Climate Change: A Different Subjectivity?

Abstract

The issue of the environment first emerged as a focus in contemporary art practice in the 1970s. However, climate change art as a new direction in environmental art has only been an area of significant focus since the early 2000s. As a creative intervention, it is a reaction to the global phenomenon of the build-up of greenhouse gases in the Earth’s atmosphere, the urgent need for greater diplomatic cooperation internationally and sustained domestic policies and programs to mitigate and adapt to climate change. This doctoral research explores the role of visual art in producing new strategies to mediate the urgency of the climate change issue. My studio practice involving drawing, digital imagery, video and installation has been plaited with three lines of inquiry. First, how may contemporary art address speeches and reports associated with negotiations on climate change? Second, how may people living in varying localities and communities across the globe contribute to mitigating climate change impacts via their multiple efforts? Third, is it possible that climate change art may contribute to an altered subjectivity within viewers and some realisation of future implications of climate change and the ethics of inaction?