山水：综合艺术视界中的自然生态
展期：2009年9月19日 – 10月31日，10:00 – 22:00, 周一闭馆
BCA山水论坛之一：“山水之美，山水之殇，山水之救赎”：2009年9月22日（特别请柬入场）
BCA山水论坛之二：“什么正在消逝？”：2009年9月27日（特别请柬入场）
山水之夜：2009年10月11日 18:00 – 22:00
赞助：一汽-大众奥迪品牌
支持：山水自然保护中心
艺术总监：翁菱 （天安时间当代艺术中心创办人）
策展顾问：费大为（著名国际艺术策展人，评论家）
吕植 （环保专家，山水自然保护中心创办人）
参展艺术家：林璎（Maya Lin）、汪建伟、周伟
展览影片：《第十一小时》、《家园》
地球病了
人类病了
我们身处前所未有的危机之中
人类在渴望拥有一切的同时，失去的比任何时候都更多……
我们向何处去？……
（2009年8月10日，北京）天安时间当代艺术中心九月起将连续推出两个大型“绿色”艺术计划：九月中开始的《山水：综合艺术视界中的自然生态》将走进自然山水，关注“山水之美，山水之殇，山水之救赎”；其后的《立体城市：未来中国》则着眼于理想生态城市的构建，畅想未来中国。作为年度计划，两个绿色项目都将结合大型跨学科艺术展、主题论坛、放映、出版等形式，以艺术的方式引发对社会发展和人类未来可持续性的深度思考，并探索当代艺术在形式和内容上的新起点。
缘起
“遭遇危机”，无疑是天安时间当代艺术中心发起年度“绿色艺术计划”的起因。我们面临的危机是深刻而广泛的：开垦、砍伐、城市化，人类文明不断改造着地球的面貌和生态系统原有的功能，如今地球已经变得“又热又平又挤”。诸多“不可忽视的真相”不期而至：气候恶化、能源枯竭、水土流失、水和空气污染、物种绝灭……人类获得了物质的丰裕，却迅速地瓦解着自己生存的基础。与此同时，人类遭受着集体性的精神危机：异质、多元与传统，无一不在资本、信息、科技、人口迁徙的全球化大潮中被同化；人类犹如钢筋水泥的丛林中的困兽，焦虑和不安全感日益深重，人与人之间的关系也随之冷漠、恶化。自然山川之美，在人类生活中渐行渐远。自然——生命和精神的家园 ，成了人类生存的“别处”。
2008年席卷全球的金融危机给了人们思考的机会；就在同一年，全球城市人口首次超过了农村。
自２０世纪六七十年代起，从“地球日”及各类绿色环保组织的设立、“随身携带一双筷子”的倡议、20亿人关注的LIVE EARTH拯救地球活动，到政府公文中“环保”一词的频率，以及现今几乎每个城市规划和建设中的“生态科技”和“绿色”理念，环境保护已然成“时尚”话题，甚至政治主张。“绿色运动”看起来似乎在赢得一个个战斗，但是却在迅速失去整个战役 ——环境正在以前所未有的速度继续恶化。这究竟是环保人士的失败还是人类的失败？是否存在更为有效的方式，影响人类和社会的根本改变？
天安时间推出的绿色计划就是这样一种尝试：用艺术对人们感官的震撼，启发人们内心的自然之爱，思考人类发展过程中的得与失，进而激励行为的改变。
山水 - 综合艺术视界中的自然生态
在过去的五年里，天安时间当代艺术中心创始人翁菱和她的团队、一群热爱野生生物、关注自然保护的艺术家，与山水自然保护中心的创办人、北京大学的吕植教授成为朋友。他们对在交流中发现，当代艺术与自然保护的发展有着惊人的相似，两者都面对公众、市场、政策和行为的严峻挑战，需要宽广的、国际化的视角和持之以恒的坚定信念。这些共识成为“山水”这个跨学科综合艺术项目诞生的基础。
《山水——综合艺术视界中的自然生态》将于2009年9月19日-10月31日在天安时间当代艺术中心举办，由一汽-大众奥迪品牌独家赞助，山水•自然保护中心协力。展览以严肃、多元的视角、丰富的呈现方式，集合了林璎（Maya Lin）、汪建伟、周伟等国际一线艺术家、建筑师根据天安时间空间的最新力作，以及国际著名影星列奥纳多•迪卡普里奥制片的纪录片《第十一个小时》和法国著名摄影师扬恩•亚瑟-伯特拉德（Yann Arthus-Bertrand）导演、国际著名导演吕克•贝松监制的影片《家园》 ，以大型视觉艺术展、纪录片放映、外围环保计划、环保主题论坛、出版等多种形式，在邀请观众全方位体验当代艺术作品的同时，积极参与自然生态问题的思考与讨论，进而投身到科学、公益的“绿色运动”中去。环保主题论坛将邀请自然生态环境保护领域的专家和国际知名艺术家参与跨学科讨论，也将形成丰富深度的文本资料，对未来学科发展起到积极的促进作用。
