Printer Friendly Version - Fighting Apocalypse Fatigue, One Exhibit at a Time

Coral Sea II, Courtney Mattison, 2015. Glazed stoneware and porcelain, 17 x 16 ½ x 11 inches. Courtesy of the artist

Anyone who worries about the environment can be forgiven if they’re feeling a little overwhelmed.

One expert, Per Espen Stoknes, puts it this way, that one of the biggest obstacles to fighting climate change might be “between our ears.” News about our rapidly deteriorating environment can be so overwhelming that even those who otherwise might be inclined to take action are instead beset by fear and guilt and shame, leading to passivity and avoidance and feelings of being disconnected from our own actions.

Helping people reconnect and take action is part of what drives Courtney Mattison, one of the artists featured in the exhibit Fragile Earth at the Florence Griswold Museum, 96 Lyme Street, Old Lyme, on view through early September. Mattison creates her massive, colorful, and intricate art installations inspired by threatened coral reefs, drawing upon her background not only in ceramic sculpture and design, but also in marine ecology and environmental studies.

“We protect what we care about and we care about what we know and understand. Art can make us care and then act to protect,” she said in a recent talk at the museum, located on the banks of the Lieutenant River in Old Lyme.

The river behind the Florence Griswold runs for just under four miles through its watershed, collecting any toxins and pollutants along with the water before emptying into the Connecticut River, which then empties into Long Island Sound, which then mingles with the Atlantic Ocean and the other oceans that serve as the home for the coral reefs.

Mattison loves coral reefs so much that she when she is scuba diving, she says, “I enjoy feeling like a coral.”

Mattison’s art, and that of the other artists in the exhibition, certainly can be enjoyed for its own sake. And, it was created by artists who want to help us consider the food we eat, the furniture we buy, and even the sunscreen we use.

In an effort to help museum goers take specific action, Jennifer Stettler Parsons, the curator of the exhibit, developed a small computer display with tips. Parents are advised to help their kids take action by planting a garden or tree, by setting up bird feeders, a birdbath, a birdhouse, or bat house. Eating local and buying local products is encouraged, as is avoiding chemical pesticides when planting a garden. Choosing native species, including nectar- and pollen-rich flowers is a good thing.

Contacting your legislators, letting them know what you think about proposed legislation, and voting for politicians who make the environment a priority is another recommendation. Also on the list is being mindful of sunscreens with oxybenzone and octinoxate, which, science has shown, can be toxic not only to coral reefs but also to algae, sea urchins, fish, and mammals.

Parsons says she’s been intrigued by the connection between art and science for years, and how the combination of the two can encourage people to take positive actions large and small. This was one of her interests even before she started working at the Florence Griswold three years ago. She remembers seeing an exhibit at the Smithsonian that included the work of Jennifer Angus, who focuses on insects and the role they plan in the environment, along with the role humans plan in deforestation, agriculture, and urbanization.

Angus is included in the Fragile Earth exhibit, along with Mattison, and Mark Dion, who works like a scientist to collect, order, and display objects as a commentary and critique on human treatment of the environment. Rounding out the exhibit is James Prosek, who was born in Connecticut, went to school at Yale, and still lives in Connecticut not far from where he grew up in Easton. Prosek’s work is a commentary on the interconnectedness of the ecosystem with a focus on American flora and fauna, inspired by artists and naturalists of the 19th century.

When she first saw the work of Angus, Parsons says, she was particularly drawn to a cabinet of curiosities in Angus’s exhibit. Cabinets of curiosities have long been used by artists, naturalists, collectors, and scientists to display wonders, related objects, and as a way to tell a story. In Fragile Earth, there are several cabinets of curiosities, including the one by Angus, another from the 19th century by Willard Metcalf that was already in the Florence Griswold collection, and one by Mark Dion that includes debris collected along the New England coast in several locations, including Old Saybrook.

“Each of the cabinets are very different and there are elements they share as well,” Parsons says. “With Jennifer, the Victorian era is very important to her work and so she draws on different parts of history in her storytelling and narrative. Her cabinets are really a vehicle for storytelling. By putting an insect in each drawer, each drawer becomes an opportunity to tell a story.”

The Metcalf cabinet includes hundreds of birds eggs, moths, and butterflies from the late 1800s. Some are from the area in and around Old Lyme. Others are from Giverney and other parts of France.

“He was an amateur naturalist and did not always follow the rules,” she says. “Most of the eggs are contained in cigarette boxes. You might not recognize them as cigarette boxes. They are tiny little pink boxes.

“Tobacco was thought to help preserve the specimens,” she says. “Or maybe he was just recycling—you know, Yankee thrift—and taking what you have and being frugal.”

