Vision and Objectives

 

artEC/Oindustry is an interdisciplinary think tank with the aim to tackle effective communication and interaction between global/corporate and local entities in extractive areas through the arts. 

 

The exploitation of natural resources and its processing leave implacable imprints on the environment. The visual transformation of the landscape mirrors the economical, environmental and social impact in the region. The latter is further challenged by the effects of rapid growth in population, migration and urban development. Stress and rejection are the results. The integration of the environmental and social responsibility into the design process of old and new mines and work camps are an increasing topic in research studies. The cultural liabilities, however, are yet unspecified and subject to this think tank.

Drawing from examples of successfully revitalized former mining peripheries in Japan that reveal the fusion of industry and the arts as key factor for welfare and wellbeing, artEC/Oindustry shifts the focus from abandoned industrial sites to the intact mining industry. With the aim to think and plan ahead, artEC/O industry tackles self-sustainable socio-economical futures through the arts. Can the arts help to bridge an us-them mentality, release tension and engage people in a meaningful stewardship? Do the arts provide socio-economical and self-sustainable perspectives that are independent from the mining sector? In addressing our sensories, can the arts induce a sense of belonging that lead to a responsible approach the environment?

The longterm strategy is to promote art-science-society interventions on industrial soil that induce access and transparency to industrial processes and to integrate these results into design policies of the future. Art and industry meet on industrial soil to map, challenge and evaluate the dialogue between the community, the miners, the environment, the scientific debate, the economical output, the local and the global.

 

 

Nishizawa, Ryue – Teshima Art Museum Japan 2011