展览从直面现实、反思本源、科学实践、创意思维等层面入手，是中国当代艺术携手环保事业的开创之举，是中国真正意义上的多学科、跨界合作的实践，我们期待以真诚、开放、严肃、多元、公益、深刻的方式搭建交流平台，需要越来越多关心艺术、关心环保、关心地球发展的人们的关注与参与！
《山水》外围环保计划将由山水自然保护中心执行，在中国西部最宝贵的生态区域，即大熊猫、普氏原羚（世界上最濒危的羚羊之一）和雪豹生活的地区，和当地百姓一起建立实施生态保护项目。
展览得到一汽-大众奥迪品牌鼎力支持。奥迪品牌始终将系统的环境保护作为其企业社会责任不可分割的一部分，并积极参与和支持各种环保公益活动。从上世纪70年代起，奥迪就最大程度的致力于提供全球最先进的全方位汽车环保科技。作为第一个得到欧盟生态审计和管理计划认可的高档车品牌，无论是在产品研发和生产，还是在品牌文化上，奥迪都将环境的可持续性发展作为企业一以贯之的长期理念。
展览介绍
1．主题释义
山水——自然
山水，在中国传统文学与绘画中是对“自然”的指称，在本次展览中指代当代语境中，城市之外的地球自然生态。取其狭义，即“各种天然形成的物质和能量的总体，自然界中的生物群体和一定空间环境共同组成的、具有一定结构和功能的综合体” 。城市之外，自然山水、野生动植物、淳朴乡村……山水之美、山水之殇、山水之救赎——是这次展题关注的范围。
人与自然
《自然辩证法》：“整个自然界形成一个体系，即各种物体相互联系的总体。”《道德经•二十五章》：“域中有四大，而人居其一焉。人法地，地法天，天法道，道法自然”。每个生命都是自然的一部分。人类曾经从敬畏自然，到改造自然、征服自然，甚至统治自然、破坏自然，转而保护自然……同样，自然亦孕育人类、挑战人类、养育人类，甚至“报复”人类……人与自然，是一对永恒的矛盾。审视人与自然的关系，是此次展览的出发点。
2．理想与目标
- 重现自然之美，探讨自然之道
- 重视人与自然的关系，消解自然与人文科技的分裂
- 示范人与自然之爱、人与自然和谐相处
- 从科学、精神、价值观等层面，关注与探讨地球危机
- 大跨度思考关联和表达关联，综合科学体验与艺术想象，构建理想中的自然
3．艺术家及作品介绍
林璎：“什么正在消逝？”
美籍华裔建筑师、艺术家林璎(Maya Lin)在当今国际建筑界享有极高声誉。她还在耶鲁大学就读时，就因设计美国越战纪念碑而蜚声海外。之后20多年里，林璎设计的作品遍布美国各地。她曾被美国《生活》杂志评为“20世纪最重要的100位美国人”与“50位美国未来的领袖”；被美国《亚裔杂志》选为过去10年美国最具影响力的百名亚裔人士之一；2005年入选美国妇女名人堂。
2009年9月中旬，林璎的“最后一个纪念碑”——“什么正在消逝？（What is missing?）” 将全球同步发布；根据天安时间的空间特别制作的中国版，亦将在“山水”大展期间呈现。这是一组大型声音及多媒体互动装置，旨在纪念即将在我们的有生之年消逝的物种，并为人类指引行为方向和希望所在。艺术家说：“此时此刻，我们正在经历地球历史上的第六次大规模物种灭绝。造成这一切的唯一原因，是人类的所作所为。平均每20分钟，即有一种植物或动物从地球上彻底消失。按此速度，未来100年，地球上30%的动植物将走上灭绝之路……”。基于这一可怕现实，林璎毕多年之力，创作了这件令人震撼的作品，让观众以一种前所未有的方式，进入正在消逝的影像与声音的世界，真实地感受我们赖以生存但日渐毁坏的自然母体，真诚地反思人类自身行为，同时展现未来之“绿图(greenprint)”。
汪建伟：“隔离”
