CONTEXT

 The Art and Sustainability FORUM SERIES will be designed to accompany the David Greybeard public artwork to key sustainability congresses globally. The forums will address the United Nations Pillars of Sustainability, placing the capacity of art and design to create change as key to the message of the forums. The Melbourne forum will align with the 60 Year Anniversary of the research work by Scientist Dr Jane Goodall at Gombe National Park, Tanzania.

 

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Lisa Roet is a contemporary artist who for over three decades has been driven by the question ‘what is it to be human?’. Roet uses the image of the ape and monkey acting as the ‘mirror’ to humanity. Her extensive research into her subject matter and utilisation of a range of mediums and materials allows her work to explore environmental issues, genetic discoveries and the evolving place of humanity within nature.

Through an interdisciplinary approach to her artwork, Lisa has worked consistently with scientists, zoos, laboratories and museum archives worldwide, as well as field research in Borneo to develop her multi-faceted ongoing project. Roet’s work has been exhibited and curated in exhibitions worldwide including most recently large scale public installations in Beijing, Hong Kong, Holland and Singapore. These public installations depict newly discovered, yet highly endangered species of primates, and act as catalysts for discussions about the environment and humans place within our ever growing urban world.

 

ABOUT THIS EVENT

“Conservation and contemporary art can combine to create a new vehicle for change.”
Lisa Roet Artist

 Art and design are working with responsible corporations and businesses to create change and raise awareness about some of the most pressing issues of our time: environment degradation, extinction of species and climate change. The multi-faceted role of contemporary art in highlighting environmental issues, expressing criticism towards unsustainable factors in society, and offering imaginative solutions for the achievement of sustainability arose as a movement which began in Berlin in 1989, a time artist Lisa Roet was residing in Berlin. This movement has slowly arisen as one of the most powerful modes of expression in the debate about climate change and extinction of species. Sustainable art is produced with consideration for a wider public impact and its reception in relationship to its environments. Humans place within nature is central to this discussion.

“To reconnect with nature is the key if we want to save the planet.”
Dr Jane Goodall

 “What is it to be human?”
Lisa Roet Artist

  

CONVENOR

 

GRACE LEONE

ARTIST | DESIGNER |CURATOR | EDUCATOR
PHD CANDIDATE, RMIT SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE AND URBAN DESIGN
RESEARCH MEMBER, CAST CONTEMPORARY ART AND SOCIAL TRANSFORMATION (CAST)
RMIT UNIVERSITY

 

Grace Leone is an interdisciplinary artist, designer, educator and curator who lives and works in Melbourne, Australia. Leone incorporates a range of fine art disciplines with extensive architectural knowledge to create works that question the relationship between art, the body, perception and public space in evocative concepts. Her interventions concern the urban condition as understood through the reception of architecture’s language and image, while her object-based practice relates to a real time engagement between the body and city spaces. Leone is an educator and researcher in creative practice within the College of Design and Social Context at RMIT University, Australia.

This forum is supported by RMIT University Sustainability and RMIT University Contemporary Art and Social Transformation (CAST).

 

SPEAKERS

 

MATTHEW SELINSKE

POSTDOCTORAL RESEARCH ASSOCIATE | ICON SCIENCE RESEARCH GROUP
SCHOOL OF GLOBAL, URBAN AND SOCIAL STUDIES
RMIT UNIVERSITY

 

‘We see much of ourselves in chimpanzees and other primates; our behaviour, expressiveness, and physiological similarities, which Lisa Roet depicts so compellingly in her work. Despite this kinship, we have a hard time seeing and understanding that it is our behaviours and complacency that drives the threats endangering primates and biodiversity more generally. Our ravenous consumption of resources: mining, forestry, and agriculture expansion, is responsible for primate declines across the world, and likely, their future extinctions. While it might not be our fault that our system consumes unsustainably, it is our responsibility to do something about it, to change both our behaviour and the unsustainable structures in society it supports. Contemporary art can help challenge these structures and reflect the change that is needed.’ Matthew Selinske

Matthew Selinske is a research postdoctoral associate with the ICON Science Lab at RMIT University. Matthew is currently working on a range of research projects including examining the social dimensions and policy barriers of agri-environmental programs and prioritising conservation behaviour change.

Previously, Matthew worked in forest and prairie restoration projects in Minnesota and New York, and managed a protected area in West Africa, focused on primate conservation. He received his undergraduate degree from the University of Minnesota College of Natural Resources and his MSc from Imperial College London. His research is supported by RMIT University, and the Australian Government’s National Environmental Science Program’s Threatened Species Hub.

 

PIA EDNIE-BROWN

PROFESSOR OF ARCHITECTURE
CREATIVE PRACTICE RESEARCH DIRECTOR
SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE AND BUILT ENVIRONMENT
UNIVERSITY OF NEWCASTLE, NSW​

 

‘Art has an important role in drawing our attention to life beyond the human. We have developed so many layers and modes of human-to-human communication that we often drown out nonhuman voices, including the living presence of things we don’t always consider to be living. The aspects of Jane Goodall’s early work that were criticised by scientists can be seen as her artistry: she named chimps, such as David Greybeard, listening to what they had to say and refusing to ignore what these qualities have to tell us. In her 1971 book, In the Shadow of Man, she wrote about being alone for a year, and found herself “saying “Good morning” to my little hut on the Peak, “Hello” to the stream where I collected my water.” Jane knew that we are never alone. Many indigenous cultures have not forgotten this and remain artfully connected in this way. When we recognise the life that moves in all things, it makes it harder to destroy habitats, because place comes to life. Art can help reconnect us to the life of the world, and remind us that we are never alone, even (and perhaps especially) in the absence of other humans.’ Pia Ednie-Brown

Pia Ednie-Brown is a Professor of Architecture at the University of Newcastle, Australia. Her design practice, Onomatopoeia, works with diverse media, methods and milieu to explore creative ways of unsettling anthropocentrism (attending exclusively to human needs) and developing alternative, more ecologically inclined ways of practicing, such as in her project The Jane Approach (see: http://onomatopoeia.com.au/what-is-the-jane-approach) Through creative practice methods, her research has sought to articulate relations between creativity and ethics, aesthetics, innovation, emergence, ecological thinking, and emerging technologies. Her writing and creative works have been published in diverse national and international contexts.

 

MICHAEL ANDERSON

MANAGER UTILITIES
PROPERTY SERVICES
RMIT UNIVERSITY

 

‘Consideration of the environmental footprint of art, by the artist, is of increasing importance globally. We are seeing sustainability considerations and questions being raised by both external funders and the general public. Ultimately the industry needs to holistically address these questions and continue to drive sustainability into supply chains.

A carbon footprint of large public art pieces is a tangible way to start the conversation around sustainability. The exercise can give insights into the project, specifically what decisions have the largest impact. Once that conversation starts, artists can begin to look at future projects and consider different material selections, construction techniques or transportation choices. This is just the start of a much bigger journey for the industry!’ Michael Anderson

 Michael Anderson is the Utility Manager at RMIT University, with over 9 years experience in energy and carbon reporting in the Australian tertiary sector. Michael is responsible for the emissions profile of RMIT University, one of the largest tertiary institutions in Australia – in 2019 RMIT University achieved a 48% reduction in emissions from 2007 and are aiming to be Carbon Neutral by 2030. Michael has assisted in the calculation and offsetting the carbon inventory for the David Greybeard installation.