Ann Marie Auricchio's recycled materials installation, seen during the While Linen Night opening reception of the 'Remember Earth?' group exhibition at the Contemporary Arts Center.
James Flynn's ultraviolet installation, part of the 'Remember Earth?' group exhibition at the Contemporary Arts Center.
Julie Glass’ twisted piece of iron fence found near the collapsed 17th Street Canal floodwall after the 2005 flood, part of the 'Remember Earth?' group exhibition at the Contemporary Arts Center.
Theodora Eliezer's photo "Soft Decay, Tiger,' part of the 'Remember Earth?' group exhibition at the Contemporary Arts Center.
Kristen Meyers 'Cyclone,' composed of dry cat's claw vine, is part of the 'Remember Earth?' group exhibition at the Contemporary Arts Center.
DeShawn Oravetz's sculpture 'Streetball,' seen during the White Linen Night opening reception of the 'Remember Earth?' group exhibition at the Contemporary Arts Center.
Charles Gudatis turned a chunk of termite-eaten timber into a trophy, which he cheekily titled 'Formosan termite achievement award for invasive species.' part of the 'Remember Earth?' group exhibition at the Contemporary Arts Center.
The While Linen Night opening reception of the 'Remember Earth?' group exhibition at the Contemporary Arts Center, with sculpture titled 'Area Rug (Home is a Fleeting Feeling I Am Trying to Fix), bottom left.
Pippin Frisbie-Calder’s mural 'The Art of Birding,' part of the 'Remember Earth?' group exhibition at the Contemporary Arts Center.
Ann Marie Auricchio's recycled materials installation, seen during the While Linen Night opening reception of the 'Remember Earth?' group exhibition at the Contemporary Arts Center.
Julie Glass’ twisted piece of iron fence found near the collapsed 17th Street Canal floodwall after the 2005 flood, part of the 'Remember Earth?' group exhibition at the Contemporary Arts Center.
Theodora Eliezer's photo "Soft Decay, Tiger,' part of the 'Remember Earth?' group exhibition at the Contemporary Arts Center.
Kristen Meyers 'Cyclone,' composed of dry cat's claw vine, is part of the 'Remember Earth?' group exhibition at the Contemporary Arts Center.
It’s hard to sugar-coat this. The “Remember Earth?” exhibit at the Contemporary Arts Center is a failure. In general, the art itself isn’t that bad, though most of it isn’t anything to write home about. But the concept is so wrongheaded that the show, which is supposed to have something to do with green advocacy, has zero credibility.
The plan was simple. The CAC invited any interested Gulf Coast artist to apply to be part of an ecology-themed group show, then hired a guest curator to select the best of the bunch, then scattered the 54 artworks throughout the two-story exhibition space.
And there are a few individual pieces that are thought-provoking and worth seeing.
But come on, didn’t anybody ask themselves if it was odd to conduct an art show meant to “address our environmental crisis in cultural terms,” inside a cavernous, air-conditioned building … in August? Isn’t wanton fuel consumption part of the problem?
The While Linen Night opening reception of the 'Remember Earth?' group exhibition at the Contemporary Arts Center, with sculpture titled 'Area Rug (Home is a Fleeting Feeling I Am Trying to Fix), bottom left.
And that’s not the only thing. The exhibit is mostly an exercise in hand-wringing and finger-wagging about the state of the planet. But not one artist in the whole shebang proposed any solution.
We don’t need more warnings. Who doesn’t already know about climate change, pollution, mass extinction and all the scary implications? What we need are answers.
Isn’t some artist, somewhere, producing interesting, hand-made grocery bags to reduce our reliance on plastic? Isn’t some artist building post-modernist compost bins, or avant-garde birdhouses, or expressionist butterfly feeders, or conceptual rain catchers, or anything at all that might actually help the situation? Even a little bit?
Of the 54 artists, there are several who used found objects or recycled materials to produce their works of art – cat’s claw vine, plastic foam packing material, paper labels. Bravo. That’s green thinking.
Most everybody else used raw materials and unrecoverable energy to produce products, no different than any oversized pickup truck manufacturer.
Charles Gudatis turned a chunk of termite-eaten timber into a trophy, which he cheekily titled 'Formosan termite achievement award for invasive species.' part of the 'Remember Earth?' group exhibition at the Contemporary Arts Center.
Before we proceed any further, let’s take a moment to acknowledge that “Remember Earth?” does include a few cool artworks.
Thumbs up to Charles Gudatis, who turned a chunk of termite-eaten timber into a trophy, which he cheekily titled “Formosan termite achievement award for invasive species.”
Quintron’s “Weather Warlock,” a meteorological musical gizmo made of plumbing pipe that actually recorded the sounds of Hurricane Ida, is brilliantly wacky.
James Flynn's ultraviolet installation, part of the 'Remember Earth?' group exhibition at the Contemporary Arts Center.
Theodora Eliezer’s photographs of plush dolls sprouting mushrooms and mildew are both forbidding and cuddly.
James Flynn’s installation of black-light, op art mandalas was like a trip back in time to the world’s most elegant head shop. Though, honestly, what it had to do with the tray of corn in the middle of the room was a little tough to figure out.
Julie Glass’ twisted piece of iron fence found near the collapsed 17th Street Canal floodwall after the 2005 flood might be the most dramatic object or image in the show, though the map on the base is an unnecessary distraction.
Pippin Frisbie-Calder’s mural 'The Art of Birding,' part of the 'Remember Earth?' group exhibition at the Contemporary Arts Center.
Pippin Frisbie-Calder’s mural in the CAC’s five-story atrium featuring dozens of detachable drawings of threatened songbirds from the New Orleans area is beautiful and makes something of an impact. That's because it includes simple, direct advice on how to help preserve our feathered friends, such as “plant native species” and “put a bell on your cat.”
Frisbie-Calder’s mural is one of the few instances in “Remember Earth?” in which there’s any call for personal responsibility, which is almost entirely absent in the rest of the show.
The CAC and the 54 artists under its air-conditioned roof aren’t alone, of course. It’s the way of the world. Complaints about the condition of the environment are as common as English sparrows. People who recognize that they are part of the problem and make sacrifices to do something about it are as rare as ivory-billed woodpeckers (note: I do not consider myself among the woodpeckers).
Collectively speaking, the message of the “Remember Earth?” show is that we in the art community want somebody else to put a bell on their cat, because it’s the right thing to do. But not us, not our cat.
Doug MacCash writes about art. Contact him at dmaccash@theadvocate.com.
DeShawn Oravetz's sculpture 'Streetball,' seen during the White Linen Night opening reception of the 'Remember Earth?' group exhibition at the Contemporary Arts Center.
WHERE: The Contemporary Arts Center, 900 Camp St.
WHEN: Closed Tuesday. All other days, 11 a.m. to 5. Free to Louisiana residents each Sunday, and on Saturdays through August. Through Sept. 25.
ADMISSION: $10, students and seniors $8, free to kids under 12
INFO: Visit the CAC website
Email Doug MacCash at dmaccash@theadvocate.com. Follow him on Instagram at dougmaccash, on Twitter at Doug MacCash and on Facebook at Douglas James MacCash.
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