汪建伟是中国当代最具影响力的新媒体和装置艺术家之一，也是中国当代最具跨学科思考和实践的艺术家，研究领域涉猎哲学、社会学、文化学、人类学等。他曾以首位中国内地艺术家的身份参加“第10届德国卡塞尔文献展”，并多次受邀威尼斯双年展、届巴西圣保罗双年展等重要国际艺术展事。2008年2月，他荣获国际当代艺术领域的诺贝尔奖——美国当代艺术基金会的2008年度艺术家奖金，是目前唯一一位获此殊荣的中国艺术家。
此次展览中，汪建伟从方法论的角度，对当今社会将“环保”当作一种意识形态或政治策略的现状，提出了严肃的质疑。即，我们以何种依据，证明当今环保发展理念的合理性，或批判过去人类诉诸的环境的种种行为？展览将借用20世纪初俄国构成主义艺术家塔特林的《第三国际纪念碑》的基本形式——此作品原意为抗衡埃菲尔铁塔等资本主义文明标志而作，但却因造价高被共产国际认为过于“资本主义化”而未能建成。这一事件本身成为某种提示，使人们反思理想与行动、现在与未来等的中间状态的可能性。汪建伟将利用中国20世纪五六十年流行的所谓“社会主义”样式的生活家具，在天安时间的三层空间中建造一座“环保纪念碑”，以壮观的视觉语言警示人们关注在环保上说与做、名与实、理想与现实之间的距离。
周伟：“自然生态”
周伟是中国当代著名建筑师、艺术家。九十年代至今，专心致力于当代建筑与艺术之间的综合理论研究与创作实践，其城市研究装置作品曾在圣保罗国际建筑与艺术双年展上引起广泛关注。2004--2006年他先后策划并主持了由多位建筑师，艺术家共同参与创作实施的“间-隔”、“城市进行式——现场张江”等实验艺术现场项目，引领了当代艺术与公共空间跨学科合作的新模式。由其完成概念设计的纽约世贸遗址上再建的自由塔“中国中心”项目也将于2013年面世。
针对展览主题，艺术家经过研究发现，全球人造绿植需求量、产量及产值正以疯狂的速度增长，并已生成了完整、系统的产业链条，为地区ＧＤＰ增长及解决就业发挥着积极的作用。近年越来越多的科学家、设计师也参与到这些“人工绿植”的研发、设计中，以使其更加逼真，甚至发明各种新型材料模拟植物的生命原理，创造“新物种”。艺术家在“自然生态”中更加强化“做真”的过程，亲自参与到这一链条中制作了大量可以乱真的塑料爬墙虎，包裹整个天安时间当代艺术中心的外墙。作品即是对现代都市生活方式的一种无奈、矛盾的复杂心态的隐喻，也试图引发环保理念与经济发展间复杂关系的深度思考。此外，“包裹”的手法是借用了２０世纪六七十年代艺术家克里斯托夫的作品，以呼应当时盛极欧美的环保运动催生“大地艺术”这一社会背景。
逆转人类最黑暗的时刻！——《第十一个小时》
２００７年拍摄完成的 《第十一个小时》（The Eleventh Hour）由时代华纳出品，国际著名影星莱奥纳多•迪卡普里奥制片， 并担任出镜旁白，在当今环保纪录片历史上堪称佳作。在默认全球变暖趋势存在的前提下，影片讨论了一系列隐藏其后的哲学问题，如人类在地球环境恶化的过程中扮演了何种角色等，并期望以此唤起公众的危机意识。包括前苏联总统戈尔巴乔夫、著名科学家史蒂芬•霍金、前中情局局长詹姆斯•伍尔西、永续设计专家威廉麦唐诺与布鲁斯莫，以及超过50位的顶尖科学家、思想家、政府官员、社会名人在影片中出场，解释人类给地球带来的伤害以及平常人可以采取的补救措施。洪水、火灾、飓风、冰山倾覆、不断增长的巨大垃圾山……所有的画面都令我们震惊，催促我们行动起来！
地球很美有赖你——《家园》
《家园》(Home) 由享誉国际的法国导演吕克•贝松监制，著名法国摄影师扬恩•亚瑟（Yann Arthus）拍摄并导演。拍摄组走访了50个国家，并进行大量航空拍摄，带给人们从未有过的视觉奇观。从澳洲海底的大堡礁到非洲肯亚高原的乞力马扎罗山，从亚玛逊热带雨林到戈壁沙漠，从美国德萨斯州连绵不断的棉花田到中国上海的工业城镇……宏大、开阔、奇丽的地球景象和悠远、忧郁的配乐，大声呼吁人类要保护地球，保护我们的家园，与自然和谐相处。
其后，天安时间当代艺术中心还将推出“绿色艺术计划”系列之二——“立体城市：未来中国——国际建筑及艺术邀请展及跨学科论坛”，探讨地球生存资源愈加稀缺的背景下，如何营建理想人居的未来生态立体城市的重要课题。敬请关注！
