Can art help us process our changing climate? The story of climate change is typically told in the language of facts and figures, graphs and charts. But through dance, music, sculpture and other media, artists can reach people on a deeper and more emotional level, designing cultural moments that can bring us together - and bring us to tears. Choreographer Alonzo King sees the union of art and science as the perfect balancing act. “There is nothing that exists that you can create that does not have science -- it's impossible,” says King. “There's nothing that doesn't have music. It's impossible.” A conversation about art, beauty and humanity in the age of climate disruption.
The story of climate change is typically told in the language of facts and figures, graphs and charts. But through dance, music, sculpture and other media, artists can reach people on a deeper and more emotional level, designing cultural moments that can bring us together - and bring us to tears. Alonzo King, founder and choreographer of Alonzo King LINES Ballet company, sees the union of art and science as the perfect balancing act between logic and feeling.
“There is nothing that exists that you can create that does not have science -- it's impossible,” says King. “There's nothing that doesn't have music. It's impossible.”
Nora Lawrence, senior curator for the Storm King Art Center, believes that art can sometimes reach people in ways that reports and statistics cannot. She recalls the words of Hara Waltz, an artist who participated in Storm King’s 2018 exhibition on climate change:
“’If I'm writing a study about climate change I'm going to ...give you some data and some graphs and it’s gonna be rather dry,’” Lawrence quotes. “’I'm not going to cry, but I might if I'm giving you a work of art about climate change. I might show more of myself; I might do something different that inspires something else in you besides a certain part of your brain.‘”
In the right hands, art can help us understand our own feelings about climate disruption. But as Lawrence has found, that doesn’t always change hearts and minds.
“One thing that can go wrong with climate art is…if it really hits people over the head,” Lawrence warns. “It doesn't mean it's affecting people. It doesn't mean it's really moving them or bringing them along with the artist or anything.”
King often uses dance to explore art, beauty and humanity in the age of climate disruption. He finds that connecting with the natural world through art is the most natural thing in the world.
“I think that human beings, we are out of rhythm when we live in cities and we see skyscrapers instead of the sky,” King says. “It's curious that people who are farmers, agrarian or they’re in nature all the time -- that is art. That is the great work of the Divine Mother.”
Host: Greg Dalton
Guests (in order of appearance):
Host: Greg Dalton
Guests:
Alonzo King, Choreographer and Founder, LINES Ballet
Nora Lawrence, Senior Curator, Storm King Art Center
Additional Speaker: Adam Schoenberg, Composer
This program was generously underwritten by the Sidney E. Frank Foundation and was recorded via video on August 6, 2020.
Tune-in Thursday, September 3, 2020 at 7 PM.
