As part of Critical Practice I helped facilitate Insatiable a symposium to critically examine the conflicted idea of sustainable growth and to envision alternatives.
Insatiable is an exchange between Art, Economics and Ecology.
Each of the fields is contested and constantly changing, and the relationships between them are ambiguous and paradoxical. While the symposium offers a critical focus on ‘sustainable growth’, we aim to move beyond critique towards guidelines for creative action.
As a global centre for contemporary art and finance, London is a unique context in which to consider the conflicted idea of ‘sustainable growth’.
Decades of constant economic expansion have overwritten considerations of ecological sustainability, even human survival.
Although climate damage and the accelerating extinction of species signal industrial societies overuse of our planets resources, the implicit conditions of success for artists and designers range from ironic detachment to a studied ambivalence.
Insatiable consists of; in the morning a ‘vertical’ model of knowledge transmission from experts to an audience. In the afternoon a ‘horizontal’ model of knowledge exchange utilising a re-purposed ‘Barcamp’ structure.
Morning contributors include:
- Andrew Simms Policy Director, New Economics Foundation
- David Cross Reader, CCW Graduate School University of the Arts London
- Professor Michael Fehr Berlin University of the Arts
- Marina Landia Institute for Art in Context, Berlin University of the Arts
- Dr Hayley Newman Slade School of Fine Art, UCL
- Critical Practice Research cluster University of the Arts London
In the afternoon, nurtured by the morning presentations, we repurposed TED's 10 to cooperatively develop guidlines for creative practice. First iteration;
- 01 – Create
02 – Create to minimise waste
03 – Create to maximise generosity
04 – Create with recycling/upcycling in mind
05 – Create using minimal energy and resources
06 – Create to replace consumption
07 – Create to develop systems & services
08 – Create to minimise harm
09 – Create with love
10 – Create activism
Take a look at the related projects Waste, Trash-Treasure or the Anthropocene Walk, and Tracing Values.