How Art Talks About Environment

    • sneha.bhattacharjee@timesgroup.com
    • Publish Date: Jan 23 2017 2:09PM
    • |
    • Updated Date: Jan 25 2017 11:19AM
How Art Talks About Environment

Spreading awareness about the environment is no longer limited to practical methods. For those who are truly concerned, even unconventional approaches like videos, music, art, poetry, blogs will do. The point is to get the message across at any cost...

Remember the south Indian rapper Sofia Ashraf, who targeted Dow Chemical (multinational chemical corporation) with rhymes last year, demanding the US company pay more in victims’ compensation and environmental damages caused due to the Bhopal gas leak? Her idea behind the video was to draw the attention of people towards this tragedy that wasn’t given the same importance asthe Hiroshima or Nagasaki attacks. In 2015, Ashraf’s rap video “Kodaikanal Won’t” took aim at Unilever, calling on the company to help former workers at a thermometer plant in Kodaikanal that was closed 15 years ago after it was discovered that there had been mercury contamination. 
 
Recently, Carnatic vocalist, TM Krishna along with environmentalist Nityanand Jayaraman launched a music video — Chennai Poromboke Paadal — that turns a common Tamil word into a bold environmental and artistic statement. 
 
Every medium, be it a blog, music, art or poem, has been able to do what’s required – draw our attention towards environmental concerns around us.  “Through the video, we are trying to show that the filth is created by us and while we may not show that to a foreigner fearing his notion about us, that’s the reality of our cities,”says Jayaraman, the brainchild behind Poromboke video. 
 
The nine-minute video is a song that takes a dig at the unconcerned government and corporate hunger. “There are people affected with lung infection, there is garbage littered everywhere. All this is affecting us but we do not care,” says Krishna, adding that “we’re letting it happen without being concerned about the people living there who have to bear the brunt of our demands.”
 
Spreading a message requires understanding the theme and the dialect that will appeal to the masses. “The only way you can change people is when you emotionally touch them,” says Krishna adding, intellectual understanding doesn’t change a human. 
 
We asked our youth reporters on the medium that influences them the most. Here’s what they said:


A revolutionary air-cleansing poem has removed more than two tonnes of pollution from the environment in the UK as part of a project that could be used to fight pollution in cities across the world, a leading British University has claimed. ‘In Praise of Air,’ the world’s first air-cleansing poem, was produced by scientists and writers at the University of Sheffield in the UK.


How can you help?
Think small, not big. Look at the surroundings in which you live. Work in small communities. Create discourse, discussion, and raise different points of issues and ideas. Sustain these small hubs to achieve something larger. Help cultivate a generation that takes things seriously. Use art as much as you can in whatever mission you want to start. 
- TM Krishna

Look at your lifestyle, what’s the cost of it. Follow what you consume, find out where it comes from, what’s the pollution it generated, where does the garbage generated from it goes. Go to the places where the city’s garbage is collected. Speak to people who live there and assess how it is different from your own lifestyle. How can you reduce the impact? 
Watch ‘The Story of Stuff’ on Youtube and you’ll get to know a lot about environmental damages caused by your lifestyle and how you can cope with them. 
- Nityanand Jayaraman


When music did the talking
Morning Dew: The folk rock song is about the survivors of a nuclear war. The song was written by Canadian folk singer Bonnie Dobson in 1961. It was the first song she wrote. The idea was born post a  discussion with friends a night before. 

Big Yellow Taxi: Written in 1970 by Joni Mitchell, ‘Big Yellow Taxi’ expresses concern over the urban sprawl and destruction caused 
by it. 

I Need To Wake Up: The song was part of an award-winning documentary on global warming – An Inconvenient Truth. It was written and 
performed by Melissa Etheridge. 

The Shadows: A song written by an Australian girl who goes by the Youtube channel – Sandel. The poignant song is a response to the environment threat that looms large on us. It highlights the reality of what will happen if things go as they are. 

Kyoto Now!: This is from Bad Religion’s 2002 album ‘The Process of Belief.’ The song refers to the student-led protest movement which emerged in many US universities. It refers to the Kyoto Protocol that the US failed to ratify. 