The cabinets of curiosities are like little museums within the museum, she says, along with a way of understanding and documenting what was important in each era represented.

Prosek lives near the neighborhood where he grew up in Easton. He has spent much of his life exploring his curiosity about the fields and ponds near his home, and the animals who live there, along with those he’s encountered in his travels. One species he’s found particularly intriguing is the eel.

“It’s not a beautiful fish, it’s not a popular fish to love, but he spent 12 years studying it and writing a book about it,” she says. “It’s really a case study in the interconnectedness of nature and the environment, and the human relationship with that environment.”

Eels are unusual in that they do the opposite of most other migratory fish. Most fish spawn in fresh water and then go to the ocean. The American eel spawns in the middle of the Sargasso Sea, a region of the North Atlantic Ocean bounded by four currents (the Gulf Stream on the west, the North Atlantic Current on the north, the Canary Current on the east, and the North Atlantic Equatorial Current on the south) to form an ocean gyre.

After adult American eels spawn in the Sargasso Sea, the eggs hatch and the baby eels drift with the ocean currents, sometimes traveling more than 3,000 miles over many years. Between 10 and 30 years later, they migrate back to their birthplace, the Sargasso Sea, to mate and spawn.

“Scientists still have no idea how they do that,” she says. “James points to this as one of the many magical things about nature.”

As remarkable as they are, they are also at a very high risk of extinction in the wild due to climate change, dams that block their way to their mating ground, pollution, parasites, and overfishing.

One wall in Prosek’s part of the exhibit is dominated by a display of eel spears he’s collected, along with those he’s created.

“The wall of spears is just a fraction of his incredible collection. They are from all over the world, Europe, and even here in Connecticut and New London,” she says. “James is fascinated by the spears for a few reasons. They are tools used for hunting and they are very beautiful. They are very sculptural, as you can see in this installation. And it’s interesting to think about how hunters might have harnessed the power of these immense weapons, in streams, rivers, and oceans. It’s not just what it is but how it was used.”

Parsons says she has, in fact, been thinking about her sunscreen lately, more so than usual, along with some of her other habits. She’s tried to stop using cling wrap, and is wrapping her sandwiches in beeswax-treated organic cotton. She’s trying to use less energy. She’s buying her detergent in bio-degradable packs rather than plastic. She’s using organic products instead of those treated with chemicals. She’s avoiding buying furniture made of teak, which sometimes is harvested irresponsibly.

She thinks about the river behind the museum, which long has been one of the main attractions for artists who have lived and worked there. In the same way that the river is tied to the ocean, the artists in this exhibit are tied to the artists who in past centuries relied upon the river for inspiration.

“There are many paintings in our collection of the Lieutenant River,” Parsons says. “This exhibit will make you think about how we treat the river. Even the things we use in our showers filter into the ocean. Those sunscreens contain poisons for ocean life. I never thought about the effects of sunscreen on ocean life before.”

In the same way, most of us might not think about coral reefs or American eels all that often. But it’s all connected. Parsons hopes the exhibit will inspire people to take action to help preserve the Lieutenant River and the Sargasso Sea, the coral reefs, the American eels, and the rest of the environment as well.

“I’ve learned so much from these artists,” she says. “This exhibit really has changed me, and it’s been amazing to hear from so many visitors that they are moved by what they have seen and their ideas.”

$7, must register in advance at FlorenceGriswoldMuseum.org or 860-434-5542 x 111.

Join Prosek for an overview of his art within the context of his lifelong inquiry about how and why we name and order nature. From his perspective as a contemporary artist-naturalist who innovates upon traditional methods, hear about Prosek's interest in the origins of drawing, and his theories about the reasons why humans have felt compelled to represent things in nature. A gallery walk to see his work in　Fragile Earth　will conclude the event.

Featuring Dr. Mark J. Schenker, Senior Associate Dean and Dean of Academic Affairs in Yale College.

$7, must register in advance at FlorenceGriswoldMuseum.org or 860-434-5542 x 111.

Enjoy a discussion regarding this month's Cli-Fi (climate fiction) selection,　Flight Behavior　(2012), a novel by Barbara Kingsolver. Set in southern Appalachia, novel asks the question: "How do we live, and with what consequences, as we hurtle toward the abyss in these times of epic planetary transformation?"

$12, must register in advance at FlorenceGriswoldMuseum.org or 860-434-5542 x 111.

