Song of the Cicada | Honor Fraser Gallery

Jul 11

Climate Impact Report

*Song of the Cicada (Installation view), Honor Fraser Gallery, Los Angeles 2021. Photo: Jeff McLane Studio Inc*

Song of the Cicada   
Honor Fraser Gallery    
Opening Date: 07/17/2021 
Closing Date: 08/21/2021 

Featuring Rebecca Bruno, veronique d’entremont, Joel Garcia, iris yirei hu, Beatriz Jaramillo, Nova Jiang, Elana Mann, Britt Ransom, Debra Scacco
Presented by Air
Curated by Debra Scacco

Project Overview

Song of the Cicada was a group exhibition featuring nine artists examining conscious reemergence. Held at Honor Fraser Gallery in July/August 2021, this exhibition occurred at a particular time in US history. Emerging for the first time from a global pandemic, righteous uprising and insurrection, and set to a backdrop of battle between fact and fiction, the exhibition examined ways to honor the recent experience of personal and collective change in efforts to move forward with a heightened sense of care, empathy and concern for human and more-than-human beings.

Named for the Brood X cicada who hatched by the billions in 2021, Song of the Cicada questions intention and purpose. When these cicadas emerge after 17 years underground, they shed their exoskeleton to reveal a tender and vulnerable body. They physically release a ghost of their former selves to fulfill their purpose. Song of the Cicada featured works discussing how we arrived at this moment, and ways to imagine new futures together.

The nine artists in this exhibition were brought together by Air: a creative research program supporting Los Angeles based climate-focussed artists. Founded by artist and curator Debra Scacco, Air champions artists as strategic thinkers, facilitating relationships between research-based artists and relevant interdisciplinary expertise. The program supported each of these nine artists with a six month residency at Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator and a $13,000 research stipend to study and create work that would further climate research and/or action.

Honor Fraser was an ideal partner not only for their rigorous programming, but also because the gallery had recently experienced a conscious reemergence of its own. Once operating within a traditional commercial gallery structure, the 2016 election caused a reimagining of the role of an art gallery. Honor Fraser no longer exclusively represents artists, is a registered voting site and has shifted programming to be of service to contemporary social and ethical concerns, particularly those occurring in the digital space. Multiple mass shipments and flights were eliminated as the gallery ceased art fair participation. This allowed owner Honor Fraser to become more directly engaged with the materials and physicality of exhibition installation. The gallery's introduction of the sale of NFTs results in a carbon impact that is simultaneously reduced and increased. An interest for the gallery is measuring impact with these changes in mind. However, the multiple variables and opaque practices of energy measurement make this calculation difficult to ascertain. This report is a first step towards clarity.

Given the geographic commonality, detailed emissions will be significantly lower than exhibitions requiring shipping. This report may therefore serve as a suggestion for evaluation in areas more complex to identify, including: emissions of fabrication equipment, origins of locally sourced materials, alternatives to single use packing and shipping materials, and accounting for creative labor.

A core aspect of Air is creating transparency around and remunerating artists for the often unpaid labor of research and creation of art works. In the spirit of the “support people” pillar of Artists Commit, an estimate of collective labor has been included.

This Climate Impact Report has been produced retrospectively. Therefore, this serves as a business-as-usual study for a group of artists and organizations already dedicated to climate action, and keen to transparently and collectively evaluate behaviors in efforts to contribute to building systemic frameworks for change.

Air Climate Policy

Air is dedicated to creative action for the climate crisis. As such, contributing to climate conscious futures is the nucleus of our work.

Air is a conduit for building interdisciplinary, collaborative and long-term relationships between artists and relevant expertise from the fields of community organizing, humanities, sciences and more. We acknowledge that the climate crisis is the result of colonialism and white supremacy. In order to address the climate crisis, we must also challenge these structures of power.

Founded in 2017 by artist Debra Scacco, Air operates from the perspective of co-creation. During residency periods, a shared knowledge bank was co-developed with a focus on local materials and resources, including for barter, trade and reuse. Wherever possible, production operates in a closed-loop system ensuring minimal waste. The local (Los Angeles) focus of Air was designed to minimize travel impacts and to contribute to building lasting community among interdisciplinary thinkers dedicated to climate solutions. Wherever possible events are zero waste and include a donation to a local food bank.

All Air participants including artists, speakers, interns and installers are remunerated for their time. We object to the expectation of free labor that upholds pipelines of privilege. Air champions diverse voices in dialogue with one another in order to expand thinking around climate cause and effect, and to publicly offer resources and actions led by and in support of those most affected.

During the pandemic we held space for artists to be in (virtual) community to reflect on how we may be of service to the moment and beyond. Air also directed a humanitarian aid effort that donated over 125,000 face shields to LA County hospital workers whilst providing paid pandemic employment to over 200 youth. The collaborative project spanning public and private institutions operated on a circular system, turning over 4 tons of plastic waste into 3D printer filament.

Carbon Emissions

Carbon Emissions from Travel: 1.5220 tCO2e

All artists barr one lived locally at the time of exhibition. One round-trip flight from New Orleans to Los Angeles was required for installation.

1.52 metric tons

Calculated using https://www.carbonfootprint.com/calculator.aspx

This is equivalent to:

3,773 miles driven by an average gasoline-powered passenger vehicle
1,682 pounds of coal burned

Carbon Emissions from Shipping: 0.1120 tCO2e

All artworks were local to the Los Angeles area. Therefore we have calculated mileage for local pickups in place of shipping. Works were transported in a 10 foot moving truck that averages 10 mpg. Miles driven totalled 130.4.

