[spectre] GREEN PLATFORM, art, ecology and sustainability

[Alessandro Ludovico]

GREEN PLATFORM
art, ecology and sustainability

http://www.strozzina.org/greenplatform/e_index.php

The Centre for Contemporary Culture Strozzina 
(CCCS), at the Palazzo Strozzi, Florence, Italy, 
will present from 24 April 2009 to 19 July 2009 :

GREEN PLATFORM - Art Ecology Sustainability, 
curated by Valentina Gensini and Lorenzo Giusti.

the exhibition will present a series of works by 
international artists who address these issues in 
a number of very different ways.

The artists whose work will be on display are 
Alterazioni Video, Amy Balkin, Andrea Caretto and 
Raffaella Spagna, Michele Dantini, Ettore Favini, 
Futurefarmers, Tue Greenfort, Henrik Håkansson, 
Katie Holten, Dave Hullfish Bailey, Christiane 
Löhr, Dacia Manto, Lucy and Jorge Orta, Julian 
Rosefeldt, Carlotta Ruggieri, Superflex, Nicola 
Toffolini and Nikola Uzunowski.   Between them 
they will address the issue of the environment in 
the dual sense of a crisis in our 
thermo-industrial society based on non-renewable 
sources of energy and of an ecological crisis 
caused by pollution and by the worrying 
overheating of our planet.

Green Platform will allow visitors to compare the 
artists' different approaches to, and ways of 
reflecting on, the problem of ecology which will 
be explored not only in terms of an environmental 
approach but also analysed and understood through 
its myriad philosophical, psychological, 
environmental, economic and social implications.

ART, NATURE, LANDSCAPE
Some of the artists focus on investigating and 
denouncing existing situations, conduct and 
social practices that fail to respect the 
ecosystem.  Their work highlights the 
inconsistency and responsibility of individuals 
and of society as a whole, yet without claiming 
to indicate any 'right way' to resolve the 
problem of the environment.  Rather, their work 
offers a detached analytical view that questions 
tangible elements in the difficult transformation 
process currently underway.

ART AND SUSTAINABILITY
Other artists dwell on the theme of virtuous 
practices designed to curtail environmental 
impact, in an attempt to avoid jeopardising the 
chance of future generations to continue to 
develop while safeguarding the quality and 
quantity of the world's natural reserves and 
heritage.  These artists' works are formed with 
natural, perishable and recycled materials or are 
constructed in accordance with energy-related, 
behavioural and structural rationales based on 
sustainability.

ECO-ACTIVISM - ECO-CRITICISM
Finally there are artists who resort to 
programmed or relational practices, interacting 
with the public sphere and proposing not just a 
virtuous approach in their artistic output but 
fully-fledged alternative strategies for 
development.  'Eco-active' artists make the best 
possible use of the varied vocabulary of art to 
fight a concrete environmental battle.  Their 
work simultaneously covers the ground of both 
artistic practice and political activism.

Designed not only as an exhibition but as a 
composite platform, Green Platform will offer a 
variety of different experiences, open to 
visitors and the community alike, with a series 
of workshops run by artists, environmental 
activists and NGO members, a calendar of lectures 
by experts hailing from several different 
disciplines and working environments, as well as 
a programme of videos and documentaries on 
environmental issues.

The exhibition catalogue, with articles by 
international authors from a whole range of 
different disciplines and cultural backgrounds 
(from the economy to architecture, and from the 
social sciences to public-sector art), is a 
perfect tool for prompting reflection and debate 
on a new concept in art and on the opportunity to 
foster the new and 'sustainable' development of 
that art.


Location:	Centre for Contemporary Culture 
Strozzina (CCCS), 50123 Firenze, Italy

Public Information:	Tel. +39 055 2645155,  http://www.palazzostrozzi.org

Opening hours:	Tuesday to Sunday 10.00 to 20.00, 
Thursday 10.00 to 23.00, Monday closed

Tickets:	¤5.00 multiple entry (up to five 
times in one month, including lectures)
	¤4.00 (schools)

Access:	Lifts and wheelchair access to all areas.

-- 


Alessandro Ludovico
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