Upcoming in September --“Shan Shui”
Shan Shui: Nature on the Horizon of Art
Duration: September 19 – October 31, 2009, 10:00 – 22:00, closed on Mondays
BCA Shan Shui Forum I “WE SEE, WE THINK, WE CHANGE”: September 22, 2009 (special invitation only)
BCA Shan Shui Forum II “What Is Missing?”: September 27, 2009 (special invitation only)
“Shan Shui Night”: October 11, 2009, 18:00 – 22:00
Venue: Beijing Center for the Arts at Ch’ien Men 23
No.23, Qian Men Dong Da Jie, Dong Cheng District, Beijing
Sponsor: AUDI
Support: Shan Shui Conservation Center
Artistic director: Weng Ling (founder, Beijing Center for the Arts)
Curatorial consultants: Fei Dawei (curator, art critic)
Prof. Lu Zhi (founder, Shan Shui Conservation Center)
Participating artists: Maya Lin, Wang Jianwei, Zhou Wei
Documentary screening: The 11th Hour, Home
Mother Earth is sick
Humanity is sick
In history unseen, we are in danger
Covet all, lose more…
Where to go for us all?
(August 10, 2009, Beijing) Beginning this September, the Beijing Center for the Arts will consecutively launch two large-scale “Green Art Projects”. “Shan Shui: Nature on the Horizon of Art” opening mid September, will enter nature, exploring what we see, how we think and how can we effect positive change. “3 Dimensional City: Future China”, with curtains rising in late October, will focus on issues of constructing an ideal ecological city for a future China. Integrating interdisciplinary art exhibitions, keynote forums, documentary screenings, and publications, the two annual green projects are poised to arouse attention and thought on the sustainable development of humanity and society, and explore a new direction for contemporary art in terms of its form and content.
