The planet's in peril, but here are 5 reminders that we can still make a difference
Before Monday's Creative Minds event, revisit these art projects that imagine a greener world
Art and survival. The theme of Monday's Creative Minds event might sound a little, well, extreme. This isn't a crash course in bunker construction and DIY water filtration, after all — it's a panel discussion about the environment and the bajillion things we've all done to screw it up.
But with the Doomsday Clock ticking dangerously close to midnight, you do what you can to get people's attention, and plenty of artists are taking on that particular job. At Toronto's Koerner Hall, Creative Minds speakers Jennifer Baichwal, Brian Jungen, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Tanya Talaga will be sharing their views on what's happening to the planet, reflecting on how environmental issues relate to their own art and activism.
They're far from alone, of course. Here at CBC Arts, we've covered countless artists who are spreading a similar message, but even if the end is nigh, that still leaves some time to make a difference. Revisit these five stories about art that imagines a better way forward.
Imagine everyone is in this together
This past September, a Mississauga art festival called Work of Wind recruited people from around the community to get one of its most spectacular projects off the ground — literally. It's called Museo Aero Solar, and if you caught a glimpse of an enormous, solar-powered hot-air balloon flying somewhere off Southdown Road, that was it. Created by Argentinian artist Tomas Saraceno, the balloon is made of tape and old plastic bags — a super-sized reminder of human wastefulness. It's beautiful and whimsical, but it's also part of a global conversation. Saraceno has staged it in more than 20 places around the world, so the project also serves as a reminder: wonderful things can happen when people work together. When it comes to saving the planet, the same concept applies.
Imagine life after extinction
There's a mastodon somewhere in B.C. Not a real one — they all died out 11,000 years ago. But artist/biologist Guthrie Gloag made this life-sized sculpture to share a message about conservation, a subject you'll likely contemplate plenty as you wander through the forest, trying to discover the mastodon's secret location.
Imagine a Plan "Bee," not a Plan B
As Ruth Marsh told us the first time we checked in with her: "Bees are a good place to start when you want to talk to people about the environment." Everyone's familiar with them, but bee populations are dwindling — dropping so rapidly that the United Nations issued an international call to action. Without them, the world's food supply is in peril, but in this video about one of the Halifax artist's buzz-worthy projects, Marsh envisions a future where humans have found the solution. They haven't just saved the species, they've helped them be the best that they can "bee."
Imagine thriving waterways
It's hard to care about a problem if you can't see it. That's the power of Uninterrupted, a public art project that dazzled Vancouver last year, attracting 30,000 people over its three-month run. The work involved a massive digital projection, one that turned the city's Cambie Bridge into a river teeming with wild salmon — a species that's lived in B.C. rivers for millennia, but whose numbers are now in decline.
Imagine nature reclaiming the Earth
The end of the world is just a new beginning, right? That's one of the concepts driving Biidaaban: First Light, a recent VR project from the NFB. Collaborating with 3D artist Mathew Borrett, Anishinaabe filmmaker Lisa Jackson transports the audience far into the future, dropping them in the middle of Toronto landmarks — from a subway platform to Nathan Phillips Square. The city was destroyed long ago, but it's sprung back with plenty of hope, reclaimed by nature and Indigenous cultures.
Stream Creative Minds: Art and Survival live on Monday, Dec. 3 at 8pm ET. Catch the program at cbc.ca/arts or on our YouTube or Facebook pages. Want to see it in person? Buy tickets here.