Art

Another recipient of an RSA ‘Arts and Ecology’ commission, Berlin-based Danish artist Tue Greenfort says he is ‘not trying to come up with proposals for a better world but to intervene in the problems that are already there’, although he is somewhat more provocative in his methods. Combining the nerve of an activist with the wit of an artist, Greenfort’s quirky solutions to the global energy crisis have so far included: ferrying art lovers around in a truck powered by vegetable oil; convincing a gallery to switch to a more eco-friendly source of energy for the duration of his exhibition; and installing handy electricity-saving on/off switches onto lamp-posts in Frankfurt, Germany.

Greenfort reacts quickly to his surroundings, so for his current show in London, ‘Rococo Eco’ at Max Wigram, he has responded to the Bond Street gallery’s previous incarnation as a fur shop by displaying two fur coats spliced together from silver fox and mink alongside a mirror and the kind of trap used to catch the animals. This means visitors can watch themselves trying on the coats while considering their place in this cycle of life, death, art and luxurious living. Feature continues

His RSA residency will culminate in a major public sculpture that aims to highlight our woeful attempt to become a ‘zero-waste society’ (only 17.5 per cent of London’s domestic waste was recycled in 2004-05). In February, at an as yet undisclosed location, he plans to line up one wheely bin from every London borough and private company that recycles rubbish to form a colourful, 60-metre long barrier representing the bureaucracy behind waste management and the so-called ‘green-washing’ that corporate companies hide behind in their bid to be eco-friendly. ‘Garbage is also an economy and so is difficult to change,’ he explains.

Perhaps the symposium will give the wasteful, resource-heavy art world cause for reflection too, as it sends exhibition crates flying to ever more far-flung places and employs harmful chemical materials and noxious paints in the pursuit of cultural progress. Hopefully artists will become a force for change after all, because even works of art as transient as a line of bins or a spray of discarded flowers can leave a more enduring impression on the mind than news bulletins or television adverts reminding us to separate paper from glass.

‘No Way Back?’ takes place on Dec 11 & 12 at the London School of Economics (see Other events), when the bat house website www.bathouseproject.org will also go live. Heather and Ivan Morison show at Danielle Arnaud until Dec 10 and Tue Greenfort is at Max Wigram until Jan 13