M - Antennae The Journal of Nature in Visual Culture

I
t has been written of artist Alan Sonfist that through
the first of his Time Landscape pieces he pioneered the
concept of placing nature back within the urban
sphere. Artist Brandon Ballengée takes this further in
offering both an understanding of nature around us, and
also through making visible processes and knowledge
gained from that very basic of acts, that of looking.
Over more than a decade Ballengée has
undertaken projects, working with, and often in, nature
and his work toes him in with one of the increasing
number of artists for whom a sense of urgency is
coupled to the environmental consciousness central to
their practice.
Working both as a scientist carrying out primary
biological research and also in collaboration with
scientists and the public, Ballengée’s amphibian
population ecology studies produce aesthetically rich
imagery and intriguing installations. This offers us a
further redefinition of the role artists and their art can
play in the face of our utilitarian view of the world and
our effect on mineral and biological resources.
Results from his ecological surveys carried out
back home in the US and here on a residency at
Yorkshire Sculpture Park, 2008, reveal a substantial
increase in the frequency and presence of physical
deformities within wild amphibian populations. This
becomes of greater importance when, as discussed in a
recent National Geographic Magazine, we’re facing a
major global decline in amphibian populations around the
world.
How do you see the role as artist facilitating your
ideas of ‘wildlife conservation’?
Being an artist allows me to bring the information I find in
nature to a wide-audience. My belief is that art can
contribute to society through inspiration, engagement
and direct action. As an artist my practice facilitates
activism, amateur biological studies and communication
about ecological phenomenon to the public. Through
this transdisciplinary technique, the model I employ is
proactive environmental stewardship. While conducting
primary research biological laboratory and field studies I
utilize scientific methodologies and standards. As an
activist, the involvement of local students and the public
in these studies (Eco-Actions) is essential. Together we
investigate and ‘experience’ ecosystems - the goal is to
inspire people to learn more about their local ecology
and play an active role in protecting it.
My overall thinking is more about entire systems
than ‘wildlife’ specific. Often my studies pertain to certain
‘bio-indicator’ groups of animals, such as amphibians and
insects. Their ‘health’ often reflects the environmental
condition of a site. Organisms exist in complex ecological
networks made of interconnected life-forms and are
sculpted by environmental factors. Protecting these
natural systems is essential to individual species survival.
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Should art be didactic?
No, otherwise it falls into pure communication or a kind
of mono-interpretative illustration. Though art can teach
and deliver messages, being open to interpretation is
fundamental. There is a kind of didacticism to my work
(intended to increase environmental awareness) but the
messages are often pluralistic, open to an amount of
individual meaning. The installations and photographs are
experienced- so the readings are open-ended. Even in
the field and lab studies ideas from the participating
public are explored and we experience the process of
inquiry as a group. This is the praxis of my method,
which diverges from standard pedagogical practices.
Whether or not climate change is bearing down
on us, species extinction and habitat loss is
occurring at an unprecedented rate through
human activities. This is something we are all at
some level aware of therefore, to what extent
can the subtleties of art play a role within such
an environmental consciousness, and what is that
role?
Artists can play a significant role in increasing ecological
awareness through their artworks about nature, the
process by which these works are created and direct
interventions into local communities. Art historian Lucy
R. Lippard calls this ‘Framing’ environmental issues and
bringing them to the realm of the public. For example in
2008, I established a temporary public bioart laboratory
designed to investigate potential cause(s) for
development deformities among Yorkshire frog and toad
populations. Utilizing rigorous scientific methods and
standards, many experiments were conducted over the
course of the summer. Installed at the Yorkshire
Sculpture Park numerous visitors and locals cooperated
to implement these primary research studies and
participated in field-surveys.
The entire process was an artistic inquiry into
nature. By being ‘open’ the lab attempted to facilitate an
increase in local environmental consciousness. It created
an important platform for public discussion. These
thoughts ranged from local knowledge of natural history
to eco-politics. Larger philosophical debates such as the
ethical behavior of humans to non-human life-forms also
ensued. The laboratory experiments resulted in
significant findings that were accepted for scientific
publication. This information may help other researchers
better understand mechanisms responsible for abnormal
frogs found globally. Photographs and videos are
currently being developed into an upcoming ecological
art installation. Through collaboration the community
made the process of local environmental study
participatory.
Do you see your work as part of the re-knowing
about nature by urbanized populations?