Marshall T. Steel Center @ Ellis Hall Exhibitions: Commodification of Nature

The Marshall T. Steel Center at Hendrix College is seeking artists whose work examines how the commodification of nature contributes to environmental degradation and shapes contemporary perceptions of nature for a year-long group exhibition in Ellis Hall. Submissions should include work that explores how people's experience and consideration of nature in the 21st century is changed by a commodity mindset. Monetization is foundational to capitalism; it makes things commensurable and exchangeable, turning natural resources into objects for profit. This process distances people from the ecosystem of which they depend, diminishing environmental concerns and responsible use of resources. We are interested in work engaging with ecological degradation resulting from capitalist exploitation and consumer culture, environmental ethics, and the privatization and commodification of natural resources. Submitted work ideally comments on the environmental degradation that stems from commodifying the natural world and explores the physical and ethical consequences, raising questions about how this process detaches us from nature and taints our view of it. We are especially interested in works that involve expression of this concept through portrayals of landscapes and environmental scenes, although submissions are not limited to representational approaches. The goal of this exhibition is to promote ecological awareness through ecologically minded works that directly engage with such concepts. The work will be presented to initiate and foster a discussion that encourages the recognition of this perspective in hopes of a new relationship between humans in nature rooted in mindfulness and sustainability.