Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Capricious Gaia rejects Tomas Saraceno's loving gift Cloud City in Perth

Like so many well known artists these days, Tomas Saraceno is a fully paid up, card carrying eco-utopian. That's why he created Cloud City, which was meant to enlighten the good people of Perth.

Here the work is described in the pompous, turgid manner so beloved of elitist art promoters:

Challenging the boundaries of earthly living, Saraceno explores the possibilities of airborne living, predicting a social space in which moving over the world can be seamless and free, and where the environment might benefit from humans inhabiting the skies.

You'd think that Gaia might appreciate such noble sentiment, and so beautifully expressed. (And that's not an irrational and uber-arty thing to say, you know. After all, former Australian of the Year and respected scientist Tim Flannery says Gaia is real, self-aware and ready to punish us for our carbon sins.)

But sadly the Big Chick in the Sky has decided not to play ball. Soon after its debut at the Perth International Arts Festival, Cloud City was literally blown away by fierce winds.

So what are we to make of this? Well, maybe it shows that there's just no point in trying to appease nature. No matter how much we show our love and concern for the environment, the environment will never have any love or concern for us. It'll just keep on doing what it does, regardless of our actions.

Or there's another possibility: Maybe Gaia Herself is telling us She's a climate skeptic ...

Hmm. That's certainly intriguing. It's also provocative - even sacrilegious. And arts bureaucrats just love that stuff, don't they?

I might just use it as the theme for an artwork myself. Think I'll get a grant?

No comments:

Post a Comment