Background
It is obvious that the unprecedented crisis human society faces today triggered the creation of BCA’s annual “Green Art Project”. Human civilization, while satisfying our avarice for material abundance, has at the same time undermined our basis for survival: over-reclamation, deforestation, and urbanization have resulted in a “hot, flat, and crowded” earth with a dysfunctional ecosystem. Meanwhile, we are also suffering from a spiritual: heterogeneity, diversity and tradition have all been assimilated by the tidal wave of the globalization of capital, information, science and technology, and immigration. Like animals confined in concrete jungles, we have never been so anxious and wary as we are today; relationships among ourselves become indifferent, whirling in a vicious circle. Where is nature, the home of lives and spirits?
In 2008, a new round of financial crises worldwide has given us a chance to reflect and think. In the same year, the world’s urban population surpassed for the first time that of rural areas.
Since the 1960’s, the “Green Movement” has gradually taken hold almost everywhere: witness the recognition of “Earth Day” and the great number of environmental groups, the initiative of “Bring your own chopsticks”, the acclaimed LIVE EARTH concert series which has attracted the attention of over two billion people, the frequent stressing of “natural conservation” in government documents, and examinations of “Eco-science & technology” in city planning and construction. Talking about nature conservation has become fashionable, even in politics. It seems that the environmental movement wins many battles, but without realizing that it is losing the war: has nature even been more degraded than it is today? And earth’s condition is worsening with unprecedented speed. Is it the failure of the environmentalists, or all humanity? Is there another way that could more efficiently impose enough impact through a thorough change of our behavior?
Therefore, with the two green projects, BCA is attempting to use art to unfreeze humanity’s frozen senses and repressed love towards nature. We hope that a reflection upon the gains and losses from human development can substantially change the way we living.
Shan Shui – Nature on the Horizon of Art
In the past five years, the team at the Beijing Center for the Arts has extensively interacted with international environmental protection organizations. During a dialogue between Ms. Weng Ling (founding director of the BCA) and Ms. Lu Zhi (founder of the Shan Shui Conservation Center), they discussed similar experiences within contemporary art and biological conservation: both require a magnitude of faith, and the impulse to establish and protect. Both face the challenge of dealing with the public, the market and policies. Their consensus about these parallels became the foundation of the “Shan Shui” project.
“Shan Shui – Nature on the Horizon of Art”, held by the Beijing Center for the Arts, opens on September 19, 2009, and will last for one and half month. It is exclusively sponsored by AUDI, and fully supported by the Shan Shui Conservation Center. The serious exhibition, featuring pluralistic viewpoints, and various ways of expression, will present the latest works of several of the world’s top artists and architects: Maya Lin, Wang Jianwei, and Zhou Wei. In addition, the show will include documentary screenings of “The 11th hour”, produced by Leonardo Dicaprio, and “Home”, directed by the renowned French photographer Yann Arthus-Bertrand and co-produced by Luc Besson. The project, comprised of large-scale visual exhibition, documentary screenings, nature conservation plans and a forum, and publications, will not only provide the visitors a full-on sensual experience but also let them think and take part in the discussion about problems facing nature and the ecosystem. We hope that more and more people will devote themselves to the environmental movement. The Nature Conservation Forum will invite a number of prestigious experts and artists, and we hope that the documentations resulting from this interdisciplinary forum will help further the subject’s development.
Based on the principles of facing reality, reflecting essences, practicing scientifically and keeping creative, the exhibition will open up cooperation between China’s contemporary art and its efforts for nature conservation: it is truly an interdisciplinary practice. We sincerely hope to establish a platform for communication with the public – a genuine, open, serious, diverse, and profound platform that will build attention towards and participation in averting ecological disaster.
The nature conservation plan will be carried out by Shan Shui Conservation Center in China's last wildernesses where giant pandas, Przewalski gazelles (one of the most endangered hoofed animals in the world) and snow leopard remain.
AUDI, the exclusive sponsor of the exhibition, has long focused on the systematic protection of the environment as an integral part of its corporate social responsibility. AUDI is also a strong supporter of many environmental protection activities. Since 1970s, AUDI has led the world in developing environmentally neutral automobiles. The first luxury car brand approved by EMAS (the Eco-Management and Audit System), AUDI will keep environmentally sustainable development its enduring corporate philosophy in terms of product research and development, production and brand culture.
