What is an Eco-Art Biennale?
This Eco-Art Biennale, organized by the EcoArt Association of Pont-Aven and curated by John K. Melvin, is an international art exhibition, so named, EcoArt Biennale de Pont Aven, inviting artists to create art contextualized by our anthropogenic moment. This EcoArt Biennale de Pont-Aven will present artworks that engage the public in conversations on biodiversity, pollution awareness, and positive pathways for change in our climate crisis.
What is Eco-Art?
Eco-Art, short for Ecological Art, is an evolution in art making. It springs from traditions of Land Art, Conceptual Art, and Site-Specific Art but Eco-Art is more. Eco-Art is a contemporary practice self-aware of our anthropogenic moment. It is a method of art making that considers material sources, site ecology, and our nature-culture relationships.
Eco-Art is grounded in the self-evident belief that life is completely dependent on our environment.
Collapse of our environment, means no politics, no culture, no fashion, no human rights, no life, nothing. Eco Art undertakes the bold initiative that we must do something, and by acting, we are doing something.
This is not a new division of terms, but a distinction, an evolution of thinking, preceded by Conceptual Art, Land Art, and Site-Specific Art. Eco Art is Ecological Art, a uniquely 21 st Century anthropogenic awareness unprecedented in art making.
So…an Eco-Art Biennale?
Yes. We are establishing an Eco-Art Biennale based in Pont-Aven but free to roam in the region. As a Biennale, each edition will be every two years with different artists installed in various locations. This Eco-Art Biennale is not a museum. All works are ephemeral. Artists will be selected from an international pool of applicants. Each artist will submit a proposal detailed in why, what, where, and how, they intend to make their project. The proposals will pass through both an artistic committee and scientific review, in order to maintain Eco-Art integrity.
This Biennale is engaged in attracting an International Audience to Pont-Aven.
Why Pont-Aven?
There is more to this story of why Pont-Aven, stay tuned….
How should artists create their proposal for this Biennale?
Artist proposals must clearly state the impact of their art on the environment, defend and explain its sourcing of material(s), identify its audience, and clearly define the manner of installation and project termination. By this, what happens at the beginning, middle and end of their project?
Specifically, the artists should detail in their proposal, how their work will be designed from the outset to consider its end in a responsible manner. Artists should design their works based on how it breaks down, can it be recycled or reused, by whom and how it will end up.
Eco-Art projects will be conceptually inspired by Land Art movements of the past, but will take into account contemporary concerns around biodiversity, climate change and geopolitical issues. No other central theme unites the works, and the selected artists are free to work within this context.
Invited artists will have a minimum of 5 years professional experience making Land Art, Eco-Art, site-specific installations, or other relevant experience.
A scientific advisory will be created to review the integrity of proposals. This advisory is created only for integrity of the Eco-Art project. The chosen art will not be science projects pretending to be art, nor will they be art projects pretending to be scientific, however, the methods will be evaluated for integrity and determined to be non-harmful to the surrounding environment for the duration of exhibition. The Artistic Director reserves curatorial discretion in all cases.
At the same time, the scientific community could be asked to support this event by holding conferences around the theme of eco-design.
Area art and architecture students will partner with the conference to create group projects or assist selected artists. For artists who wish, they can participate virtually by proxy with a local artist or student. During the Biennale, of course, workshops, demonstrations and artist talks will be scheduled and offered to the public. An archive of the Biennale and subsequent editions will be created and maintained on an accessible website.
Who manages this Eco-Art Biennale?
The Pont-Aven Eco-Art Biennale, is managed by the EcoArt Association here in Pont-Aven. This EcoArt Association is in fact a curatorial association selecting and facilitating each edition of the biennale every two years. The themes of each edition can change, the artistic jury can change, and the scientific committee can change.
Artists are invited to submit proposals based on the guidelines and concepts presented on this page. The EcoArt Association puts no other restraints on the artistic process other than what is clearly explained on this page.
How is this Eco-Art Biennale managed?
The Eco-Art Biennale after selecting no more than 10 artists will offer a stipend to each artist to spend as they see fit, transport, etc. Meals and accommodation for the artists will be provided by the Biennale during the 10 days of on site installation work. The Biennale will do its best to announce 6 months in advance, venue, dates, and theme for each edition of the Eco-Art Biennale. This will coincide with an international call to artists to submit qualifications. After the first round of selections, a smaller pool of artists will be invited to propose a unique site-specific artwork. The second round will then pass through two committees, artistic and scientific, and the final 10 artists will be chosen and announced. Application fee of 25 euros for all artists.
The conference will end with a free exhibition open to the public.
This page will be updated with application deadlines, exhibition date announcements and all other relevant timeline material.
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