By Abigail Lindner
With Stan Eichner
Humans have been making art for millennia. Our creativity gives rise to our drive to create, and the past shows what we are capable of.
What is the art that we create itself capable of?
The capacity for art to generate social change has been much debated by historians, philosophers, political scientists, and artists themselves. Among activist artists, sometimes referred to as artivists, the creation of art happens alongside or as part of political participation and engagement, cultural resistance, identity formation, meaning-making, or counter narrative production [1].
Art can serve as a channel to reconstruct what is into what should be. In assessing the role of art in activism, Professor Stephen Duncome, co-founder and co-director of the Center for Artistic Activism, recognizes that, before we act in the world, we must be moved to act. He highlights art as a powerful force for motivating this action [2].
With respect to the mission of the Sierra Club, Somerville, Massachusetts, local Stan Eichner works to use his art to spur action for the planet. After retiring in May of 2019 from a forty-five-year law career in public interest and civil rights work, he focused more intently on his environmental artwork, and photography specifically.
We were delighted to speak with Stan recently about his work in climate activism.
A: Hi, Stan! Thank you for taking the time to speak with me today.
A: Were you involved in art before 2018?
S: I’ve done photography off and on for ten, fifteen years, but it was always on the side because work always overshadowed it. I’d mark the point where I began to take it a little more seriously when I became involved with Somerville Open Studios. I’ve had the chance - the audacity, I suppose - to go out and show my work and see if anybody would buy some. Much to my pleasant surprise, it was pretty well received, and I wound up having a decent amount of sales. Now, the money was much less important than the idea that people liked my stuff and actually put it on their walls to look at it every day. That was a big surprise.
I basically transitioned into trying to consider myself as a photographer and artist through Open Studios. Since retiring, I’ve continued doing Open Studios, but I’ve also tried to get my work out there, whether it’s various random exhibits or shows or having a website. More recently, it’s still terrific and exciting to sell my work, but in the beginning the selling loomed larger. Now, it’s great to sell it, but I don’t feel as tied to the sales for validation.
A: Your first exhibit with Somerville Open Studios was in 2012. Is there any exhibit that you’d say is your favorite of the ones you’ve done?
S: I don’t know about “favorite,” but one that I felt very nice about was “Fighting For Our Planet,” which was at the Inside-Out Gallery at Davis Square. I liked the work that I showed and it’s a fun public space. In addition to that, my wife and I did what we called a listening project. We stood in front of it and we had a sign saying, “What do you think about the climate crisis?” It was a prompt and, as people went by, we would engage them to come and talk about that. People want a chance to talk about these issues, but they don’t think anyone wants to listen, so if you give them an opportunity to be listened to, it’s helpful to them in terms of getting over the hesitancy and getting to express themselves. We had a pretty good response. The exhibit was kind of nice, but doing it in conjunction with the listening project made it more special.
A: There are many types of climate activism and yours is art-focused. What do you think that art contributes to activism, to the environmental cause, that other forms don’t?
S: I think the idea is that it all supports and reinforces each other. A large percentage of my images are landscapes. I think one of the things I’ve said in my artist statement over the years is that one of my main goals is to remind people of the incredible planet we have and why it’s absolutely essential to all of us that we are involved in stopping its senseless destruction. Reminding people of the planet’s incredible, unique beauty hopefully helps spur them to change. We can’t keep screwing this up. We each have to take seriously the threat to our planet. I always hope that one of the messages of the photography.
A: It seems like a good supplement or complement to the more technical presentations, like scientific reports.
S: It all works together. People need to learn the real information about the climate crisis and how dire things are and it’s also good to remind people what kind of planet they want to leave for their children and grandchildren. So many of us are really urbanized and it’s useful if you can bring them back to the incredible, natural beauty of the planet and why you don’t want to screw it up.
A: Have you gained a sense from your audience that you have accomplished this: that they’ve left thinking, “Wow, the world is amazing and we should protect it.”
S: I don’t know if it comes across that clearly. I don’t want to give it too much credit, but I think it has had a positive effect. For instance, this past fall I was out in Southern Utah and had a chance to get some really gorgeous pictures. There was a gallery out in Lexington that was doing a program on natural beauty celebrating Earth Day, and I submitted some images, one of which they chose. In fact, they used that image to promote the show.
The year before, another artist from Somerville recruited me and seven other artists to show our work for an online exhibit. A part of our proceeds would be contributed to climate activism groups. It’s good to be with other artists, trying to figure this out, and it’s good for the art to reach people. Sometimes I wonder to myself, “Is this really reaching anybody? Is this really having any effect?” I’ve had people I respect say, in a compelling way, that it does make a difference. A friend used the phrase “art is intelligence in movement.” I think it can have a big effect. In combination, artists coming together can have that powerful effect.
I’ve connected with other artists around the country that are trying to do climate work. There have been support groups where you get together and talk about it. It’s been helpful to work with other people. It helps to reduce the isolation and realize that other people care. Different ideas, different approaches - that has been very useful.
A: Are there any peers of years in environmental art activism that you would consider mentors or partners?
S: There’s a national group of artists trying to figure out art in climate activism. People have done all sorts of amazing things. Some have done community murals that are really powerful. One’s a fabric artist. There are painters. A friend of mine is a ceramic artist who fundraises for animals. Everyone is giving it a shot, figuring out how to best use their art to bring support to this important area. I’ve been really impressed by how people who are so talented and who care so much have pivoted to use their art to raise issues about the climate crisis. It’s as far-reaching as there are types of art.
A: Do you have any projects in the works for 2022 or next year?
S: I’m leaving in a week to Alaska for two weeks. Most of the time is to do photography, so I’m hoping that I’ll be able to use different types of images in the following period in various ways - mostly beautiful landscapes to remind people of that same message. I don’t know if I’ll have the chance to take pictures of places that show the harmful and devastating effects of climate change. I’ll keep my eye out for it; it might not work out. It’s the flipside of informing people and raising their consciousness. It’ll primarily be beautiful animals and beautiful landscapes, but if I see places where visually you can tell, “Wow, this is--” You know, it’s hard to show a glacier melting, but I know we’re going to be on glaciers and flying over one, so there might be opportunities to show some of the losses we’ve already experienced.
A: It would be an interesting contrast to what you usually do: on one side showing what the planet looks like when you protect it and the other side showing what the planet looks like when you do not.
A: Is there anything you’d like to add before we end?
S: Well, the basic message is that time is running very short to save our planet. Sierra Club people are already committed to it. Now we need to reach out as broadly as possible to bring home the message that the climate crisis is really a crisis. We almost need a stronger word than that. Time is very short and everyone has to do their part.
The interview with Stan Eichner took place on September 1, 2022. It has been lightly edited for brevity. You can view many of Stan’s photographs on his website. Thumbnail photo credit: Stan Eichner.
References
- David, E.A. & McCaughan, E.J. (2006). Editor’s introduction: art, power, and social change. Social Justice, 33(2), 1-4. https://www.jstor.org/stable/29768365.
- Duncombe, S. (2016). Does it work? The æffect of activist art. Social Research, 83(91), 115-134. https://www.jstor.org/stable/44283398