Exhibition Introduction
1．Theme Interpretation
Shan Shui -- Nature
Shan Shui, representing “nature”, is widely used in traditional Chinese literature and painting. In the contemporary context, it recalls the natural ecosystem in opposition to urban cities. A simplified explanation of Shan Shui is the “entity of all naturally formed materials and energies; a functioning and structured whole comprising of biotic populations within their living spaces.” The theme focuses on what we see, how we think and how can we make change to protect and respect nature.
Humanity and Nature
The Dialectics say of nature that, “The whole nature lies spread out before us as a system of interconnections and processes.” Tao Te Ching, Chapter 25, says: “The whole universe consists of four elements; one of which is human. Humans should follow the rules of the earth, the earth should follow the rules of heaven, the heaven should follow the rules of Tao, and Tao should follow the rules of nature.” Each life comprises a part of nature. The behavior of humanity has undergone a dramatic change from reverence of nature, to transforming and governing it, dictating and destroying it, and to finally attempting to maintain and conserve it. This relationship is not a simple one-way circle: the same nature that once nurtured us has reacted with riotous revenge. Human and nature are forever contradictory. Exploring this relationship of between humans and nature is the origin of this exhibition.
2．Vision and Mission
- To reproduce the beauty of nature, and explore the Tao within it
- To review the relationship between humanity and nature, and dispel the divisions between natural evolution and human technology
- To demonstrate the love and harmony between humanity and nature
- To investigate the crisis of the earth within the context, spirit and values of science
- To build an idealized version of nature by extensively exploring and expressing diversified interfaces between contemporary art and nature, while integrating scientific experiences with artistic imagination
3．Artists and Artworks Introduction
Maya Lin: “What is Missing?”
Maya Lin is a worldly renowned Chinese-American artist and architect with immense prestige in the international architectural circuit. Her best well-known work is the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, which she designed when she was a 21 year old Yale undergraduate. The 20 years since, Maya Lin’s designs have left her footprints everywhere in US. She was rated as one of the “one hundred most important Americans” and “fifty future American leaders” by Life Magazine, and as one of the hundred most influential Asian-Americans over the last ten years of the 20th century by the A Magazine. In 2005, she was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame.
Lin’s “last memorial” – “What is Missing?” will debut to the world in mid September, 2009; and its Chinese version, incorporating the spatial features of BCA, will be shown during the exhibition of “Shan Shui”. It is a multi-site sound and media installation, committed to commemorate species that are disappearing right before our eyes, questioning the results of our behavior while showing hope. The artist said: “Currently we are experiencing the sixth mass extinction in the planet’s history, and the only one to be caused not by a catastrophic event, but by the actions of a single species—mankind. On average, every 20 minutes a distinct living species of plant or animal disappears at the hands of mankind. At this rate, by some estimates, as much as 30 percent of the world’s animals and plants could be on a path to extinction in 100 years.” Basing on that horrific prospect, Lin has spent many years researching and consulting to accomplish this astonishing work of art. It will create a world of the images and sounds of those species that are disappearing, so that when walking into it, visitors will be able to sensorially feel the ongoing decay of Mother Nature. “What is Missing?” is not only a wakeup call to make people reflect upon their behaviors and be aware of what can be done to help, but also a “greenprint” for a more naturally prosperous future.
Wang Jianwei: “Distance”
Wang Jianwei is one of China’s most influential artists in new media and installation; and the foremost artist in cross-disciplinary experiment and practice. He has a fine grasp of many disciplines, including sociology, philosophy and anthropology. He was the first artist from mainland China who participated “The 10th Kassel Documenta”, and has been invited several times to the world’s major art events, such as the Venice Biennial and the Sao Paulo Biennial, etc. In February 2008, he was awarded the 2008 annual artist grant – the Nobel Prize in the contemporary art world – by the Foundation for Contemporary Art, USA. He is the first Chinese artist to receive the grant.
