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Tackling the growing global stockpile of artworks and art’s potential drain on the environment, numerous artists are using sustainable materials and methods (often turning rubbish into something beautiful), or creating work that will only last for a limited period of time and then return to nature. The latter type of work continues to be admired in photographs.

Reducing the Stockpile
The problem of art being stockpiled was first discussed in the 1970s. According to Biennale de Paris’ online counter, 1,685,740 artworks are created globally every day, amounting to almost 20 works per second.

The question is: Should artists expect their work to last forever? The traditional view of eternal preservation suited traditional artworks that took years to paint, whereas many modern artists intentionally create temporary pieces. Case in point is the gold-leaf fresco by Richard Wright, which won the 2009 Turner Prize. Nonetheless, not all temporary artworks are created using eco-friendly methods and materials.

Artistic Justification
It is impossible to generalize about which artworks should and shouldn’t be preserved, as it all depends on the purpose and aims of each artist, the individual piece of work and the cultural value the community and collectors attach to it. While one artist might intend his leaf sculpture to rot in the ground after being photographed, another may have spent a year creating a masterpiece from toxic-free paints on sustainable canvas, which he may hope will last a lifetime or more.

If we’re picking at artists, who create imaginative objects of outstanding wonder and beauty and still struggle to make a living out of it, surely they will turn around and point the finger at our stockpiling of material goods like clothes, furniture and electrical gadgets, all of which drain the planet’s resources and get used less than they should to justify their existence. Perhaps we should continue to preserve artists’ creations, to spread their meaningful messages and allow their creators to gain recognition for their hard work.

Green Materials and Methods
A rule that should suit all artists is to use green materials and methods, regardless of whether they want the end product to be preserved or not. Art can be sustainable in two ways: it can be a form of recycling—turning rubbish into something beautiful and saving it from a landfill—or an arrangement of natural materials that can be reclaimed by nature once the creation has been photographed.

Examples Abound
Many of the artworks commissioned for the Artists Taking the Lead project, being readied for the London 2012 Olympics, will be eco-friendly. “The Boat Project” by Lone Twin, for example, will use wooden items of personal relevance donated by the public to construct a boat. This will sail along Britain’s southeast coast during June 2012 and stage four celebratory arts events.

During Australia’s Sustainable Living Festival in 2009, a mosaic was created using recycled materials from visitors, utilizing everything from buttons to bottle caps. The February 2010 festival will be held in Melbourne with the theme “Get Ready for the Safe Climate Decade!”.

An online showcase of environmental artwork from around the globe can be found at greenmuseum.org. It includes some that no longer exist beyond the computer screen, due to their temporary nature. Artworks constructed from recycled materials include Bob Johnson’s “RiverCubes” (Pittsburgh), Steven Siegel’s paper stacks (US), Trashformaciones’ washbasin sculptures (Spain), and Shai Zakai’s installations made from concrete found poured into a creek near Beit Shemesh, Israel.

Stockpiling artworks made using sustainable materials and methods wouldn’t harm the environment, so the stockpile would no longer be a problem. Using sustainable methods and materials also enables artists to deliver a green message beneath the main statement of the artwork. In art, there’s always more than meets the eye. Let’s hope that at least some of that subtext is green.

Additional resources:
Writings on Sustainable Art

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