We Won't Fly For Art

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What are artist’s responsibility in regards to their impact on climate change? What is the relationship between the quality of our environment and digital culture?

These questions have risen out of Futherfield's research in their Media Arts Ecology programme. An artist’s network is one of their most valuable assest and maintaining it requires traveling to events and exhibitions. The challenge is find away to balance the needs of the planet with the practical needs of an artist’s life.

Ruth Catlow and Marc Garrett took inspiration from Gustav Metzger’s Reduce Art Flights and decided to stop flying for six months. In 2009, They implemented this act of agency through the Pledgebank social utility as “We won’t fly for art” campaign:

"We will not take an aeroplane for the sake of art. For the next 6 months we will find other ways to visit and participate in exhibitions, fairs, conferences, meetings, residencies. We will not fly for inspiration, nor to appreciate, buy or sell art. But only if 6 others will do the same AND replicate this pledge." Read the pledge in full here. http://www.pledgebank.com/wewontflyforart

To date 96 people have signed up to the pledge not to fly for art for six months.

The resulting debate reveals the complexity of the issues that artists face. A selection of objections, comments and responses are collated here.  http://www.furtherfield.org/blog/ruth-catlow/100-responses-we-wont-fly-art

The 'overland' tag on Furtherfield aggregates reflections and imagery from overland journeys made by pledgers.

This provides a context in which to explore and reconceive how interaction across our traditional human networks with our digital networks might work; and an ongoing commitment to use land based travel and/or innovative uses of technology to maintain our presence and networks through conferences, exhibitions, and other events.