In this exhibition, by holding a methodological viewpoint, Wang Jianwei will question the phenomenon of how environmental protection has been applied as an ideology or political strategy today. In other words, how can we rationally justify our environmental protection perceptions or the critiques about what we’ve done toward nature in the past? Inspired by “The Monument to the Third International” – a towering symbol of modernism envisioned by Vladimir Tatlin in the 20th century that was intend to dwarf the symbol of capitalism, Eiffel Tower in Paris, but was never built as it was generally considered too expensive and too “capitalistic” by the Communist party , Wang Jianwei will establish an environmental protection monument piercing through the three-story space of BCA by using furniture featuring the so-called “Socialist” style of the 1950’s and ‘60’s. The meaning behind the visual language and the possibility of statement between vision and action, present and future suggested by the work’s origins is to think about the distance between words and actions, form and substance, and ideals and reality.
Zhou Wei: “Natural System”
Zhou Wei is a well-known Chinese architect and artist. Over the past two decades, he has been devoted to theoretic research and practice in the interdisciplinary fields connecting contemporary architecture and art. His installation work of urban city research attracted attention in the Sao Paulo Art Biennial. In 2004 to 2006, he hosted several experimental live art projects that were jointly done by architects and artists, including “Jian • Ge” and “City in Progress – Live Zhangjiang”, which has created a fresh new way of cooperation between contemporary art and public spaces. His conceptual contribution to the design of the China Center to be erected on the remains of Ground Zero will be unveiled in 2013.
The artist discovered that the soaring output of artificial green plants due to increasing demand has already shaped a systematic industry chain for the manufacture of fake plants. It contributes positively to growth in regional GDP and employment. Moreover, with more scientists and designers getting involved in the sector’s research and development, creating better designs recently, fake plants have become more lifelike. By inventing new materials that imitate the principle of green leaves, the industry is able to create “new species”. In his “Natural System”, the artist will focus on the process of “making real”: creating and manufacturing enough of plastic Parthenocissus Himalayana to wrap around the exterior of BCA. It echoes the environmental works of the artist Christo, in response to the Land Art school in the 1960’s and 70’s when environmental movements were emerging all over Europe and North America. The work implies the melancholy contradictory attitude of modern urban life style; and attempts to probe the complicated connections between the concept of environmental protection and economic development.
Turn Mankind’s Darkest Hour to Its Finest！-- “The 11th Hour”
Distributed by Warner Brothers in 2007, and produced and narrated by Leonardo DiCaprio, “The 11th Hour”, is undeniably one of the top environmental documentaries of the day. Based on the agreed fact that global warming is an immediate threat, the film went deep into a series of philosophical discussions, such as what roles have humanity played in the deterioration of the earth, in order to raise the awareness of the public. With contributions from over 50 politicians, scientists, and environmental activists, including former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, physicist Stephen Hawking, Nobel Prize winner Wangari Maathai, and journalist Paul Hawken, the film explained the harm humanity has done to nature and suggested remedies that we can take in our daily life. The visual impact of the film is overwhelming: with astonishing scenes of flood, fire, hurricanes, icebergs cracking, and the shrinking mountains of jungles, it shows that nature is alarming - And that it is time for us to take action.
The Beauty of Earth Depends On You – “Home”
“Home” is a documentary by Yann-Arthus Bertrand, who works both as the photographer and director of the film. Its co-producer is the internationally eminent director, Luc Besson. The film consist of aerial shots of various natural spectacles from over 50 countries: from the Great Barrier Reef in Australia to Kilimanjaro in Kenya, Africa; from the Amazon’s tropical rain forests to Texas’s stretches of cotton fields and China’s industrial city Shanghai. The marvelous landscapes, combined with scores featuring remoteness and sadness, appeal to humanity to save Mother Earth and to live in harmony with nature.
To be expected next:
After “Shan Shui”, BCA will initiate the second “Green Art Project”: “Stereo City: Future China” -- International Architecture and Art Invitational Exhibition to search for solutions of building eco-cities for sustainable development.
【编辑：海英】
