View a video recording of the lecture here

The Little and the Great: from a Knoll to a Village to the Tibetan Plateau

Newton and Helen Mayer Harrison

Public lecture, hosted by Centre for Contemporary Art, 350 Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow G2 3JD

 Wednesday 11th November 2009

Introduction

"We developed the name “the Force Majeure” to explain the accelerating transaction between aspects of the Global Warming phenomenon and their interaction with the many ecosystems that are under stress or in actual turbulence from over-demand by human activity. Our work envisions a counter to the reduction of production and consumption due to market contraction and turbulence that mirrors the shrinking productivity and wellbeing of the world ocean and many, many other overstressed planetary sub-systems. The current work is designed to make clear, albeit in a very simple way, that subcontinents and countries that inhabit these systems are not equipped conceptually, legally, or structurally to meet a future shaped by such a force."  Helen Mayer Harrison and Newton Harrison

 Biography

Among the leading pioneers of the eco-art movement, the collaborative team of Newton and Helen Mayer Harrison (often referred to simply as "the Harrisons") have worked for almost forty years with biologists, ecologists, architects, urban planners and other artists to initiate collaborative dialogues to uncover ideas and solutions which support biodiversity and community development. Past projects have focused on watershed restoration, urban renewal, agriculture and forestry issues among others. The Harrisons’ visionary projects have often led to changes in governmental policy and have expanded dialogue around previously unexplored issues leading to practical implementations throughout the United States and Europe. "Our work begins when we perceive an anomaly in the environment that is the result of opposing beliefs or contradictory metaphors. Moments when reality no longer appears seamless and the cost of belief has become outrageous offer the opportunity to create new spaces - first in the mind and thereafter in everyday life."