Climate Change and the Arts

Catalog description

Climate is a moving target. Only a couple of years ago, the main objective of artists who were working on global warming was fighting climate denialism. 2024 was the hottest year on record, only to top 2023 on that infamous list. This and other signs of the warming planet change the objectives of scientists, policy makers, and artists. Instead of getting bogged in dystopias, trying to imagine unlivable futures, we can instead focus on ideas that are at hand, which can change the way we behave in our social and natural environments. In this class, we will explore a select number of art strategies and artworks that offer solutions for life on our rapidly changing planet. The arts can model the worlds that are unlike the one in which we live: before we build a different future, we need to make it imaginable and thinkable. Different artistic media share this common property. This class is interdisciplinary: we are looking at literature, visual arts, film, digital media, performance, and even cooking to explore creative ways in which artists engage the problem of climate change. Students are encouraged to ideate their own art projects that address climate change.