Notes: 31.01.20
My current exhibition Horizon Rising opened in the European Union but it will close outside of it. The union that has shaped my career, that offers such opportunity to so many.
A scholarship to Italy immediately after graduation evolved into my largest project to date. A period living in Brussels introduced me to the joy of flea-marketing, pushing my use of recycled materials. Time spent in Paris, northern Spain and the Cyclades has made for some of my most rewarding creative experiences. And, while sustainability has always sat at the core of my art practice, it was a residency in the Almería arid-zone that led me to delve more deeply into the topic of climate change – the theme my works explore today.
Europe made me the artist I am today. Though, my relationship with Europe encompasses far more than just my career.
When Taigh Chearsabhagh Arts Centre invited me to exhibit this month and next, it didn’t occur to me that I’d be producing a travelling exhibition, but conceptually at least, this is what it is.
Horizon Rising | Stills from a short film by Taigh Chearsabhagh Arts Centre
I feel frustration today, set to be stripped of my EU citizenship, resident of a country that’s chosen to close a door at a time when – for the sake of our planet, if nothing else – we urgently need to act together.
In the UK, the party with one of the lowest environmental commitments has maintained leadership. When we have just months to act to safeguard the future of our planet, we need to work together. We know already that Britain is set to miss its 2020 climate pledges, yet, the UK leaves the EU this evening, paving the way for years of uncertainty and instability, where environmental stewardship will be impacted.
We’ve witnessed unfathomable irony in recent months, as our Earth has suffered the impacts of climate change.
Devastating forest fires have raged across Australia causing untold damage (glaciers in New Zealand have turned pink from the ash, disabling their ability to reflect sunlight and aid temperature regulation). Yet – Sydney welcomed 2020 with a huge display of fireworks.
Venice suffered extreme flooding, the governor of the region described the inundation as “apocalyptic”, that the city was “on its knees”. Yet – the floodwaters entered the city just minutes after a local council meeting voted against allocating funding to combat the effects of climate change.
Last month, on Christmas Eve, Antarctica lost fifteen percent of its icy mass and at its antipode, it’s been revealed that due to global warming, Greenland is now losing ice at a rate of 280 billion tons per year. Yet – most governments are failing to take drastic action, Cop25 ended in deadlock and if we look to America, President Trump (who proclaimed at Davos that environmental campaigners are “the perennial prophets of doom”) has maintained his resistance to international climate collaboration.
For reasons such as these (and these are a mere handful) it makes little sense to close doors. But on a personal level, Europe will, of course, continue to offer inspiration. And at home, in Scotland (which voted overwhelmingly to remain in the EU) we must hope for a more adventurous Cop26 in Glasgow later this year.