“Artists and Environmental Sustainability: Video Art, Ecology and the Work of Paul Ryan”

Special Session
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
3:00 – 3:50 pm EDT
RECORDING AVAILABLE

Charles Duncan
Collections Specialist
Archives of American Art

Duncan takes us to the intersections of art, communications, and ecology. He discusses the emergence of video as a medium and how it has been heralded by artists such as Paul Ryan as a visual tool for “scoring” the environment and eliciting community participation in issues of sustainability. To conclude the last session of Day 2, Duncan will share with us documents and video clips that illustrate the rich possibilities inherent in Ryan’s groundbreaking work.

Posted in: Presentations on September 24th by Conference Coordinators

2 Comments

Comment by Carol Cannon — October 10, 2009 @ 11:34 am

After examining the conference’s website and its handy list of works by Ryan several points of interest stand out for me. Having been around in the 70’s and 80’s when there was awareness and writings about the “Dominant Media” v.s. the media of artists and independent thinkers, it strikes me how far we have “run amok” – with little or no audible discussion of alternative sources of news or broadcasts reflecting alternative value structures. Even thinking about how Ryan felt the need to record the changes in natural settings by way of video illustrates how stunted our sensibilities have become, unable to detect subtle environmental changes instincturally, and thereby act responsibly. The rug design for the purpose of structuring dynamic triodities in human relations suggests to me the underlying intelligence of Ryan’s own observations and healthy response to create functional devices to support harmony. The presentation is remarkably complete and coherent and it is the perfect time to look back and evaluate the impact of the video medium in service to our now popularized efforts to “Go Green”.

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Comment by Douglas Pease — October 26, 2009 @ 12:31 am

Archival photograph analysis has now been combined with Google Earth for purposes of environmental information gathering. Someone has analyzed a remote area previously documented by old photographic records, and by using a recent Google Earth image has been able to prove permafrost melting. (See EcoInformatics International Inc.) Also, perhaps one could organize networks of people to document environmental crimes such as illegal dumping of pollutants previously removed by smokestack scrubbers. Individuals could use personal photographic or video equipment for such purpose. Such a network could also be used to insure enforcement of reforestation agreements. There are presently discussions of forming such groups on internet chat threads. I do not know if any such network has actually been formed or not, however.

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