Art With a Conscience: 9 Stunning Examples of Sustainable Creation
The world must pay more attention to the climate crisis and take action to solve it. Across industries, you see people doing their part to raise awareness.
What are artists doing for the cause? These professionals tell stories through incredible sculptures, paintings, and structures. Here are nine stunning examples of sustainable creation you must see.
1. Whale in Love
The ocean has a lot of plastic waste that harms Earth’s precious wildlife. Experts say it won’t get better anytime soon, as this type of garbage will nearly triple by 2060. Whale in Love warns you of the problem by showing a gigantic whale statue made from trash. While the artwork is beautiful, it’s a sobering reminder of what’s in bodies of water.
You can find this whale in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, sitting in the Love River. Jason Klimoski and Lesley Chang of StudioKCA collaborated with Archasia, New Value Construction and the local Kaohsiung government to erect this giant statue. The whale and plastic waste represent the connection between people and the ocean and how destructive littering can be.
2. Botafogo Beach Fish
In Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, you’ll see a similar message about plastic waste. Head to Botafogo Beach overlooking Guanabara Bay to see a fish made from discarded water bottles. This sustainable creation highlights the impact of plastic bottles and reminds you not to throw them in the ocean. When night arrives, the artwork illuminates under the Brazilian skies.
The artists created this Botafogo Beach fish before the 2012 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development. Now, two plastic bottle fish sit on the shores. Since this statue’s creation, the world has progressed with more sustainable policies. For instance, Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) banned single-use plastic bottles in 2023.
3. Vertical Garden
If you like positive artwork, check out the Vertical Garden in Bilbao, Spain. This sustainable creation is in front of the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao — the newest of the three famous Guggenheim institutions. The tall statue depicts a sitting dog made from thousands of flowers as its fur. American artist Jeff Koons designed the incredible artwork to embrace the environment.
Urban development means creating more human-centric city living, although it doesn’t have to compromise the environment. Koons’s Vertical Garden symbolizes the essential relationships among people, cities, animals and the environment. As metro areas grow, they should account for the planet by incorporating green spaces and embracing biodiversity.
4. Spiral Jetty
When you visit Spiral Jetty, you might not realize you’re standing on artwork. However, it’s among the best sustainable creations in Utah and the U.S. Spiral Jetty overlooks the Great Salt Lake and is an excellent example of land art, as it contains rocks, mud and crystals. The sculpture starts near Rozel Point and creates a spiral as it extends to the giant lake.
Robert Smithson created the artwork in 1970 and passed away just three years after its completion. The New Jersey native was intentional about the Spiral Jetty’s location, considering its proximity to the Great Salt Lake’s red water. Additionally, the famous lake is similar to a primordial sea with its high bacteria and algae population despite its salinity.
5. The Provenance Collection
People travel to Edinburgh, Scotland, for the famous castles and a trip back in time. The Scottish city is also renowned for its northern European collections. The Provenance Collection exhibits sustainability by using locally sourced materials and traditional techniques.
You can find sustainability through Araminta Campbell’s pillows, which utilize wool from British alpaca. The complex design is notable because of its delineating curves and soft touch. Other notable artwork includes a stunning pedestal table from Steven and Ffion Blench. This sculpture contains lime plasterwork from 1785 and 200-year-old soot from the General Register House.
6. Very Hungry God
Some sustainable artwork is unconventional but has a strong meaning behind it. Subodh Gupta’s Very Hungry God contains stainless steel pots, pans and containers to form a gigantic skull. While it may seem unorthodox, Gupta’s sculpture represents India’s transforming culture and the effects of globalization. He says the kitchen appliances symbolize economic advancements in his home country.
If you want to see Very Hungry God, you should track its location before you book any plans. The sculpture has been featured in Venice’s Palazzo Grassi, the Chicago Museum of Contemporary Art and other renowned institutions. Gupta has taken this piece to numerous continents to symbolize changing cultures worldwide.
7. Icewatch
Why is the planet warming? Melting glaciers are among the root causes of rising ocean temperatures. You’ll find art symbolic of this climate change effect in Copenhagen, Denmark. Olafur Eliasson and Minik Rosing bring new pieces of ice each fall and let the people of Denmark’s capital watch it melt throughout the season. Since 2014, it’s become a Copenhagen staple.
The artists emphasize that melting ice doesn’t sleep at night. Eliasson and Rosing source ice from Greenland’s ice sheet and place it in a clockwise direction. The melting ice reminds the townspeople that climate change and melting glaciers are serious problems. While technology has emerged to help glaciers, time is running out to salvage the planet’s poles.
8. 7,000 Marks
Sara Black and Amber Ginsburg created the 7,000 Marks sculpture as conservation commentary. The famous sculpture is at the Presidio National Park Site just south of the Golden Gate Bridge. You’ll find 7,000 pencils made from trees that died of sudden oak death or Phytophthora ramorum. Black and Ginsburg used kiln-dried lumber to curate this curious project.
The artists say the 7,000 pencils represent conservation and increasing xenophobia nationwide. It contrasts with 7,000 Oaks, a 1982 Joseph Beuys project incorporating tree-planting and basalt stone columns. Black and Ginsburg pose philosophical questions and wonder what it means to be native. The art symbolizes the severe ecological consequences of humans and their nativism.
9. Silent Evolution
Some artwork isn’t easily visible in a museum or outdoor exhibits. If you want to see Silent Evolution, you need scuba gear or a submarine. The Cancún Underwater Museum hosts this fantastic art exhibition featuring hundreds of sculptures. Jason de Caires Taylor curated this exhibit by combining his love of diving and artwork.
Silent Evolution draws thousands of annual visitors because of its unique placement and ecological importance. The numerous human sculptures protect the coral reefs surrounding Cancún while letting people enjoy artwork. De Caires Taylor created casts of hundreds of real people from Mexico to inspire his statues.
Viewing the World’s Best Sustainable Art Collections
Art is beautiful in many forms, although meanings and symbolization make it even more powerful. Sustainable sculptures and land art steal the spotlight because they have unique origins and tell stories of a changing planet. After viewing these exhibitions, you may feel inspired to make an environmental difference in your community.
