Bringing together key figures since the 1960s who have created utopian works and inspiring solutions for our ever-changing planet, Radical Nature–Art and Architecture for a Changing Planet (1969–2009) is the current art and design exhibition open until 18 Oct 2009 at London's Barbican Centre. "The beauty and wonder of nature have provided inspiration for artists and architects for centuries. Since the 1960s, the increasingly evident degradation of the natural world and the effects of climate change have brought a new urgency to their responses."
Radical Nature draws on ideas that have emerged out of Land Art, environmental activism, experimental architecture and utopianism. The exhibition is designed as one fantastical landscape, with each piece introducing into the gallery space a dramatic portion of nature. Work by pioneering figures such as the architectural collective Ant Farm and visionary architect Richard Buckminster Fuller, artists Joseph Beuys, Agnes Denes, Hans Haacke and Robert Smithson are shown alongside pieces by a younger generation of practitioners including Heather and Ivan Morison, R&Sie(n), Philippe Rahm architects and Simon Starling. Radical Nature also features specially commissioned and restaged historical installations, some of which are located in the outdoor spaces around the Barbican while a satellite project by the architectural collective EXYZT is situated off site.
The RSA Art & Ecology network have offered a sneak insight into this must see environmental exhibition. If you have been to the show already or are planning on attending any of the forthcoming talks and events do let us know your thoughts!
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