Forward Looking
Group show
Solent University, Southampton
2014
Forward Thinking brings together six artists from Canada, Japan and the UK who are exploring environmental, social and ethical concerns through art.
Currently there is an increasing desire to find socially and environmentally responsible ways of living and working. Forward Thinking explores some of the ways in which contemporary artists grapple with this impulse to build a more sustainable future - whether or not they think this is actually possible.
Recycled art
As part of the exhibition, environmental artist Tim Pugh has been commissioned to visit Southampton to transform discarded rubbish from around the city and upcycle the items in the gallery space.
Nick Gentry is a British artist from London, who is best known for his art using recycled materials, including floppy disks and film negatives. Gentry’s ‘Fragments of Time’ is influenced by the development of consumerism, technology and cyberculture in society.
Thirty-three-year-old Nick Gentry grew up with floppy disks, stored computer games on them, and swapped them with his friends. Now the Brit uses the plastic discs as canvases for his artwork.
Photographer Joan Sullivan’s focus is on renewable energy. In her piece Wind Construction she documents the installation of gigantic wind turbines in Canada with breathtaking views from their highest point.
Yuken Teruya from Japan presents Minding My Own Business. Teruya works in a variety of media referencing consumer culture and reuses materials such as toilet paper rolls, paper shopping bags and even butterfly chrysalises.
Ayumi Matsuzaka presents her method of making fertiliser from Amazonian black soil in All My Cycle. The documented process has the advantage of preventing serious infections caused by parasites and took a year and a half to record.
Joanna Wright is a Welsh artist who works with documentary film and archives. Melanie Carvalho is a London based artist who makes paintings, films and collage in an attempt to explore the theory of subconscious experience. Together, they have invited a group of artists to create a Future Postcards depicting what they each thought the future might look like.
This exhibition links with an event to be held at Southampton Solent University on 27 March called Embrace the Change which will gather innovative thinkers together to discuss solutions for a fairer, sustainable future.