Artistic Intervention for Ecology

Sidey Myoo

doi:10.26485/AI/2025/27/21

Authors

Sidey Myoo Jagiellonian University, Krakow, Poland

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.26485/AI/2025/27/21

Keywords:

artistic intervention, art criticism, activism, climate, ecology

Abstract

The article raises the question of interventionist art in relation to the issue of the cli-
mate crisis. It has been pointed out that climate activism represented in art may concern criticism, be limited to reflection and descriptiveness, or be interventionist, involving the viewers enough to create a community that can take action in the name of environmental views pro-claimed in art. Based the above, a distinction has been made between art criticism, as poeticizing the issues raised, and interventionist art, which points out the root causes for the worsening state of our climate and proposes concrete countermeasures. The importance of the communicative role of art, as distinct from non-artistic discourse: colloquial or scientific, has also been raised,
arguing that this type of communication may be most relevant to understanding the issues
discussed. The article uses critical and interventionist examples of artworks.

Author Biography

Sidey Myoo, Jagiellonian University, Krakow, Poland

(www.sideymyoo.aty.pl) is the academic pseudonym of prof. dr hab. Michał Ostrowicki, originating from the online name adopted in 2007 in the virtual world of Second Life.
A philosopher working at the Department of Aesthetics at the Institute of Philosophy at the Jagiellonian University, as well as the Department of Media Art Theory at the Faculty of Intermedia at the Academy of Fine Arts in Krakow. His interests lie in aesthetics treated as a theory of art, mainly in reference to contemporary art, including New Media Art. Since 2003, he has been engaged in analyzing the philosophy of the Internet, studying phenomena such as immersion, interactivity, telepresence, telematics, hybridization, immateriality, identity and artificial intel-ligence. He stresses the importance of the development of technology creating or transforming the whole human world. In 2006, he introduced the concept of electronic realis (later virtual realis), which became the basis for ontoelectronics, an ontology focused on the analysis of virtual reality treated as a sphere of being. In 2007, he founded Academia Electronica (www.academia-electronica.net), a virtual part of the Jagiellonian University, operating on a university model in VR: Second Life and Spatial, where he teaches official academic courses, conducts exams and gives conference presentations.

References

Berthoin Antal Ariane (2019) Research on Artistic Interventions: A Learning Opportunity for Museums [in:] A. Hermannstädter, ed., Art/Nature. Interventions at the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin, Berlin: Edition Braus, pp. 44-49: https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/207021/1/Full-text-chapter-Berthoin-Antal-Research-on-artistic.pdf

Bourriaud Nicolas (2002) Relational Aesthetics, Paris: les presses du reel: https://archive.org/details/relationalaesthe0000bour.

Guzzo Marina Souza Lobo et al. (2024) Artistic Practices in the Anthropocene, “Annual Review of Environment and Resources”, vol. 49, pp. 223-247: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/385060095_Artistic_Practices_in_the_Anthropocene

Berners-Lee Mike (2021) There Is No Planet B, Updated Edition, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Kagan Sacha Jérôme (2014) The practice of ecological art, ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/274719395_The_practice_of_ecological_art

McMorrow Freya et al. (2022) The Complexities of Artistic Interventions as a Remedy, Hague: The Institute for Historical Justice and Reconciliation (IHJR-EuroClio), The European Association of History Educators: https://contestedhistories.org/wp-content/uploads/Artistic-Intervention_Discussion-Paper.pdf

Stocker Gerfried, Jandl Markus,eds. (2024a) Prix Ars Electronica 2024, Festival for Art, Technology & Society, Berlin-Linz: Hatje Cantz Verlag, A Ganske Publishing Group Company: https://ars.electronica.art/hope/files/2024/08/prix2024.pdf

Stocker Gerfried, Jandl Markus, eds. (2024b) Who will turn the tide HOPE - Ars Electronica 2024 Festival for Art, Technology & Society, Berlin-Linz: Hatje Cantz Verlag GmbH, A Ganske Publishing Group Company: https://ars.electronica.art/hope/files/2024/08/festival2024.pdf

Wallen Ruth (2012) Ecological Art: A Call for Visionary Intervention in a Time of Crisis, “Leonardo”, vol. 45, no. 3, pp. 234-242: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/232243355_Ecological_Art_A_Call_for_Visionary_Intervention_in_a_Time_of_Crisis

Wołek Magdalena (2019) Ecological Art and its Main Thesis, “Silesian University of Technology Publishing House, Scientific Papers”, no. 141, pp. 429-442: https://managementpapers.polsl.pl/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/141-Wo%C5%82ek.pdf

https://www.ats.aq/e/protocol.html

https://documents.ats.aq/recatt/Att006_e.pdf

https://ars.electronica.art/futurelab/en/projects-schmilz-schmilz-baby/

https://www.museum-joanneum.at/en/kunsthaus-graz/our-programme/calendar/event/bill-fontana-silent-echoes-dachstein-2

https://beatiewolfe.com/smoke-and-mirrors

https://calls.ars.electronica.art/2024/prix/winners/12715/

https://ars.electronica.art/aeblog/en/2024/06/17/from-blue-marble-to-bioplastic-record/

https://culture.pl/en/article/critical-art-selected-issues

https://una-unless.org/en/

https://documents.ats.aq/recatt/Att006_e.pdf

https://paolocirio.net/work/climate-class-action/

https://climateclassaction.com/about/#about