海角大神

At the star-studded Art Basel fair in Miami Beach recently, amid the galleries and parties and installations, artist Xavier Cortada handed out name tags of a particular variety.

鈥淗ello,鈥� the stickers said. 鈥淢y elevation is ...鈥� He filled out his own with information for Miami, his hometown: 2 meters (about 6.5 feet) above sea level, an elevation clearly vulnerable to ocean rise caused by climate change. Mr. Cortada had passed out similar tags at the COP26 international climate gathering in Glasgow, Scotland, last fall 鈥� a participatory art project, he says, that was meant to transcend individualism and build connections. 鈥淗ello, my fear is ...鈥� read one name tag. 鈥淗ello, my hope is ...鈥� read another.

鈥淭hese badges served as an artistic way of just getting folks to communicate with each other and to share their humanity, their vulnerability, their perspectives,鈥� Mr. Cortada says. And that, he says, is necessary to help fight climate change 鈥� the goal of his art ever since he traveled to Antarctica in the mid-2000s with a National Science Foundation program. There, he recalls, he was 鈥渉orrified鈥� to realize he was holding in his hands ice samples that could very well melt and be part of flooding of his city.

鈥淚t radically transformed my practice to one that was almost exclusively dealing with climate 鈥� not in a way to despair but to solve,鈥� he says. 鈥淚 created all these projects that weren鈥檛 about intimidating or sensationalizing or scaring you to death, but were about letting you know that you have agency. ... What I want is art that understands its role as a vehicle to engage others and to problem-solve.鈥�

Across the creative world, artists are increasingly focusing their work on climate. Mainstream pop stars such as Billie Eilish sing 鈥� and lobby 鈥� about it, while other performers, from Dar Williams to Tamara Lindeman鈥檚 The Weather Station, feature it in new albums. It is central to a number of new fiction books, such as Booker Prize shortlist works 鈥淭he New Wilderness鈥� by Diane Cook and 鈥淏ewilderment鈥� by聽Richard Powers.聽An increasingly popular utopian science fiction and art genre, called 鈥渟olarpunk,鈥� hinges on a new eco-friendly future.聽And now a Netflix comedy called 鈥淒on鈥檛 Look Up,鈥� starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence, is using an Earth-threatening comet as a thinly veiled metaphor for the issue.

鈥淚ncreasingly, people are realizing we need these different levels of creativity 鈥� whether it鈥檚 scientific creativity or visual creativity,鈥� says Caroline Juang, who is both an artist and graduate student in climate science at Columbia University鈥檚 department of Earth and environmental sciences. 鈥淲e need to make visualizations of what the world could be.鈥�

鈥淣o one field ... can see it all鈥澛�

The climate theme has even shown up at venues such as London鈥檚 Fashion Week, where this past fall the studio Atelier Tammam featured scientist Ed Hawkins鈥� 鈥淲arming Stripes鈥� 鈥� a graphic blue-and-red-lined representation of increasing temperatures over time 鈥� on ready-to-wear capes, scarves, and dresses. In Cambridge, Massachusetts, a recent theater production called 鈥淲ild: A Musical Becoming鈥� revolved around climate anxiety, part of an intentional theater industry effort on聽global warming. And at the COP26 conference in November, art and culture took a prominent role in several panel discussions.聽

This broadened approach is becoming more important not only to artists but also to climate scientists themselves. More and more, those in academic settings say, researchers are stretching across disciplines and collaborating with a variety of artists in hopes of building a new type of response to what many see as an existential problem.

鈥淲hat does it mean for people to work on climate?鈥� asks Ben Mylius, a writer and graduate student at Columbia who helped found the school鈥檚 Climate Imaginations Network. 鈥淔rom the university perspective, it raises questions for every discipline. No one field, or industry, or way of seeing the world can see it all.鈥�

Humanities and the liberal arts are well suited to address the ethical, moral, and political questions that inevitably come up with climate change, he says. Meanwhile, fine artists and writers can bring emotion and creativity that engage a wide audience, while also challenging what Mr. Mylius calls the 鈥渆asy鈥� climate storylines of despair on one hand, and a 鈥渢echno-utopian, someone-else-will-save-you鈥� complacency on the other. 鈥淗ow can we really bring our creativity to bear, telling stories of climate and the future that don鈥檛 take the easy way out?鈥� he asks.

Artists focusing on ecological issues is not new, of course. Many have done so since the environmental awareness movement of the 1960s, points out Patricia Watts, founder and curator of Ecoartspace, a membership group for artists addressing environmental issues. But the number of artists getting involved has increased exponentially, she says, as the impacts of climate change 鈥� such as wildfires, floods, and other extreme weather events 鈥� become part of daily life.

Artists as problem-solvers

鈥淎s we grow more conscious of all the issues, there is more and more work being done, and more and more artists doing this work,鈥� Ms. Watts says. And this growing creative movement, she and others say, is crucial for expanding the way society understands climate change 鈥� and possible solutions to it. 鈥淎rtists can be divergent thinkers and problem-solvers,鈥� Ms. Watts says.

The theatrical production 鈥淲ild,鈥� which premiered last month at the American Repertory Theater, reflects this new grappling. It revolves around the tension between teenage character Sophia鈥檚 growing environmentalism and her mother鈥檚 desperation to save her family鈥檚 livelihood by selling their land to an energy extraction company. In one scene, Sophia sings a ballad, 鈥淒ear Everything,鈥� while her mother, Bea 鈥� played by Broadway legend Idina Menzel 鈥� faces off behind her against Oak, her environmental studies teacher.

But the audience doesn鈥檛 see two 鈥渟ides鈥� onstage. They see a mother and teacher who both care about a young girl. Their different perspectives about climate change aren鈥檛 political.

鈥淵ou can broach the issue and you can invite everybody to the table,鈥� says New York-based playwright Chantal Bilodeau, founding artistic director of The Arctic Cycle, an organization that uses theater to foster conversation about climate change. 鈥淚t doesn鈥檛 have to be, 鈥榃e鈥檙e going to look at this from an ideological point of view.鈥� It鈥檚 just, 鈥榃e鈥檙e going to look at this through a personal story, like how does this affect our lives?鈥欌��

Since Ms. Bilodeau began The Arctic Cycle in 2008, the project has developed and produced new plays, hosted workshops, and maintained a network for artists who work in climate change. At the core of its work, she says, is the idea that creative storytelling can lead to more change than traditional advocacy.聽

鈥淚f the first impulse is to solve a problem or to get people to do something, it can turn into really bad theater, because then you鈥檙e not using theater for what it鈥檚 meant, which is to help invite people into reflection or exploration of a particular issue,鈥� she says.

That same mission of exploration anchors the Boston Children鈥檚 Chorus鈥� 2021-2022 season, 鈥淣ow Is the Time.鈥� The chorus has been performing songs with underlying messages of climate change, and has partnered with other organizations with similar goals. Members of the chorus also played a group of children onstage in 鈥淲ild.鈥�

鈥淭here is a duality in our mission, not just to promote artistry, but then also to focus on issues of social inquiry and empathy and justice,鈥� says Irene Idicheria, managing director of BCC.

To many artists, all this paves the way for people to take stronger or more inspired action in their lives. 鈥淚 think there needs to be a strong activist component, and that artists need to understand the role and power of art in helping us really rethink and unveil what is obscured. Glamorizing and glorifying isn鈥檛 enough,鈥� says Mr. Cortada, the Miami artist. 鈥淎nd I think there is a whole generation of artists that will understand that this is their duty.鈥