Researcher(s):
Chelsea Ambrose
ENVS course(s): 400 Initiated: September 2011 Completed: May 2012 Go to project site
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Although the power of art is often underestimated, it works as a powerful medium to communicate ideas and promote change. Many environmental problems result from oppression of less powerful actors in systems of inequality. Ecofeminism challenges logic of domination through promotion of diverse, synergetic, co-habitable communities. While, ecofeminism is traditionally rooted in gender and environmental equality, it can be applied to subvert any oppressive system. I looked at two ecofeminist artists: Jackie Brookner and Ana Mendieta, to explore how their use (or lack thereof) of essentialist ideas in their artwork affected how well their art advocated subaltern rights. Though Ana Mendieta’s work is more famous than Jackie Brookner’s, her strategic use of essentialism ultimately contradicts the ecofeminist movement she supports. Brookner’s community- based art focused on diversity, inclusiveness and individuality of actors. Jackie Brookner’s non-essentialist approach more successfully creates positive social change while adhering to the equality endorsing principles it is based upon.