Superfund365: Where Toxic Waste Meets Art
by Collin Dunn, Corvallis, OR, USA on 09.25.07
So, what happens when you combine toxic waste and art? It's something that doesn't get done often, but when executed properly -- Ed Burtynsky's work (here, here and TH interview here) is a great example -- it can be very visually stimulating and moving: a deft, simultaneous celebration of our world and condemnation of the damage we've done to it.
A new addition to this group is Superfund365, a website that is profiling (you guessed it) 365 Superfund sites over the course of a year. The Superfund program, managed by the US Environmental Protection Agency to clean up a huge variety of really nasty environmental problems that range from Manhattan to Hawaii, is brought to life in slick, Flash animation-based fun. Art is always best when it can inform, and learning about the real, nasty threats posed by Superfund sites is much more palatable in this artful form.
The project was conceived by New York City-based digital media artist Brooke Singer; check out the site for more details. ::Superfund365 via ::Cool Hunting
