Thinking about the Pennines of England, the high grounds of Europe, the Tibetan Plateau, and the Sierra Nevada: An ecologically based response to Global Warming predictions.
For over forty years, the collaborative team of Newton and Helen Mayer Harrison has been internationally respected as visionary pioneers of the eco-art movement.
Often referred to simply as “The Harrisons”, the pair has worked closely with biologists, ecologists, architects and urban planners to explore ideas and solutions that support both biodiversity and community development. The Harrison's expansive practice embraces a range of disciplines that often casts them in the roles of historians, diplomats, ecologists, investigators, emissaries and art activists.
Presented in an art-viewing context, The Harrisons’ works features extensive mapping, text panels, models, digital animations and audio-visual presentations. Far from dryly didactic, their impassioned works serve as both a meditation on global ecology and also as a futuristic vision for environmental change and recovery.
The Harrisons’ previous projects have focused on watershed restoration, urban renewal, agriculture and forestry issues among others. Global warming has been a central concern in their work since 1974, placing the team years ahead of the curve regarding environmental issues. Broadly exhibited, in 1992, they won the Nagoya Biennale 2nd prize. In 2001, they won the Groenevald prize for doing the most for Holland that year. In 2009, they won the CIWEM Art and Environment prize.
Their boldly visionary projects have often led to changes in governmental policy and have expanded dialogue around previously unexplored issues leading to practical implementations throughout the United States and Europe. They are presently developing a body of work they call the Force Majeure. The University of California at Santa Cruz, where they are Research Professors has enabled the formation of a center for the study of their work entitled the Center for the Study of the Force Majeure. (theharrisonstudio.net)