View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by Open Research Online Open Research Online The Open University’s repository of research publications and other research outputs Culture and Climate Change: Recordings Edited Book How to cite: Butler, Robert; Margolies, Eleonor; Smith, Joe and Tyszczuk, Renata eds. (2011). Culture and Climate Change: Recordings. Culture and Climate Change, 1. Cambridge: Shed. For guidance on citations see FAQs. c 2011 Shed and the individual contributors Version: Version of Record Link(s) to article on publisher’s website: http://www8.open.ac.uk/researchcentres/osrc/research/themes/mediating-change Copyright and Moral Rights for the articles on this site are retained by the individual authors and/or other copyright owners. For more information on Open Research Online’s data policy on reuse of materials please consult the policies page. oro.open.ac.uk Culture and Climate Change: Recordings BERGIT ARENDS MARCUS BRIGSTOCKE ROBERT BUTLER NIGEL CLARK QUENTIN COOPER SIOBHAN DAVIES BETH DERBYSHIRE ROGER HARRABIN WALLACE HEIM MIKE HULME CHARLIE KRONICK RUTH LITTLE DIANA LIVERMAN VICKY LONG ELEANOR MARGOLIES OLIVER MORTON <script type="text/javascript"> TIM SMIT var _gaq = _gaq || []; _gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-12022932-2']); JOE SMITH _gaq.push(['_trackPageview']); CAROLYN STEEL (function() { var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true; ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js'; Contributors RENATA TYSZCZUK var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s); })(); </script> Culture and Climate Change: Recordings <script type="text/javascript"> Edited by Robert Butler, Eleanor Margolies, var _gaq = _gaq || []; Joe Smith and Renata Tyszczuk _gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-12022932-2']); _gaq.push(['_trackPageview']); (function() { var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true; ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js'; var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s); })(); </script> Published by Shed, Cambridge Editors: Robert Butler, Eleanor Margolies, Joe Smith and Renata Tyszczuk Managing editor: Vicky Long Design by Hyperkit © 2011 Shed and the individual contributors No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, apart from the quotation of brief passages for the purpose of review, without the written consent of the publishers. ISBN 978-0-9557534-1-1 Printed by Lecturis, Eindhoven This publication is printed on Munken Lynx paper which is FSC accredited and produced at a mill certified to the ISO 14001 and EMAS environmental management standards. Printed at Lecturis using eco-friendly BIO inks. <script type="text/javascript"> var _gaq = _gaq || []; _gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-12022932-2']); _gaq.push(['_trackPageview']); (function() { var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true; ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js'; var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s); })(); </script> Contents Acknowledgements 5 Introduction 7 Three essays Looking for the tune 13 Robert Butler Why climate change is different: six elements 17 that are shaping the new cultural politics Joe Smith On constructing for the unforeseen 23 Renata Tyszczuk Four dialogues History 31 Nigel Clark, Siobhan Davies, Wallace Heim and Diana Liverman Publics 47 Marcus Brigstocke, Vicky Long, Tim Smit and Joe Smith Anatomy 63 Bergit Arends, Robert Butler, Beth Derbyshire and Charlie Kronick Futures 75 Roger Harrabin, Mike Hulme, Ruth Little, Oliver Morton and Carolyn Steel Contributors 97 Resources 100 <script type="text/javascript"> Timeline 105 var _gaq = _gaq || []; _gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-12022932-2']); _gaq.push(['_trackPageview']); (function() { var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true; ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js'; var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s); })(); </script> Acknowledgements We gratefully acknowledge the Ashden Trust and the Open University OpenSpace Research Centre for their support for the discussions and this publication. The discussions were recorded in collaboration with TippingPoint, the University of Oxford, the Eden Project, the Open University and the National Theatre Studio. Our thanks are due to each of these organisations for their encouragement and support and for providing inspirational venues, and to the audiences at the four recordings. Catherine Chambers, Matthew Holley, John Sinton and Kristoff van Leeuwen at the Open University managed the recording, editing and post-production of the podcast. Wallace Heim, Benjamin Morris, Kellie Payne and Bradon Smith helped us to map out the territory of the discussions and contributed to the annotations and timeline. Peter Gingold and S. I. Martin kindly read and commented on the book in draft form. We would particularly like to thank all the contributors to the discussions, who shared their knowledge and expertise so willingly. Robert, Joe and Renata <script type="text/javascript"> var _gaq = _gaq || []; _gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-12022932-2']); _gaq.push(['_trackPageview']); (function() { var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true; ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js'; 5 var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s); })(); </script> INTRODUCTION Introduction It’s a subject that touches on some of the great themes of art: love, empathy, generosity, sorrow, greed, waste, loss, suffering and want. It raises significant ethical and moral questions in terms of how humans think about their place in the world. It concerns the great philosophical questions of time, justice, custom and dwelling. And it has the potential to affect every aspect of life — from the food we eat to the homes we build. The discovery that the way we are living is endangering our future and the futures of those who follow us might be expected to resonate through all forms of cultural expression. Indeed, in recent years, an increasing number of exhibitions, performances and publications have presented cultural responses to climate change. Many of these are listed in the timeline at the back. But is this really something new? Or are we simply reinterpreting long-established themes — humanity and nature, apocalypse and utopia, hubris and the gods — that reach back beyond the Ancient Greeks? Over the last decade, three of us — a theatre critic, a geographer and an architect — have followed this field of work and the critical response. It has been fascinating to watch the subject develop, but we have also shared feelings of frustration. We’ve noted some confusion about how to ‘place’ the work and about how it relates to science, policy, and the creative arts more generally. We’ve sometimes found ourselves taking part in unproductive debates about whether particular cultural responses to climate change should be defined as communication, activism or artistic experiment. And yet, looking beyond labels, we were aware that there was <script type="text/javascript"> var _gaq = _gaq || []; _gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-12022932-2']); _gaq.push(['_trackPageview']); (function() { var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true; ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js'; 7 var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s); })(); </script> CULTURE AND CLIMATE CHANGE: RECORDINGS already a rich history of cultural response to changing physical environments, and that contemporary work might connect to that tradition in many different ways. It struck us that there was a need for greater clarity about how these activities are discussed, reviewed and, even, funded. We felt, in short, that ‘culture and climate change’ needed mapping. We wanted to sketch out a critical framework that would include the context of the work, where it comes from, what makes it distinctive and where it might go. So we devised a series of discussions on the subject, inviting artists and academics from many disciplines, as well as producers and journalists. We knew from the calibre of those taking part that they would bring expert observations to a discussion that was still finding its way. We decided on four topics: first, the history of cultural responses to climate change; second, popular culture and mass media; third, the anatomy of works in this area; and fourth, the way that culture, politics and science interact as we imagine and respond to scenarios of the future. The discussions were recorded in autumn 2010 at a TippingPoint conference in Oxford, at the Eden Project in Cornwall, at the Open University’s offices in London, and at the National Theatre Studio in London. They are available as a podcast under the heading of ‘Culture and Climate Change’ on the Open University’s iTunes U platform, and represent a first extended audio exploration of this subject to be