How do climate change and environmental issues relate to art? High Line Art set out to answer this question, investigating the intersection between art and the environment. High Line Art is the curated program of Friends of the High Line, which manages and oversees the High Line park. To explore artistic production and the environment, High Line Art curated a film series titled Solar that includes a selection of four videos by four individual artists: Rosa Barba, Camille Henrot, Basim Magdy and Neïl Beloufa. The videos featured in Solar, on view now at High Line Channel 14, spotlight the effect of humans on the environment through both realistic and futuristic narratives. With this film series, High Line Art emphasizes the importance of environmental activism in the arts.
Over the past four weeks, we facilitated weekly “panels” between the curator, Cecilia Alemani, and the four artists in Solar. Using the hashtag #SolarPanel, these interviews occurred over Twitter every week in four installments, highlighting one artist per week. These tweets were only fragments of the full interviews, which we posted on our Tumblr the following day accompanied by an artist profile and a summary of the artist’s video. Through this program, the public gained an opportunity to learn more about the four artists whose films are featured on a more interactive platform. The artists’ fascinating answers offer a unique perspective into the artistic inspiration, process, and themes manifest in their work.
To read the full interviews and artist profiles, follow the links below to the High Line Art Tumblr feature on each artist:
Rosa Barba, “Somnium,” (2011)
Camille Henrot, “Million Dollars Point,” (2011)
Basim Magdy, “Time Laughs Back at You Like a Sunken Ship,” (2012)
Neïl Beloufa, “Kempinski,” (2007)
Above photo by Timothy Schenck. Courtesy of Friends of the High Line. Rosa Barba, Somnium, 2011. Part of Solar, on High Line Channel 14. On view October 10 – December 4, 2013, on the High Line at West 14th Street.