Nature and environment

Whereas the previous section delved into the lifecycle of products, the next section focuses on the extent to which nature is holding on, changing or disappearing in the wake of our everyday activities. Clearly, this is hard to do in isolation from today’s unprecedented exploitation of raw materials, the intensity of polluting activities and the impact of global warming. In fact, the triple crisis in which we find ourselves is already supplying the raw materials for some art in the EPO collection, throwing the challenges we all face into a new light and creating space for reflection.

Works by Danish environmental artist Tue Greenfort foreground the topic of pollution, whether in the form of acid rain or discarded “water bottles”. His sculpture 1 kg PET is formed out of fused bottles made of the petroleum-based plastic known as PET. Astonishingly, it requires some 17.5 litres of water to produce just one kilogram of this material, which here takes on the appearance of a section of writhing, storm-ravaged sea. These works not only suggest or aim to spark a growing ecological consciousness across cultural, technological and social spheres. They also urge us to consider how our daily activities contribute to the disruption of major biogeochemical cycles such as the water cycle.

At the same time, more and more of the Earth is being sealed by our cities, the total surface area of which has increased by around 80% since the 1950s in the European Union alone. Belgrade-based Ivan Šuletić expresses his interest in urbanisation in painstakingly detailed hand-painted canvases. Meanwhile, Stockholm-based Carsten Höller creates photoengravings of birds bred in captivity that suggest an ambiguous blend of the more-than-human world and techniques of industrial production. Further artworks may recall threats to life on land posed by monocultures and rising sea levels, or moments of reprieve while watching the river flow by in Berlin or in the midst of almost timeless observations of floral intensity.

The shifting relationship between art, nature and sustainability is suggested from multiple perspectives: now ecological, now that of total urbanisation or even a giddy realism, then that of genetics and digital innovation, or even in scenes verging on pure slapstick, as we see the “last snow” descend a “ski slope” in photographs by Swiss performance artist and sculptor Roman Signer.  

Humour too, it almost goes without saying, can also provide new perspectives, even if it is now scarcely possible to imagine viewing nature with an entirely innocent gaze. This much and more is hinted at in Eva Leitolf’s series of photographs of “nature dioramas”, or the kind of mock-ups one might find in a museum. The title of the German artist’s series, Ganz still und stumm/Naturstücke, translates as “Completely still and silent/Nature pieces.” The first four words are taken from a classic children’s song in the form of a riddle describing a rosehip in the woods as if it were a tiny person wearing a red coat and black cap. Given that it is up to the child to solve the riddle, Leitolf’s triptych can be viewed as a poignant reminder of the now urgent need to let human ingenuity thrive, with a view to creating a more sustainable future that supports more than just the vestiges of the natural world.