Sustainability and Art Making

摘要

In this essay Andrea Olsen discusses the dialogue between the goals of sustainability practices and the skills of art making. She draws on examples from her daily walks on the Monterey Peninsula in California and 30 years of teaching dance and environmental studies at Middlebury College in Vermont. As visiting scholar at the Monterey Institute of International Studies spring semester 2013, Olsen reflects on the edge between all that we know from our heritage and studies and all there is to discover moment by moment—the dynamic ecotone of art and science. She considers that the creative process of art making gives students the confidence to visualize an idea and make it real—whether that's installing a complex public sculpture or saving an old-growth forest. Artistic discipline provides students with a practiced form and skills for expression so they avoid depression, aggression, andrepression—the burnout and health issues that accompany challenging projects. Overall, Olsen concludes, the arts help you feel—sustaining a conservation ethic through responsiveness to both form and flow.