Calculated using https://www.carbonfootprint.com/calculator.aspx

This is equivalent to:

273 miles driven by an average gasoline-powered passenger vehicle
122 pounds of coal burned

Carbon Emissions from Energy Use: -0.9432 tCO2e

*Carbon emissions from energy use were reduced by 87% thanks to solar panels installed during the construction of the building.*

This is exhibition required the following equipment:

Video projector
Speakers
iPad featuring looped video
Video monitor
MP3 player
Two works involved five black lights total

The 40 SPR-240-WHT solar panels on the building’s roof are capable of producing approximately 14,769 kWh energy annually. These panels also return excess energy to the grid.

Building energy use: -1330 kWh

This is equivalent to avoiding:

2,340 miles driven by an average gasoline-powered passenger vehicle
1,043 pounds of coal burned

Calculated using https://www.epa.gov/energy/greenhouse-gas-equivalencies-calculator#results

Carbon emissions from Artworks

In order to gain a better understanding of sustainable studio practices, we initially attempted to calculate energy use for the production of exhibited words. However, this quickly became too complex to do retroactively. It did however highlight the complexity of fabrication equipment and the range of resources required by individual machinery. For example, laserjet cutters may require a gas assist in addition to energy; waterjet cutters require garnet and approximately 55g of water per hour of use in addition to energy. The secondary resources required vary from model to model, making an accurate calculation unfeasible.

The attempt to calculate the emissions of the fabrication process raised several questions including:

When material is locally sourced (glass, wood, metal, acrylic. etc) how did that material arrive at the local supplier (air, road, ship)? Where does it originate from geographically? And how has it been produced?
When using machinery to fabricate, what resources do those machines require? (i.e. garnet, water, assist gas, etc)
How do you calculate the emissions of a single artwork when it is part of a larger body of work?
1. Some works in the exhibition belong to a series. For example, while only one piece may be exhibited, its creation is dependent on a series of nine works. Should emissions be calculated for all nine pieces?
How can we, as an industry, create necessary demand for new materials that will replace common materials derived from fossil fuels, such as acrylic and nylon?

Waste Report

Reuse: to be reused for the same purpose as the original use

2 plinths designed by artists that will be reused for exhibition or sale of those specific works
1 plinth that will be reused by the gallery
6 artworks transport boxes
Artwork packaging (bubble wrap, foam, newspaper, fabric)
Video monitor
iPad

Repurpose: to be kept, sold, or donated and used for a different purpose in the future

15 lbs mulch used in artwork was repurposed for a personal garden

Recycle: items placed in the recycling bin

Empty recyclable consumable packaging (aluminum cans, glass bottles)

Returned: items returned to original owner

Projector
Speakers

Consumable: items “consumed” during the exhibition

Food consumed during three day installation period by install team of four people

Landfill: items sent to a landfill

20 ft monofilament
Non-recyclable food packaging (consumed during installation)
Duct tape (quantity unknown)
Painters tape (quantity unknown)
Wall vinyl

Supporting People

Number of artists: 9

Number of works: 37

Media: Drawing (2), Mixed Media (1), Painting (5), Photograph (1), Print (1), Sculpture (24), Video (3)

Additional art workers (fabricators, studio assistants, digital modelers, installers, etc): 24

Estimated labor hours (artwork research and production): 7,052

Song of the Cicada united nine artists already in deep community with one another. Each artist belonged to a previous cohort of three resident artist cycles (2018/2019/2020). When the pandemic struck, Air created a bi-weekly virtual space where all previous and current resident artists were invited to discuss anything at all. This space became incredibly meaningful as the events of 2020 unfolded. This exhibition was not only the first time all nine artists had exhibited together, but also the first time they had the opportunity to meet one another in person.

With this being the first in-person event for many of us, additional care was taken to address individual’s levels of comfort with masks, personal distancing and sharing physical space.

Supporting people is felt through the smallest of acts: offering water, ordering lunch, simply asking if you have everything you need. The gallery team (Jazmine Rivera, Michael Haight, Daniel Beckwith) consistently checked in to ensure our needs were being met.

Collective Action

The detailed review of this project has led the team to reexamine the meaning of sustainable practice. It has facilitated a detailed awareness of our process, and encouraged us to make concrete plans for improvement to which we will hold ourselves accountable.

The creation of this report has led the gallery to:

Develop a climate policy including tangible actions to make the building more efficient and to practice sustainable shipping wherever possible
Explore ways to measure the carbon impact of NFT’s
Acknowledge the labor of art workers by publicly thanking full exhibition teams to the best of the gallery’s knowledge (including studio assistants, installation team, administrative support, etc)

The creation of this report has led Air to:

Articulate a climate policy
Commit to shipping by road whenever possible
Commit to sustainable fabricators where possible
Commit to zero waste events where possible
Offer co-working time to LA organizations who would like to develop a Climate Impact Report

The creation of this report has led artists to:

Question the origins of locally purchased materials
Commit to borrowing / gifting materials wherever possible
Share the work of Artists Commit across networks

Additional Notes/Closing Thoughts

Both Air and Honor Fraser would like to acknowledge the power of completing this report. It has provided us with the necessary framework to conduct a detailed evaluation of current practice, and to prioritize the time and resources required to make improvements.

Credits:

This report was prepared by Debra Scacco based on a template available at Artists Commit. With support from Honor Fraser, Rebecca Bruno, veronique d’entremont, Joel Garcia, iris yirei hu, Beatriz Jaramillo, Nova Jiang, Elana Mann and Britt Ransom. Song of the Cicada at Honor Fraser was curated by Debra Scacco presented by Air.

Exhibition Link: https://airprojects.art/exhibitions-2

Artists Commit