ART Canada

Creative placemaking and public art strategies for environmental resilience

In the midst of an environmental crisis, public art needs a sustainable reboot. As the needs of the public respond to climate change, public art should shift to reflect climate justice and other environmentalist principles. However, while eco-friendly messages abound in art, sustainable practices are less common. Many default modes of artistic production are interwoven with unsustainable models of consumption, ignoring the finite nature of our planet’s resources. If public art is to promote environmentalist messaging, then it should also practice what it preaches, modeling sustainable creativity for an eco-friendly future. 
Read the full article here

In this very interesting interview, Manchester-based Lefteris Angelidis and host James Dickson discuss how social media is driving change in events’ visual identity. They discuss the likely impact of the Metaverse, creativity and the structure/longevity of set items.

The sustainability question spawns conversation about branding solutions for ‘off the shelf’ products, bean bags and recycling polystyrene, transport – vehicle cost and emissions – and electric vans’ reach limitations.

They go on to talk about LED screen technology, 3D mapping, creativity versus budgets, planning, Beyonce and more.

I completely agree with Lefteris that events should be fully sensory experiences. Audiences really appreciate full immersive experiences.

He mentions sustainability driven culture where it’s really important that we are not just throwing away and discarding materials after one use and how much you are working with your clients now on that balance between sustainability and the desire from the client to actually evolve and do something different every year.

The trend that we’re seeing at the moment is that eco-friendly and sustainability is becoming a must for event organizers. A lot of clients come to them because they don’t want somebody to make them something bespoke and then after that they throw it in the garbage. I love that this company is constantly scouring Facebook Marketplace and other places to find items that they can add to their full warehouse of different themes that they utilize again and again then also refurbish them. It’s a massive benefit for companies to be able to go somewhere and choose something off the shelf because they know that they are playing their part to help the planet. Other things they do like repainting and reusing carpets and fabrics with water based paints are a fantastic idea.

Lefteris also spoke about creating smaller VIP experiences. For a Beyonce concert event, they created a special VIP area in front of the stage where it looked like you’re going to a club in the 70s with the full disco theme and bar. They make something exclusive and only available to a small amount of people. There seems to be a trend toward smaller event where people can socialize with their friends and have more interaction.

It’s worth having a listen to this full 30 minute interview loaded with interesting and inspiring information.

Visual Architects are a company based in the UK who transform spaces into experiences.
“Creative event décor and fit-out solutions, taking the ordinary to the extraordinary. From off the shelf party décor and prop hire to bespoke design, custom decor and exclusive prop builds, we can bring any vision to life and any dream to reality! Whether you are an event, festival, wedding, restaurant, nightclub or bar our team is here for you.”
Visual Architects website

Article: Visual Architects: Exploring visual identity

Direct link to Podcast interview

Ann-Marie Cheung
Visual Alchemist & Creative Experience Guide

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