Creating Change: Exploring the Necessity of Artistic Research in Addressing Ecological Crises with Jake Eshelman

Written By Susan Patrice
 

Creating Change: Exploring the Necessity of Artistic Research in Addressing Ecological Crises with Jake Eshelman

Join us via Zoom Wednesday, September 6th, at 7 pm EDT

Join artist & visual researcher Jake Eshelman as he outlines why photography is an essential tool in shaping our ecological behaviors, policies, and attitudes. This dynamic and exploratory conversation will take us on a journey through the philosophy of ecology, photography’s potential as a symbolic language, and Jake’s first-hand experiences behind the camera to demonstrate why the artistic practice itself can be a valid—and invaluable—research method. With Jake as our guide, we will explore how our photographic practices are uniquely able to elegantly and effectively (re)shape worldviews, engage viewers, and encourage ecological problem-solving.

This talk is adapted from a paper for a forthcoming special issue academic journal, which critically considers the unique, generative, and essential ways artists can affect more ecologically oriented decision-making. You can sign up for Jake Eshelman’s studio newsletter (www.jakeeshelman.com/newsletter) to be notified when the full paper is available. 

In preparation, check out Jake’s project (Bio)Diversity Bonds.

Jake Eshelman is a photo-based artist and visual researcher exploring the complex relationships between people, our environment, and everyone we share it with. Through a documentary and intuitive creative practice, his recent creative and academic work investigates interspecies relationships in industry, agriculture, and conservation to trouble the tenets of anthropocentrism, human chauvinism, and rationalisation of “nature.” Eshelman has exhibited his work internationally, most notably at Vantaa Art Museum Artsi in Helsinki, Finland; Contemporary Calgary, Alberta, Canada; The Centre for Research in the Arts, Social Sciences & Humanities at Cambridge University, UK; and Houston Center for Photography in Houston, TX; The Morgan Conservatory in Cleveland, OH; The Corcoran School of the Arts and Design in Washington D.C.. His work is in the permanent collections at Harvard University and the Chicago Design Museum, and has also been published by National Geographic, Simon & Schuster, Texas Monthly, and The World Sensorium / Conservancy, among others. Jake is currently pursuing his MA in Ecology & Spirituality at University of Wales, Trinity St. David. 

You can explore his work online (www. jakeeshelman.com) and via Instagram @jake.eshelman.

 

Jake Eshelman, from Telling of the Bees

Jake Eshelman, from Telling of the Bees

Jake Eshelman, from Telling of the Bees

Jake Eshelman, from Telling of the Bees

Susan Patrice

As the founder and director of Makers Circle, Susan Patrice designs and implements arts-informed community initiatives in partnership with non-arts organizations who want to expand their reach and impact through innovative cross-sector collaboration. Makers Circle has a deep passion for the power of the creative process to encourage adaptive change, expand awareness, and open up new ways of seeing and relating. We believe that the arts and artists should play a major role in community regeneration and non-profit advancement. Web design and digital storytelling are foundational to the work we do with non-profits.

https://kinship.photography/
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