I thought the ideas that the three artists behind People Powered take and create art with were really cool. I feel like there is this cultural shift happening where art no longer has to be defined by a specific medium, but can now cross disciplines and become much more rounded and aware of different aspects of society. I really like environmental and ecological ideas and movements becoming more available to artists and other groups of people because I think that they can then reach "the masses", so to speak.
Last year I attended a salon at the cultural center that focused on artists and environmentalism, and the different ways they can intersect from being very grounded in ecology to being much more abstract, like dance and performance pieces inspired by issues like recycling. Francis Whitehead, a Chicago artist and professor at the Art Institute, was there and she is really involved in some awesome projects. She often partners with scientists and city governments to help people see what is going on in the world around them through instillation art at different sites around the world. Really awesome, really inspiring stuff. Here are just a few examples:
http://www.datacloudmetamap.com/
http://www.phenologicforest.com/
http://www.embeddedartistproject.com/whatdoartistsknow.html
While I am certainly no artist or designer, I love being surrounded by people who are. I think that scientists and artists can really learn so much from each other and inspire each other to grow beyond their comfort levels, which is so important when it comes to creating something that can really make a difference. I really hope that once my career gets moving, it is moving in this type of collaborative direction.
No comments:
Post a Comment