The term "sustainability" can be defined simply as the ability to meet our own needs without compromising the ability of future generations to satisfy theirs. Balancing environmental, social, economic, and aesthetic concerns, sustainability has spread from the field of contemporary design into the arena of contemporary art. Beyond Green: Toward a Sustainable Art introduces a new generation of international artists - Allora & Calzadilla, Marjetica Potrč, Michael Rakowitz, Andrea Zittel, and more - who work at the intersection of sustainable design and contemporary art.
Beyond Green explores works and ideas that propose cross-disciplinary agendas and renewed activism. Rather than focusing on the mere consciousness of "green" art, the artists in this exhibition take on the social responsibility to tweak art-making and design strategies in favor of sustainability. With essays by curator Stephanie Smith, art historian and theorist Victor Margolin, and texts by over 20 artists, Beyond Green constitutes the first foray into a fascinating new area of contemporary art. What results is a bracing volume that will be of interest to aficionados of design and art alike, as well as to environmentalists.
Featured artists: Allora & Calzadilla, Free Soil (Amy Franceschini, Myriel Milicevic, & Nis Rømer), JAM (Jane Palmer & Marianne Fairbanks), Learning Group (Brett Bloom, Julio Castro, Rikke Luther, & Cecelia Wendt), Brennan McGaffey & Temporary Services, Nils Norman, People Powered, Dan Peterman, Marjetica Potrč, Frances Whitehead, WochenKlausur, Andrea Zittel
Smith, Stephanie. Beyond Green: Toward A Sustainable Art, 2005. Essays by Stephanie Smith and Victor Margolin, plus artists’ statements. 160 pages, 73 color and 5 black-and-white illustrations. 7 x 10 in., softcover. Co-published by the Smart Museum of Art and ICI. ISBN: 0-935573-42-9.
