Views and ideas about current moments and energies in the contemporary artworld
Arts and Sustainability
11/2/2012 2:43:34 PM
Spreading the Word Last Wednesday I attended a symposium supported by the Australian Business Arts Foundation and the Perth Institute for Contemporary Art on Art and Sustainability. Alison Tickell from Julie's Bicycle, a UK based nfp organisation devoted to advocating and servicing sustaiable practice for the Arts, spoke with passion and enthusiasm about the role artists must play in the bigger picture of global environmental action.
Julie's Bicycle provides information, tools and case studies for ways in which artists and arts organisations can reduce their carbon footprint. Ostensibly a site dedicated to the performing arts and in a UK context Alison assured me their aim is to create an online resource for a global context and for all arts. As she said it is a global issue.
Her key points were for all artists are
1. Do a study of your own practice and carbon footprint
2. Take action to minimise it (without sacrafice to your creativity and finances) and embrace sustainability in your practiice.
3. Go beyond the arts world and engage with others on this issue - learn more about sustainability
4. Be proactive with your suppliers by asking them what and how sustainablitiy is incorporated in their business. Packaging, materials, transport and so on.
5. Spread the word with your fellow artists and networks.
More on this later as I build my own knowledge of sutainable practice for visual artists.