Artists and their unconventional work
  • Jean Paul ganem: In his work, ‘Agricultural Compositions’ Ganem turns fields of human waste and pollution into colourful landscapes. 
  • Fritz Haeg: Through his work, ‘Edible Estates,’ Haeg brings public awareness to the pointlessness and waste of the suburban lawn. He has 
  • created numerous regional prototype gardens of edible landscapes at various museums around the world.
  • Andy Goldsworthy: British-born Goldsworthy is famous for his site-specific work using colourful flowers, leaves, mud, twigs, snow, icicles, and stones. He uses his bare hands, teeth, even saliva to prepare his pieces. Some of his art pieces are designed to decay or disappear with the ebb and flow of nature. 
  • Agnes Denes: Popularly known as the grandmother of early environmental art movement and conceptual art, Denes’ wide range of interests surface in her work as commentaries on “human values and misplaced priorities.” One of her famous works, Wheatfield — A Confrontation (1982) involved the planting of wheat in a vacant two-acre lot in downtown Manhattan. The artwork yielded 1,000 pounds of wheat. 
  • John Sabraw: Using toxic runoff found in Ohio River, artist Sabraw produces his own DIY pigments -- bold yellows and reds that are sourced from oxidized sludge of abandoned coal mines.  

Watch the following videos- 'Kodaikanal Rap' and 'Chennai Poromboke Paadal' - Do you think such videos/music/art influence stir the conscience in you in getting their point across?
Which medium do you get influenced by the most?

 

 

 

More From SCI-TECH...

Comments

Himanshi Dhawan Saffron Public School

I feel that songs and poems can best talk for environmental cause. Poem on one hand provides peace to mind and music on the other provides food to the soul. And people will also understand the message behind the two.

Thakur Aastha REUBS

Yes ofcourse it is said that art is the best way express something... Art is not only impressive but also expressive ....

POST YOUR OWN ARTICLE, PHOTO & VIDEO

SIMPLY FILL DETAILS & POST


 
SIGN UP & EXPLORE MORE...
*


*
* *
* *
img
REGISTRATION SUCCESSFUL...
THANK YOU FOR REGISTERING
  • About Us

Times Newspaper in Education (Times NIE) is a novel program that helps students ‘Stay Ahead’ and aims at making ‘Learning Fun’. It introduces concepts that help individual growth and development beyond school curriculum.

A brainchild of The Times of India, the world’s leading English newspapers, Times NIE nurtures progress and innovation. Adapted from the international concept, Times Newspaper in Education program (Times NIE) was initiated in India in 1985.

Today we have over 3000 schools and over 9 lac students subscribing to the programme, spanning 16 cities viz. Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Bangalore, Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Kochi, Lucknow, Coimbatore, Chandigarh, Dehradun, Vijayawada, Visakhapatnam, and Jaipur.

The Times of India Student edition, a customized student newspaper exclusively for the students, packs a powerful punch in terms of content that leads to a smarter and superior learning experience. The information is crafted such that it finds use in classroom discussions, thus making it relevant and current. It truly gives education a new dimension by fostering the simple habit of reading which in turn paves the way for a confident, informed and aware individual. A newspaper that inspires young minds and equips them to face challenges of today’s world, making way for global citizens.

Empowering students with new cutting-edge knowledge through various educative and informative activities is a commitment and tradition of Times NIE. The programme serves as a catalyst of education and interaction, as well as a window into the minds of the quintessential Indian youth. On a significant scale Times NIE comprises diverse interesting activities and events that boost the child’s passion for learning, while revealing hidden talent.

While you are aware that The Times of India is among the leading English Newspapers across the world, it has consummated its position as an everlasting winner. With several international awards and recognitions to its credit, The Times of India and Times NIE have validated an enduring tradition of setting the highest benchmarks in every respect. We have been awarded with the two most prestigious awards, Times NIE - World’s No.1 NIE program and The Times of India, Student Edition - World’s No.1 Newspaper for the youth in 2006 by the celebrated World Association of Newspapers (WAN). In 2008 we were honoured by the International Newspaper Marketing Association (INMA), yet another international recognition for ‘Youth Audience Development’. In 2013 we were again honoured by the celebrated World Association of Newspapers (WAN) as the ‘Times NIE - World’s Best Youth Engagement Program’.

Times NIE has grown remarkably over the last three and a half decades, touching millions of children across more than 16 Indian cities. Our absolute commitment towards the fledgling generation remains undiluted and our greatest strength lies in the school partnership and commitment.

  • Times NIE World Awards
EDIT STUDENT PROFILE...



img

JOIN NOW !!!

Create or join groups, share your views, ideas through posts (Text, Pictures & Videos)

GOT A QUERY?

FEEL FREE TO ASK HERE. GET IT ANSWERED BY EXPERTS

CLICK HERE TO SEE YOUR PREVIOUS QUERIES

win

Why You Think India Is Great....