Ecoartivism in Times of Climate Change and Toxic Waste Emergencies: A Theoretical Perspective through the Lens of ziREjA's Photography and Performance Art

The 21st century ecological crisis is a tragic reality. In recent years, contemporary artists have become advocates for climate change solutions and environmental activism, addressing issues like ecological practices, toxic waste, sustainability, loss of biodiversity, and pollution. In this context, this study aims to explore and analyze the photography and performance art of Irene Sanfiel (ziREjA), an award-winning contemporary artist based in Tenerife, a Spanish archipelago located in the Atlantic Ocean. The different sections of my investigation will introduce a selection of theoretical approaches that will attempt to conceptualize some fundamental notions such as eco-art, ecology, and ARTivism (Buckland 2010; Bunting 2014; Cheetham 2013; Andrews 2004; Lippard 2007; Morton 2010).

On the one hand, one of the main focuses of this essay will be her trash art images that include the human figure, different representations of climate change, and trash accumulation's exponential effects, and its related problems. Some of her activist projects' objects of my study, such as "La maga vestida", gather photographs of ziREja wearing the traditional Tenerife folkloric dress in the insular garbage management service. The female subject is always surrounded by a waste mountain that shows the reality of the island and a side that is not often shown to the public. The Spanish artist plays with concepts related to gender, body, tradition, trash accumulation, and responsibility, thus turning her activist work into a powerful weapon against our destructive treatment of the earth. Other photographic projects, such as "itrash coreografías con la basura" and "yesWetrash", play with the image of the body adjacent to trash and sometimes use irony and comedy employing contradictory and oxymoron illustrations to engage the viewers and provoke them to think about the consequences that our actions and decisions have on the future of the planet. On the other hand, another center of attention of this research will be ziRejA's performance art and how it dialogues with ecological and social problems. Her eco-art installations show the disposition of the garbage in different parts of the city to make the spectators reflect on how much waste is produced by an average citizen ("Trash comes back to the city") or make the viewers contemplate the relation between trash and the body through contemporary experimental dance performances ("iTrash"). Ultimately, this investigation will consider how these different uses address environmental issues and connect with her audiences and how they engage with her activist goals.

The entirety of the art pieces analyzed in this study was produced on the famous island of Tenerife, ziREjA's own native land and well-known location of mass tourism and damaging socioenvironmental processes. As the most populous island of the Canary Islands, Tenerife receives about 5 million tourists each year (Andrews 2004) who contribute drastically to the increase of the toxic waste emergency. This large island in the Atlantic Ocean represents perfectly the innovative concept of "slow violence" introduced by Rob Nixon as the violence wrought by climate change, toxic drift, and other environmental emergencies that take place gradually and often invisibly. Nixon highlights the inattention we have paid to the lethality of many environmental crises, and we will see how this approach resonates with ziREjA's activist work.

Historical Overview

Ecological art or Eco-art is a practice in the art world that aims to preserve and repair the different life forms and resources of the earth. This approach to art applies the principles of ecosystems to living species and their environment and it includes wilderness, rural, suburban, and urban locations (Weintraub 2012). It is essential to clarify that this is a distinct genre from Environmental art that instead focuses its attention on functional ecological systems-restoration. This genre takes part in socially engaged, activist, and community-based interventions. Another specific aspect of Ecological art is based on the fact that this practice deals with economics, ethics, politics, culture, and aesthetic values and the way these impact the conditions of ecosystems. Ecological art brings together artists, scientists, philosophers, and activists who work in a collaboratively on restoration...