Thinking with the Harrisons: re-imagining the arts in the global environmental crisis.

Douglas, Anne; Fremantle, Chris

Abstract

Helen Mayer Harrison and Newton Harrison, known as "the Harrisons", dedicated five decades to exploring and demonstrating a new form of artistic practice, centered on "...doing no work that does not attend to the wellbeing of the web of life." Their collaborative practice pioneered a way of drawing together art and ecology. They closely observed, often with irony and humor, how human intervention disrupts the dynamics of life as a web of interrelationships. The authors "think with" the Harrisons, critically tracing their poetics as a re-imaging and reconfiguring of the arts in response to the unfolding planetary crisis. They draw parallels between the artists' poetics and rethinking in the philosophy of science, particularly drawing on the philosopher of science, Isabelle Stengers. "Thinking with the Harrisons" is for anyone concerned with the implications of ecological thought and practice as a reimagining of public life, including the interaction of art and science. Throughout their joint practice, the Harrisons sought to engage policy makers, governments, ecologists, artists and the natural world, sensitizing us to the crises that emerge from grounded experiences of place and time.

Citation

DOUGLAS, A. and FREMANTLE, C. 2024. Thinking with the Harrisons: re-imagining the arts in the global environmental crisis. Presented at the Keynote lecture for the Helen and Newton Harrison: California work exhibition, 19 November 2024, San Diego, USA.

• Presentation Conference Type: Keynote
• Conference Name: Keynote lecture for the Helen and Newton Harrison: California work exhibition
• Start Date: Nov 19, 2024
• Deposit Date: Jan 9, 2025
• Publicly Available Date: Mar 5, 2025
• Peer Reviewed: Not Peer Reviewed
• Keywords: Art and the environment; Art and ecology; Environmental art
• Public URL: https://rgu-repository.worktribe.com/output/2656420