Nature matters: notes on Ackroyd & Harvey, ecocriticism and praxis

• Main Author: Ropek, Eve
• Format: Book Part
• Language: unknown
• Published: Manchester University Press 2017
• Subjects: minke whale
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.7228/manchester/9781784994396.003.0006

In this chapter Eve Ropek claims that to approach any artwork ecocritically, it is necessary to bring to it some knowledge of current scientific thought regarding the biosphere. Indeed the breadth and complexity of the ideas and issues of humans' place within the Earth's ecosystems encourage an interdisciplinary approach; to join together methods and insights in order to inform the next steps at what is seen to be a crucial global point is an urgent and daunting task. Artists working today are very well aware of the narrative of change and of environmental issues. Ropek considers how this inter-disciplinary approach can be applied to selected artworks by British artists Heather Ackroyd and Dan Harvey, who practise in partnership as Ackroyd & Harvey. The examples she discusses include such artefacts as: photographs in which the negative image is projected onto grass as it grows, so that the resulting portrait is developed on the grass itself; an artificial diamond made from a polar bear bone; and an installation based on the skeleton of a minke whale. These artists create works that are directly related to climate change and its impact on the biosphere.