Art and Sustainability: The Responsibility of the Art Market
What does sustainability mean for the art world and what role does the market play in raising environmental awareness. In today’s article, I look at the environmental impact of the art market.This includes the ecological problems that the art market has perpetuated, the sustainable practices that the market has adopted to remedy these issues, and most importantly, the steps they must continue to make in order to guarantee a better future for our planet.
Art has the profound ability to change our social consciousness and inspire real change. Art’s impact on conservation efforts is no exception. Recently there’s been a growing trend from artists and the market to view art through an ecological lens; that is, to see the impact that art has on climate change as well as its role in protecting the environment.
These concerns are nothing new. Artists have been exploring the impact of our social footprint in their works for years. Artistic efforts that foster public dialogue through the creation of representational artwork, the implementation of sustainable designs, and remediation projects are staples of the environmental art movement. Artists typically tend to focus on our physical,biological, social, cultural, and economic influence on ecological systems, choosing to create works that use sustainable materials or make use of natural forces.
The impact of environmental art can be seen through a variety of institutions ranging from small grassroots organizations to multinational corporations that are dedicated to the fight against climate change.
One of the main features of environmental artwork is its permanency. It is usually fixed to one place, unable to be viewed within traditional art exhibitions spaces. However, there are exceptions, and several museums and galleries have produced exhibitions which cover these works of art.
Nature’s Nation: American Art and Environment, the critically acclaimed exhibition organized by the Princeton University Art Museum last fall, featured over 100 artworks spanning the colonial period to the present day, which looked at the traditions and backgrounds of American artists and how they shape our environmental understanding. The aim of the exhibition was to explore the relationship between art historical interpretation and the field of ecocriticism so that we can gain a better appreciation for the impact that the art world has on the environment.
A few galleries have recently explored these themes as well, such as ecofeminism(s), a group show at the Thomas Erben Gallery in New York. It is a show about the intersectional exploitation of the environment and of women under a common framework of supremacy and selfishness, and the urgency needed in addressing these problems amid a growing global crisis. The show highlights the development of ecofeminism, from its nascency in the late 1960s to the present, and presents numerous ways in which we must critique, and ultimately dismantle the systems in place which propagate these social and ecological ills.
Even though artists have been tackling this subject for years, the art world has far too often overlooked the ways in which it contributes to our current climate crises. From the thousands of exhibitions held around the globe each year to the supply and demand chains that require the shipping of artworks by museums, galleries, art fairs, auction houses, and private collectors, the art market seems to be a bacchanalia of carbon emission. Short-term events such as art fairs produce thousands of metric tons of carbon emissions and generate waste in the forms of plastic wrapping, discarded crates, and temporary building materials, all for a few precious days of art marketing and sales. In light of these issues, we must confront the art market’s responsibility towards sustainability.
Many galleries and museums have begun to reflect on their impact on the environment and have adopted sustainable practices into their business models. One company which has been helping the art market reduce its carbon footprint is Rokbox. Andrew Stramentov who co-founded the business in 2015, has pioneered a new, reusable form of shipping crates which are specifically designed to reduce the environmental impact, risk and cost of shipping art. Fine art suppliers and museums around the world have taken up Roxbox’s design amid the rapidly accelerating climate crisis.
The recent push for alternative, online forums by galleries and art fairs in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic presents a rare opportunity for the market to fundamentally change the way it conducts its business while helping to reduce its carbon footprint. Virtual engagement appears to be a significant trend within the art world as market players look for new, innovative ways to broaden their audience and engage with an increasingly younger pool of potential art collectors.
Just last week, the annual Intersect Aspen art fair, normally scheduled to run. during the last week of July, shifted all of their events online, and became one of the first art fairs around the country to convert its physical events onto a virtual platform. The move was met with great success with initial online foot traffic topping hundreds of thousands of page views in the first few days. The success of this remote version of Intersect Aspen is an example of the type of engagement the art market can expect to see as businesses dedicate more resources towards online sales channels.
Not only does the shift towards online spaces make sense from a business standpoint, it also makes sense from a conservation perspective. Younger generations more than ever are concerned with climate change and environmental protectionism, and the art market should listen to their concerns if it intends to sustain long-term growth in the future.
Galleries, museums, auction houses, and art fairs around the world must take a critical look at the ways in which they contribute to the climate crisis and look for alternative, sustainable practices which will guarantee a sustainable future. This includes adopting eco-friendly shipping technologies and scaling back physical spaces, measures which will save these businesses time, money, and our planet.