Courtney Mattison inspires the effort to understand how the interconnectedness of waterways and actions that begin in our local streams and rivers ultimately influence the millions of species that inhabit coral reefs. Although Long Island Sound and the Connecticut River estuary region is not known for its coral reefs, reefs none the less exist elsewhere and host unique species. The watershed for Long Island Sound extends all the way into Quebec, Canada, and includes the entire state of Connecticut. What we do in our backyards and communities makes it to the Sound via an enormous network of wetlands and watercourses. We will make the connection between people, local waters, and the health of marine ecosystems, and learn about our very own "Hope Spot" proposed within the estuary region. Note: Featured artist will not be present at this event.

Contemporary artist Mark Dion has pioneered an interdisciplinary approach to conceptual art that combines installation, appropriation, and performance art with scientific methodologies to offer commentary on humans' treatment of the environment. Join Parsons for a discussion of his practice and an insider's look into the collaboration between the Artist and the Museum to create his new cabinet of curiosities, which was assembled with locally-collected trash and historic archeological remnants of the Lyme Art Colony.　Featuring Jenny Parsons, Assistant Curator. Note: Featured artist will not be present at this event.

Featuring Dr. Mark J. Schenker, Senior Associate Dean and Dean of Academic Affairs in Yale College.

$7, must register in advance at FlorenceGriswoldMuseum.org or 860-434-5542 x 111.

Enjoy a discussion regarding this month's climate fiction selection,　Nature's Confessions　(2013), a Young Adult novel by J. L. Morin. In the words of one adult reader, "an interesting and informative, futuristic eco-loving romance novel." "Beautifully written," it makes no apologies for its mission: to save our Planet Earth from self-destructing. A thought-provoking novel that brings the genre of "cli-fi" to young adult readers.

$12, must register in advance at FlorenceGriswoldMuseum.org or 860-434-5542 x 111.

The journals of Darwin and other early ocean explorers are what most people associate with the exotic and "curious" species that inspired the　Origin of Species. Collecting, ordering, and exhibiting natural objects in display chests, or　Wunderkammer　(wonder chests) was popularized in the 16th　and 17th　centuries in Europe. These collections – the precursors to museums, also influenced how Europeans came to view nature, and ultimately the science of understanding it. Lyme Impressionist painter Willard Metcalf also maintained a cabinet of natural objects, as well as field journals, that both inspired and informed the accuracy of his paintings. Mark Dion takes this tradition further by exploring both past and present modes of marrying art and natural history. We will look at the intersections of art and science – and how one informs the other, by examining locally found natural objects worthy of our own wonder chest. Featuring Judy Preston, Local Naturalist. Note: Featured artists will not be present at this event.

Texture Study I, Courtney Mattison, 2019. Glazed stoneware, 58 x 58 x 22 inches, Courtesy of the artist, Photograph by Paul Mutino for the Florence Griswold Museum

Afterglow (Our Changing Seas VI), Courtney Mattison, 2018. Glazed stoneware and porcelain, 7.5 x 8.5 x 1.6 feet. Courtesy of the artist

Afterglow (Our Changing Seas VI) (detail), Courtney Mattison, 2018. Glazed stoneware and porcelain, 7.5 x 8.5 x 1.6 feet. Courtesy of the artist

Old Lyme by Land and Sea (detail), James Prosek, 2019. Acrylic paint on sheet rock, Courtesy of the artist and Waqas Wajahat, New York. Photograph by Paul Mutino for the Florence Griswold Museum

New England Cabinet of Marine Debris (Lyme Art Colony), Mark Dion, 2019. Wood, metal, plastic, and found debris, Lyme Art Colony artifacts, 85 x 48 inches, Courtesy of the artist and Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, New York / Los Angeles, Photograph by Paul Mutino for the Florence Griswold Museum

Cabinet of Curiosities from Silver Wings and Golden Scales, Jennifer Angus. Photograph by Paul Mutino for the Florence Griswold Museum

Abstract Nature, James Prosek, 2009. Eel stamped with sumi ink on paper, 96 x 120 inches, with installation of Prosek’s collection of hand-forged eel spears (2019) and Burned bowl with Lemon Egg (2016), Courtesy of the artist and Waqas Wajahat, New York, Photograph by Paul Mutino for the Florence Griswold Museum

View of Fragile Earth: The Naturalist Impulse in Contemporary Art at the Florence Griswold Museum, showing James Prosek, Old Lyme by Land and Sea, 2019. Courtesy of the artist and Waqas Wajahat, New York, with Courtney Mattison, Afterglow (Our Changing Seas VI, 2018. Courtesy of the artist, Photograph by Paul Mutino for the Florence Griswold Museum

Scala Natura, 2, Mark Dion, 2008. Offset color lithograph, 50 1/2 x 40 inches. Courtesy of the artist and Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, New York / Los Angeles

Artist’s Bedroom from Silver Wings and Golden Scales (detail), Jennifer Angus. Photograph by Paul Mutino for the Florence Griswold Museum