Island Ecology, Island Aesthetics

In his “Ecoaesthetics: A Manifesto for the Twenty-First Century,” London-based Pakistani artist, curator, and critic Rasheed Araeen states, “Art can and should strive for an alternative that is not only aesthetically affirmative and productive, but is also beneficial to all forms of life on our planet” (2009: 680). Araeen joins generations of ecological artists who are concerned about the environmental crises such as global warming and sea level rise. Since Helen and Newton Harrison exhibited their award-winning The Lagoon Cycle in 1974, ecological artists have tried hard to heighten our awareness of a shared destiny that intertwines nature and culture. My project focuses on Taiwan ecological artist Vincent J. F. Huang’s Tuvalu Pavilion Exhibitions in 2013 and 2015 Venice Biennale, entitled “Destiny Intertwined” and “Crossing the Tide” respectively. A native of Nantou, Taiwan, Vincent J. F. Huang was born in 1971. Graduated with Master in Art from Grays School of Art from Robert Gordon University in Scotland in 2000, Huang currently works in both Shanghai and Taipei. He has taken part in many exhibitions and won many awards. Huang focuses on the forefront of climate change and is concerned with global environmental issues. By investigating the impact of human consumption of natural resources in the name of civilization, he examines the impact of technological advancement in our age of the anthropocene. By connecting the Mediterranean island city (Venice) and the Pacific island nation (Tuvalu) in his eco-art installations, Huang makes an ecologically-alarming and aesthetically-provocative statement about the common destiny that intertwines islands globally. The ecological interconnectedness among islands such as Venice, Tuvalu, and Taiwan further manifests the crisis of “island ecology” that we’re dealing with at this moment of history.