The Sceptical Ecologist: Gianni Sassi and Pollution, 1972

Abstract

This article examines a little-studied exhibition, Pollution, envisioned by Gianni Sassi, the leftist intellectual affiliated with the interdisciplinary Fluxus network, in the autumn of 1972. Pollution (for a new aesthetics of pollution) was one of a series of experimental cultural events organised by Sassi during the post-war period. The starting point of the exhibition is Limits to Growth, the report of a study carried out by a team of scientists from MIT (Massucchetts Institute of Technology). Commissioned by the Club of Rome, the study sought to understand the situation of humanity, outlined by various studies as a real crisis. Focusing on one of the elements of the report (the deterioration of the environment), this event, part exhibition, part protest, brought together a diverse group of collaborators from an artistic and cultural environment. Curated by Daniela Palazzoli and Luca Maria Venturi and installed in the heart of Bologna, Pollution offered a provocative aesthetic response to emerging ecological thinking, presenting the contributions of twenty-four artists and pop singer Franco Battiato to address the issue of environmental destruction. This historical example examines an early moment in the history of ecological art practice to explore how artists and curators responded to the growing awareness of pollution and how they reflected on the possibility of alternative models. What are the lessons learned from the way the relationship between art and ecology was conceived by Pollution (1972)? What, if any, role should the arts play in radical change and in the face of global crisis? Finally, what is the legacy of Pollution (1972) for the contemporary debate?