ENVIRONMENTAL ART
Save us from ourselves
- “White Reflects Sunshine. Fuck you Albedo”
Just about this time we would have been intensively preparing for a group show under the title - “White Reflects Sunshine. Fuck you Albedo”. The show is supposed to address the consequences of the rapid melting of the polar ice caps which creates the Albedo Effect. While the show is postponed until September, we talked with artist Maria Meyer and her relationship with environmental art.
Who is Maria Meyer?
“I am a multidisciplinary artist currently studying for an MA in Fine Art at the University of Hertfordshire. I live in St Albans in the UK with my husband, 9 year old daughter, cat and two chickens. I decided to do an MA to shake up my art practice a little and challenge myself to go beyond commercial thinking.”
What are your goals and motivations?
“My goal is art world domination. Kidding! I have modest goals, as I have returned to art practice after 20 years of working in graphic design and advertising. I’d like to make work that feels honest and authentic to me. If I got gallery representation and was able to continue making art and a living from it for the rest of my life, that would be a goal achieved.
My motivations are purely based around the joy of discovery. My practice is an exploration of matter and objects and our relationship with them. A day in the studio is generally unplanned and can unfold in many unexpected ways, that is generally what excites and motivates me to continue. The process of working with everyday objects and materials is like playing, the objects have agency, which enables them to interact with other objects, bringing them together in unexpected ways creates a kind of alchemy or visual poetry.
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What is environmental art for you? Do you consider yourself an activist?
“Environmental art for me, is art that challenges our current relationship with objects and matter.
The dominant anthropocentric worldview places humans above all non-human objects including animals, plants, and minerals. These things are seen as commodities to be harnessed, consumed, destroyed and disposed of at will. It is this attitude that has led us to the brink of environmental catastrophe. If human beings really see how our fate is inextricably bound with that of nonhuman objects and matter, perhaps we would treat them differently. The piece shown here “Save us from ourselves” I made after reading an article about a fungi that lives exclusively on plastic, breaking it down into inert elements. Scientists are looking to bury it deep in landfill sites to tackle the huge amounts of plastic that leach toxic chemicals into the soil. It made me think about how we always talk of “saving the planet”, when what we are ultimately trying to save is ourselves. The natural world that we continue to destroy is the one thing that could actually save us in the end.
I don’t consider myself an activist.”
How are you dealing with the current isolation situation?
“It is early days yet. My art practice ground to a halt due to having no studio access at the university and having to care full time for my daughter. It’s now a case of trying to figure out ways to continue my practice. I am looking at working on a smaller scale and with things that I can find around the house. Artists are by nature inventive, we have to adapt to what ever situation we are in, so whilst this situation is difficult, it shouldn’t stop our creativity. It will also be a time of reflection on both my practice and life in general, which can only be a good thing.”