Beyond Green: Toward a Sustainable Art

October 6, 2005 – January 15, 2006

Installation view

Installation view

Sustainable design attempts to meet the needs of the present without compromising those of future generations.

Balancing environmental, social, economic, and aesthetic concerns, sustainable design has the potential to transform everyday life and is being enacted around the world in large and small ways not only by architects and designers but also by growing numbers of activists, corporations, policymakers, and possibly even your next-door neighbors. 

Beyond Green: Toward a Sustainable Art explored how this design philosophy resonates with an emerging generation of international artists who combine a fresh aesthetic sensibility with a constructively critical approach to the production, dissemination, and display of art. Contributing artists and artists' groups from the United States and Europe included Allora & Calzadilla; Free Soil; JAM; Learning Group; Brennan McGaffey in collaboration with Temporary Services; Nils Norman; People Powered; Dan Peterman; Marjetica Potrc, Michael Rakowitz; Frances Whitehead, WochenKlausur; and Andrea Zittel.

The exhibition included existing works, commissions, and previously presented work that had been "recycled" spotlighting ways in which artists are building paths to new forms of practice.


Publication

Featuring artist interviews and essays, the exhibition catalogue introduces a new generation of international artists who work at the intersection of sustainable design and contemporary art.


Tour

Museum of Arts & Design, New York, New York, February 2 – May 7, 2006

University Art Museum, California State University Long Beach, November 1 – December 17, 2006

Smith College Museum of Art, Northampton, Massachusetts, February 2 – April 15, 2007

Contemporary Arts Center, Cincinnati, Ohio, May 5 – July 15, 2007

Richard E. Peeler Art Center, DePauw University, Greencastle, Indiana, September 14 – December 2, 2007

Museum London, London, Ontario, Canada, January 4 – March 14, 2008

Joseloff Gallery, Hartford Art School, University of Hartford, Hartford, Connecticut, April 2 – June 10, 2008

The Ronna and Eric Hoffman Gallery of Contemporary Art, Lewis & Clark College, Portland, Oregon, September 11, 2008 – December 7, 2008

The DeVos Art Museum, Northern Michigan University, Marquette, Michigan, January 19 – March 30, 2009