Art historian and curator Paul Ardenne is continuing the Green Soul series devised for the Fondation, on cultures and imaginaries in the age of the Anthropocene.
The plastic arts. What is “ecological” art? Painting, sculpture, installation, video, between lament, celebration, activism and degrowth.
The aim of this meeting is to define what is becoming of creation in the Anthropocene era. How are the visual arts reacting to the increasing pollution, the collapse of biodiversity, global warming and the depletion of resources that make the headlines every day? How does the visual arts world respond to the challenge of decarbonisation, with what discourse, what resources and what credibility? Ethics, more than ever, are the order of the day, against the destructive fury of the global economy.
In parallel with the change in mentality that is underway, we need to assess the artistic potential of the ecological commitment that ‘visual’ artists are making, between aesthetics, ethics and environmental combat, using conventional creation or contextual art that has been declared ‘useful’. The time seems to have come for a radical change in the way things are done and in the methods used.
Paul Ardenne has a degree in History and a doctorate in Arts and Art Sciences. He is a contributor to the journals Art press, Archistorm and INTER-Art actuel, and is the author of several books: Art, l’âge contemporain (1997), L’Art dans son moment politique (2000), L’Image Corps (2001), Un Art contextuel (2002), Art, le présent (2009), Un Art écologique. Création plasticienne et anthropocène (2018), L’Art en joie. Aesthetics of joyful humanity (2023). He is also a novelist and specialist in architecture (Terre Habitée, 2005; La Bonne ville, 2019; Le Boost et le frein – Comment l’humain bâtit au 21e siècle?, 2021…).
As a curator of contemporary art, Paul Ardenne has designed numerous exhibitions, the most recent of which are “Dendromorphies. Creating with trees” (Paris, 2016), “Courants verts. Creating for the environment” (Paris, 2019) and “L’anthropocène et après” (Saint-Denis de la Réunion, 2020). He has produced several programmes on France Culture devoted to art in the age of the Anthropocene (“L’art est l’environnement“, January 2023) and is a regular contributor to the series of programmes The World in Images, on the ARTE television channel.
Program
1. Words that say it all. The “Anthropocene” and its new vocabulary: new reality and new languages. Tuesday 21 November, 2023, 6:30pm.
2. The beginnings of ecological thinking. When and how is green consciousness born? Tuesday 12 December, 2023, 6:30pm.
3. The imaginary of the end of the world. Post-apocalypse, dystopia, ecological teleology. Tuesday 23 January, 2023, 6:30pm.
4. From anthropocene disaster to prodigal creation. The environmental destruction of the world and its rich aesthetic translation. Tuesday 20 February, 2024, 6:30pm.
5. The Green Soul, a cultural commitment. The intellectual movement and the design of a new pro-Earth language. Tuesday 19 March, 2024, 6:30pm.
6. Plastic arts. What is “ecological” art? Tuesday 2 April, 2024, 6:30 pm at Esa Saint-Luc Bruxelles.
7. Anthropocene-art 2, Ecopoetry, ecocinema, ecoBD, ecomusic, ecotheater, ecodance. Tuesday 28 May, 2024, 6:30pm at Esa Saint-Luc Bruxelles.
8. Towards a Green Soul culture. A new mental, psychic and behavioral alliance. Conjuring anthropophobia and hatred of the destructive human. Tuesday 11 June, 2024, 6:30pm at Esa Saint-Luc Bruxelles.
Practical information
Conference upon online reservation
Duration: 1 hour followed by a discussion with the audience (French speaking)
