Others
TippingPoint
European Economic and Social Committee (EESC), Brussels
25/01/10 - 26/01/10
Over the last few years, Europe and the global community’s level of awareness about, and understanding of, climate change has greatly increased. However, a disparity remains between, on the one hand, the scientific knowledge we possess and on the other, what society is doing to address the issue. This gap is also present in the artistic and cultural world, where, bar a few exceptions, far too few people are undertaking to do their bit to tackle climate change. This is extremely damaging, as artists have always had a unique ability to help society understand the world of which it is part, and the challenges it must meet.
In order to get to grips with the phenomenon, the British Council, the European Union National Institutes for Culture (EUNIC), including the Cultural service of the Polish Embassy in Belgium, as well as the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) and TippingPoint, organised a large-scale European rally. Representatives from the cultural sector were in attendance, including artists working with all art forms, as well as a large panel of scientists involved in the study of climate change. The rally was held at the heart of the European Institutions, central Brussels, in the EESC buildings, in order to send out a symbolic message. Many political decision-makers working on the problem of climate change were also present.
The plan had been to reflect on the conclusions (albeit disappointing) drawn at the end of the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, which, incidentally, is believed to have been the largest international conference ever held. The objective of the event which we organised was to test the ground for future action, including joint activities involving artists and scientists and artistic and cultural projects. A complete activities programme was held over the course of the two-day meeting. Professor John Schellnhuber, Director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, provided the scientific foundations of our meeting. We hope that this event provided those present with an opportunity to get beyond the day-to-day ‘work in progress’ stage of their work and discover ways to interact in an innovative way with other disciplines.
We invited three key Polish figures from the worlds of art and science to take part in this important event:
Monika Bakke: a philosopher and art critic, she is interested in cultural theory and, in particular, in the theory of contemporary art and the problems of the ‘aestheticisation’ of daily life. Her articles have been translated into English and German. In her writing on contemporary art and aesthetics, she has developed a particular interest for the post humanist perspective and views which reach beyond culture and genre. She is the author of Open Body (Corps ouvert, 2000) and co-wrote Pleroma. Art in Search of Fullness (Pleroma. L'art à la recherche de l'abondance, 1998). She edited the books Australian Aboriginal Aesthetics (L'Esthétique aborigène australienne, 2004) and Going Aerial. Air, Art, Architecture (Vers l'aérien. Air, art et architecture, 2006).
Jarosław Kozakiewicz: a sculptor and creator of architectural projects, installations and scenery, he studied at the Warsaw Fine Art Academy (1981-1985) and the New York Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art (1985-1988). He was awarded a doctorate from the Warsaw Fine Art Academy in 1997 and has participated in several individual and collective exhibitions. In 2006, he represented Poland at the 11th Architecture Biennale in Venice. He is also the author of Project Mars, a huge reconstruction of the landscape around Lake Baerwalde in Germany, a region formerly reserved for excavating lignite. He completed this project in 2007 by creating a landscape of hills in the shape of a giant human little finger. Amongst other things, Kozakiewicz’s artistic-architectural projects are inspired by contemporary ecology, genetics, physics, astronomy and ancient cosmological concepts.
Zbigniew Kundzewicz: a professor of earth sciences at the Poznań RCAFE Centre, which is attached to the Polish Academy of Science, Kundzewicz heads up the hydrology group at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research. His field of research is ‘Climate: Impacts and Vulnerability’. Professor Kundzewicz recently received the Great Seal of the city of Poznań for his scientific work.
In order to get to grips with the phenomenon, the British Council, the European Union National Institutes for Culture (EUNIC), including the Cultural service of the Polish Embassy in Belgium, as well as the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) and TippingPoint, organised a large-scale European rally. Representatives from the cultural sector were in attendance, including artists working with all art forms, as well as a large panel of scientists involved in the study of climate change. The rally was held at the heart of the European Institutions, central Brussels, in the EESC buildings, in order to send out a symbolic message. Many political decision-makers working on the problem of climate change were also present.
The plan had been to reflect on the conclusions (albeit disappointing) drawn at the end of the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, which, incidentally, is believed to have been the largest international conference ever held. The objective of the event which we organised was to test the ground for future action, including joint activities involving artists and scientists and artistic and cultural projects. A complete activities programme was held over the course of the two-day meeting. Professor John Schellnhuber, Director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, provided the scientific foundations of our meeting. We hope that this event provided those present with an opportunity to get beyond the day-to-day ‘work in progress’ stage of their work and discover ways to interact in an innovative way with other disciplines.
We invited three key Polish figures from the worlds of art and science to take part in this important event:
Monika Bakke: a philosopher and art critic, she is interested in cultural theory and, in particular, in the theory of contemporary art and the problems of the ‘aestheticisation’ of daily life. Her articles have been translated into English and German. In her writing on contemporary art and aesthetics, she has developed a particular interest for the post humanist perspective and views which reach beyond culture and genre. She is the author of Open Body (Corps ouvert, 2000) and co-wrote Pleroma. Art in Search of Fullness (Pleroma. L'art à la recherche de l'abondance, 1998). She edited the books Australian Aboriginal Aesthetics (L'Esthétique aborigène australienne, 2004) and Going Aerial. Air, Art, Architecture (Vers l'aérien. Air, art et architecture, 2006).
Jarosław Kozakiewicz: a sculptor and creator of architectural projects, installations and scenery, he studied at the Warsaw Fine Art Academy (1981-1985) and the New York Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art (1985-1988). He was awarded a doctorate from the Warsaw Fine Art Academy in 1997 and has participated in several individual and collective exhibitions. In 2006, he represented Poland at the 11th Architecture Biennale in Venice. He is also the author of Project Mars, a huge reconstruction of the landscape around Lake Baerwalde in Germany, a region formerly reserved for excavating lignite. He completed this project in 2007 by creating a landscape of hills in the shape of a giant human little finger. Amongst other things, Kozakiewicz’s artistic-architectural projects are inspired by contemporary ecology, genetics, physics, astronomy and ancient cosmological concepts.
Zbigniew Kundzewicz: a professor of earth sciences at the Poznań RCAFE Centre, which is attached to the Polish Academy of Science, Kundzewicz heads up the hydrology group at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research. His field of research is ‘Climate: Impacts and Vulnerability’. Professor Kundzewicz recently received the Great Seal of the city of Poznań for his scientific work.
