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Artist-in-residence argues that art and ecologically utopian thought can cultivate social change

Floating bookshelves,听furniture made from wooden pallets and rows听of small bottles of sand lined up on a wall. This is no carnival funhouse, but a new exhibition at the CU Art Museum.听

Two classes of undergraduate students in the Program in Environmental Design (ENVD) worked with Mary Mattingly, the CU Art Museum鈥檚 2020 artist-in-residence, to design models for an ecotopian library of the future听for the exhibition.听

Students used materials such as artifacts and specimens collected from the College of Engineering and Applied Science; the departments of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and Geological Sciences; the Museum of Natural History; University Libraries and private lenders to build the pieces of artwork.听听

The exhibition, titled听Last Library: Reading Rooms, Bridges and Tools for Integrating Ecological Ethics into Practice,听will run from听Feb. 6 through March 21.

In her artwork, Mattingly combines Earth sciences, ecology and utopian ideas to communicate information about the Earth鈥檚 changing climate and explores the human response to the physical environment. Her art stems from her belief that art and ecologically utopian (or 鈥渆cotopian鈥�) thought can cultivate social change.

鈥淭his exhibition started as an ecotopian library, and that鈥檚 still what I envision as it moves through the world in the future,鈥� Mattingly said.听

鈥淭his library is someplace between utopia and dystopia.听A lot of what you鈥檒l find here is how people are dealing with climate change, whether it鈥檚 forestry, geology or art. When I told the ENVD students about this concept of making a library based on climate change through these different disciplines, I told them to think about the land, the water systems and the buildings. I wanted to add a feeling of wonder. Surreal with a purpose.鈥�

The library has four sections: commons, 鈥渆cosophy鈥� (a philosophy of ecological equilibrium), art and geology. It explores ideas听about art, sustainability and ecology.听Architects, artists, ecologists, farmers, indigenous knowledge holders, museum visitors and philosophers contributed their knowledge and stories to the students to enhance an understanding of 鈥渟hared ecology.鈥�

Cecilia Placidi and Brandon Pappas, both juniors studying architecture, were part of the environmental design group of students who worked on the exhibition. Placidi鈥檚 study emphasis is architecture at the human scale. Pappas is working on a certificate in lighting design.听

The inspiration for the exhibition came from Mattingly鈥檚 work on a barge-based ecosystem in New York City, what she describes as a floating food forest or a plant library.听

For her model for the exhibition, Placidi took a cultural approach and designed an abstract library of a spiral staircase of bookshelves made of wood with glass panels.听

鈥淚 saw the circular motion upward as a slow journey through culture and books,鈥� Placidi said.听

鈥淎rchitecture can be a work of art. Everyone can interpret it in their own way, but it requires you to observe it and be open to the ideas presented. There鈥檚 a quote I really like that says, 鈥楢rt should comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable.鈥� It explains well how everyone can have a different reaction to this exhibit.鈥�

Pappas views the library as a bank of information that would provide people with what he says might be the last chance to work on environmental issues before the planet suffers irreversible damage. For the exhibition, he designed a model based on a library where people can find information on topics ranging from composting to rising sea levels.听

鈥淚 see the听Last Library听as the last chance before it鈥檚 too late to save ourselves and the planet,鈥� Pappas said.听

鈥淚nstead of thinking about the听Last Library听as a piece to an exhibit, I thought about it as a physical eco-focused space made from recycled materials where people could find information around every corner. I also thought about how it could be portable and fit in the back of a truck. I hope people come to the exhibit and contemplate on the ecosophical mysteries in our world.鈥