Petra Löffler (1), Marie Beckmann (1), Charlotte Bolwin (2), Jakob Claus (1)
1 : Carl Von Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg
2 : Bauhaus-Universität Weimar

In our panel we want to address the importance of watery environments for the global ecology. Water is one of the four basic elements (“stoicheia” or roots in ancient Greek natural philosophy) on which all life on Earth depends. It is the element most attracted to metamorphosis by changing its state of matter from fluid, to solid or gaseous in accordance with the surrounding temperature. Moreover, water transforms other elements, generates mixtures and in-between states of matter: for instance, it connects itself easily with dry soil, washes out rocks, and disperses solids. One of the most palpable effects of anthropogenic climate change is its destabilization of the hydrosphere, leading to droughts as well as heavy rains and floods, melting ice caps and rising sea levels.

Eco media and environmental artists such as Hans Haacke, Roni Horn or Fujiko Nakaja showed a great affinity for the metamorphotic and aesthetic qualities of water in its different states of matter—from the fluidity of water, the volatility of clouds to the crystal sharpness of snowflakes and ice. More recently, the artistic research practice of Ursula Biemann, Armin Linke, Gediminas and Nomeda Urbonas and Susan Schuppli, among others, revolved around the fragility and sensitivity of watery environments in respect to colonial extractivism and imperial exploitation. By reflecting on the history and actuality of men-made climate change, these artists advocate at the same time for sustainable futures for both living and non-living beings on Earth.

Starting from the concept and history of ‘eco media art,’ our panel will discuss the limits and potentials of current artistic research and media artworks in the wake of the current climate crisis. The panel entitled “The Lagoon, the Delta, the Swamp, and the Arctic Ice – Artistic Research in the Wake of Climate Change” is organized around the different states of matter that water performs.

Petra Löffler: Lagoon ecologies: Armin Linke’s artistic research on marine infrastructures and the geo-political history of Venice’s watery environment

Charlotte Bolwin: Of artificial landscapes and contested spaces: watery environments in Ursula Biemann’s eco media art

Marie Sophie Beckmann: Viscosity and/in the swamp: Submersion in hybrid environments (after Gediminas and Nomeda Urbonas)

Jakob Claus: Frozen witness: Ice as archive of climate change in Susan Schuppli’s artistic works