nerea Calvillo presents “Madrid In The Air” (2019), a new film specially commissioned for the exhibition, that monitors the skyline of Madrid over a 24-hour period, uncovering the almost invisible veil of pollutants in the air.

Participating Artists: Virgil Abloh, Ant Farm (Chip Lord, Doug Michels and Curtis Schreier), Nerea Calvillo, Carolina Caycedo, Dunne & Raby, Olafur Eliasson Hon RA, Futurefarmers, Alexandra Daisy Ginsberg, Tue Greenfort, HeHe, Andrés Jaque / Office for Political Innovation, Basim Magdy, Malka Architecture, New-Territories, Philippe Rahm architects, Rimini Protokoll, SKREI, Unknown Fields, Ana Vaz and Tristan Bera, WORKac and Pinar Yoldas

 Info: Curators:  Gonzalo Herrero Delicado, Pedro Gadanho and Mariana Pestana, The Royal Academy of Arts, Burlington House, Piccadilly, Mayfair, London, Duration: 23/11/19-23/2/20, Days & Hours: Mon-Thu & Sat-Sun 10:00-18:00, Fri 10:00-22:00, www.royalacademy.org.uk

Left: Philippe Rahm architectes, The Meteorological Garden /Central Park, Taichung, Taiwan, 2011-19, In collaboration with mosbach paysagistes, Ricky Liu & Associates, Photograph courtesy of Philippe Rahm architects. Right: SKREI, Biogas Power Plant, 2017, Prototype: steel, lime, horsemanure, clay, sand, cement, plaster, plywood. 200 x 150 x 150 cm. Courtesy of the artists. Photo: Lara Jacinto / SKREI
Left: Philippe Rahm architectes, The Meteorological Garden /Central Park, Taichung, Taiwan, 2011-19, In collaboration with mosbach paysagistes, Ricky Liu & Associates, Photograph courtesy of Philippe Rahm architects. Right: SKREI, Biogas Power Plant, 2017, Prototype: steel, lime, horsemanure, clay, sand, cement, plaster, plywood. 200 x 150 x 150 cm. Courtesy of the artists. Photo: Lara Jacinto / SKREI

 

 

HeHe, Domestic catastrophe Nº3: Laboratory Planet(video still), 2012, HD video. 2:59. © HeHe
HeHe, Domestic catastrophe Nº3: Laboratory Planet(video still), 2012, HD video. 2:59. © HeHe

 

 

Futurefarmers, Seed Procession. Part of Seed Journey, 2016 – ongoing, 2016, Photograph by Monica Lovdahl. Courtesy of Futurefarmers
Futurefarmers, Seed Procession. Part of Seed Journey, 2016 – ongoing, 2016, Photograph by Monica Lovdahl. Courtesy of Futurefarmers

 

 

Dunne & Raby, Designs for an over populated planet: Foragers, 2009, Lambda print mounted on aluminium. Courtesy of the artists. Photo: Jason Evans
Dunne & Raby, Designs for an over populated planet: Foragers, 2009, Lambda print mounted on aluminium. Courtesy of the artists. Photo: Jason Evans

 

 

Carolina Caycedo, Serpent River Book (extract), 2017, Artist Book, 72-page accordion fold, offset, printed canvas hardcover, elastic band, 22 x 31 cm, Courtesy of the artist
Carolina Caycedo, Serpent River Book (extract), 2017, Artist Book, 72-page accordion fold, offset, printed canvas hardcover, elastic band, 22 x 31 cm, Courtesy of the artist

 

 

Alexandra Daisy Ginsberg, The Substitute (video still), 2019, Visualisation by The Mill. © Alexandra Daisy Ginsberg
Alexandra Daisy Ginsberg, The Substitute (video still), 2019, Visualisation by The Mill. © Alexandra Daisy Ginsberg

 

 

WORKac and Ant Farm, 3.C. City: Climate, Convention, Cruise, 2015, Acrylic, modelling clay, brass, cast polyester resin, integrated LED lighting. Image by WORKac and Ant Farm
WORKac and Ant Farm, 3.C. City: Climate, Convention, Cruise, 2015, Acrylic, modelling clay, brass, cast polyester resin, integrated LED lighting. Image by WORKac and Ant Farm