The exhibition at the 60 Wall Street Gallery pursues a
similar agenda, inviting visitors to become actively engaged in the works. Isabella
Gonzales’ installation 2 Cents’ Worth (2007)
includes postcards that viewers can send to their congressional
representatives to demand that they commit themselves to environmental
protection. On the other hand, the Seed Bombs that Kathryn
Miller has been making since 1992 from earth, gelatine, and plant
seeds serve entirely peaceful purposes. As an urban guerilla, anyone can
make plants grow on empty lots and create small ecosystems.
Kim
Abeles, Presidential Commemorative Smog Plates,
Ronald
Reagan, 1992
Courtesy of the
artist
Other artists implement
agit-prop to provide visitors with food for thought. "Change works through
individual efforts that very naturally become a collective chorus", as Kim
Abeles explains. The Los Angeles-based artist presents her
Presidential Commemorative Smog Plates (1992)—porcelain plates bearing
the portraits of American presidents. What from a distance resembles a
patriotic gallery of ancestors turns out to be a scathing criticism of the
insufficient environmental policies of various administrations.
Presidential portraits ranging from William
McKinley (1897-1901) to George
H. W. Bush (1989-1993) consist of smog that has settled on the white
porcelain surface. Abeles adhered a special foil to the plates, from which
she cut the stenciled faces of the presidents. She then left the plates of
those least concerned with the theme of environmental pollution for a
longer period of time on the roof of her house in Los Angeles. While Woodrow
Wilson’s (1913-1921) plate only spent four days in the air of
the city counting the most cars worldwide, Ronald
Reagan (1981-1989) was subjected to the legendary Los Angeles smog for
a total of forty days. The reason for this is printed on the plate in
golden letters: in 1980, during the primaries, Reagan declared that
"approximately 80% of our air pollution stems from hydrocarbons released
by vegetation, so let’s not go overboard in setting and enforcing tough
emission standards from man-made sources."
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Joel Sternfeld, When It Changed, 2005
Courtesy
of the artist and Luhring Augustine, New York
On
the other hand, Joel
Sternfeld’s approach is subtler. For his series When it
Changed, he created portraits of the participants of the 2005 United
Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in the Canadian city of
Montreal. The delegates’ fears are reflected in their faces—but also the
hope for change, which the work’s title also alludes to. Since the
conference, awareness of the effects of global warming has increased
worldwide, while more and more countries are undertaking measures to
confront this planetary challenge. Yet when one views the works of
Isabella Gonzales and Kathryn Miller or regards Patricia
Johanson’s drawings depicting "sustainable" gardens in harmony
with the nature surrounding them and hence using less resources, Feeling
the Heat conveys more than anything else the realization that it is
not the responsibility of politicians to undertake measures against
climate change. Each and every one of us can do something—and art is a
good medium for conveying this message. Because, as Liz Christensen
explains, "It is one of the great powers of art that it can sometimes
sneak up quietly and then hit you on the head."
Patricia
Johanson, Building that Collects Water, 1969
Courtesy
of the artist
Feeling the Heat
20.
May - 24. October
60 Wall Street Gallery
New
York City 10005
Achim Drucks
[1]
[2]
[3]
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