Art and the Environment

One of my particular interests is the intersection between art and the sublime. There's just something...well, Sublime about sublimity. From my understanding, the term sublime synthesizes the feels of quasi-religious awe with the basal sense of being overwhelmed. This concept is intrinsically tied to nature.

Turner's Launceston, Cornwall (1827)

Examine this image here. Note the overwhelming foliage, the interplay between harsh black and stark white. Yet, above all, look at the solitary figure. See how the rider appears so tiny and insignificant compared to the rest of the image.
Sublime art is all based around mankind's seeming insignificance in the world outside of its cities and homes.  It awes, disturbs, and enlightens us all at once.

Then there is the toxic sublime, embodied in the work of Edward Burtynsky. He's a photographer from Ontario, who's work showcases the destruction and interruption of the natural environment, as seen through strip mines, junkyards, and vast oil spills.

Like traditional notions of the sublime, Burtynsky's work focuses on the interaction between humanity and its environment, It makes great use of contrasts and images of titanic immensity.

However, the biggest different between toxic sublime and its parent is that the landscapes featured are the result of human hands and human ambitions.

In the words of Peeples (2011): "in contrast to the sublime in nature, which functions to improve moral character...the horror of the toxic sublime calls to question the personal, social and environmental ethics that allows these places of contamination to exist."

From Burtynsky's Manufactured Landscapes (2006)

Above is an example of Burtynsky's toxic sublime artwork. Again note the size difference between the immense ship compared to the people. There is also a contrast between the rust brown of the earth and the bright blue of the sky. The difference between this work and other examples of the sublime are the lack of 'natural' life. The environment is dominated by artificial decay, not the wild unknown.

Toxic Sublime offers an interesting spin on an established art concept, while also giving its viewers a message. Clearly, we are not meant to fear nature, as in earlier examples. No, here we are meant to fear FOR nature.