Climate Change and the Power of Art: Exploring the Intersection of Science and Theater
2023-10-12 08:36:21 A singer sings the rise in temperature and an energy footprint is projected on the museum ceiling in real time. More and more artists are using climate research for their work. “The theater is one of the last places where people turn off their cell phones,” says choreographer Gloria Benedikt. “The lights go ... Read more Gloria Benedikt, choreographer and graduate of the Vienna State Opera Ballet Academy, the English National Ballet School and Harvard University, is exploring the Intersection of Science and Theater to explore how science and art can benefit from each other so that the social transformation towards sustainability is successful. She believes that if you want to negotiate complex and emotional issues like climate change, you need exactly this kind of space. In the Anglo-Saxon region, this approach as “Eco Theater” is already more established than in this country, with the format creating scientifically based artistic productions on climate reality and environmental justice. It is important to manage the balancing act of remaining constructive without moralizing and falling into dogmatism.
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A singer sings the rise in temperature and an energy footprint is projected on the museum ceiling in real time. More and more artists are using climate research for their work.
“The theater is one of the last places where people turn off their cell phones,” says choreographer Gloria Benedikt. “The lights go out, there is a focus.” She is convinced that if you want to negotiate complex and emotional issues like climate change, you need exactly this kind of space. “We are in an existential crisis. Scientific data shows that if we continue like this, we could eliminate ourselves and many other living beings. But if we redirect, we could live in a healthier, fairer, safer world. It is up to us.”
Benedikt, who has presented her work to the EU Parliament and the World Science Forum, among others, is a graduate of the Vienna State Opera Ballet Academy, the English National Ballet School and Harvard University. In 2015 she went to the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) in Laxenburg (Lower Austria) to investigate how science and art can benefit from each other so that the social transformation towards sustainability is successful. She argued in a recent publication what role theater could play in this (Performing against the CatastropheTDR, Cambridge University Press, 2023).
Say goodbye to an old idea
According to Benedikt, the performing arts also draw their power from collective experience and are predestined to translate climate knowledge into social understanding. “Knowledge alone is not enough to act. It’s about the big change of perspective that nature is stronger and resources are not unlimited. The age-old idea of ’subdue the earth’ has simply come to nothing.”
In the Anglo-Saxon region, this approach as “Eco Theater” is already more established than in this country. The format creates scientifically based artistic productions on climate reality and environmental justice. Characteristic of this: people are not necessarily the sole focus; for example, connections and dependencies of all living organisms are shown and the framework is formed by long periods of time. Neither dystopian pieces nor happy endings à la Hollywood are wanted, explains Benedikt: “We want to remain realistic, but also give hope. We are tormented by this to no end.” Last but not least, it is important to manage the balancing act of remaining constructive without moralizing and falling into dogmatism. “The audience shouldn’t walk away afterwards and think it’s too late anyway.”
Konular: Climate Change, ESG