Event Summary - Linda Weintraub

Since I wasn’t technically a part of the class during this event, I wasn’t able to attend in person. But my professor and friends encouraged me to read up on the event (with the help of my friends’ notes and the internet) and Linda Weintraub herself. And I’m so glad I did. I’m a person that doesn’t understand abstract or ecocentric art all that well, so putting myself out of my comfort zone was really hard, but worth it in the end because I really enjoyed all that I read and researched on. My friend also was able to record part of Weintraub’s lecture and I’m so glad he did, because not only did I feel like I was there, but I was really able to get a greater insight on her work. I also looked her up and was able to find a few youtube videos of her speaking about the art. 

As I said above, I’m not to really understand ecocentric art, but I’m glad I came across Linda. After doing my research I realized just how amazing of a person she is! Not only is she an artist, but she’s a curator, author, and educator! Her books in particular were what interested me and I was actually able to read one. To keep it short, she focuses a lot of her book “To Life! Eco Art in Pursuit of a Sustainable Planet” on the history of eco art. This book in particular was very interesting to me because it focused on the different artists in history that were a part of the eco art movement. Their responses to the environmental concerns correlated directly with the time of that moment. It was interesting to see how the concerns over the last few decades have changed yet stayed the same in some ways. 

During the lecture, she talked a lot about neomaterialism, and how dependent we are as a society on technology and the mass production of our goods. Her most interesting point to me was when she discussed materialism in correlation with senses. She stated that to truly understand the physical world one must be able to touch it and hold it. Materialism is just a rough outlook and estimate, but to understand the world around we must go out and find out what actually exists. 

Jae Rhim Lee was one of the artists that Linda talked about. Her work is related to decomposition and death. Her specific project, N=1=NPK=KIMCHI=N, confused me at first. I wasn’t really sure how it all worked, but as the explanation was offered I was amazed about how beautifully science and art came together to create this. She uses urine as a form of sustaining life. For example, the urine gathered was gathered to use as a fertilizer and from that she grew cabbage. The cabbage was then used to make kimchi, which was fed to the people in her life. I then realized how impactful this project is. It’s a great example of how dependent we as a society are on man-made fertilizers, and how we should embrace more organic things in our lives. 

Overall, I’m so glad I took the time to read her book and research her talk. I was sad that I wasn’t able to attend, even more so after I found out how truly amazing she is, but I’m glad that I took the time to research her. Her work is so important and brings such awareness to people; needed awareness. Not everyone will always understand the importance of certain things, but I think presenting it in this way shows just how important environmental consciousness is. 

Lambe, Claire. "An Interview with Linda Weintraub – Curator of "Dear Mother Nature: Hudson Valley Artists 2012" at The Dorsky." Roll Online. N.p., n.d. Web. June 2017.

"To Life!" University of California Press. N.p., n.d. Web.

"N=1=NPK=KIMCHI=N." We Make Money Not Art. N.p., 30 July 2007. Web. 

"N=1=NPK=KIMCHI=N." We Make Money Not Art. N.p., 30 July 2007. Web. 

"Jae Rhim Lee." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 11 Apr. 2017. Web. 

Weintraub, Linda. To Life!: Eco Art in Pursuit of a Sustainable Planet. Berkeley: U of California, 2012. Print.