Edited by: Shauhrat S. Chopra, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
Reviewed by: Nils Meyer-Kahlen, Aalto University, Finland
This article was submitted to Human-Media Interaction, a section of the journal Frontiers in Psychology
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Previous studies have highlighted the communicative limitations of artistic visualizations, which are often too conceptual or interpretive to enhance public understanding of (and volition to act upon) scientific climate information. This seems to suggest a need for greater factuality/concreteness in artistic visualization projects, which may indeed be the case. However, in this paper, we synthesize insights from environmental psychology, the psychology of art, and intermediate disciplines like eco-aesthetics, to argue that artworks—defined by their counterfactual qualities—can be effective for stimulating elements of environmental consciousness. We also argue that different artworks may yield different effects depending on how they combine counter/factual strategies. In so doing, we assert that effective artistic perceptualization—here expressed as
There is something of a contradiction in writing about artistic visualization: where common wisdom suggests that artworks can enhance audiences' receptiveness to climate science (as per Roberts,
artistic visualizations of climate data that primarily translate facts into visual forms are largely restricted to the communicative objective of fostering environmental literacy (Section 2.1);
art is defined by its counterfactual qualities, and so cannot straightforwardly convert climate data into perceptual forms; instead, it makes data perceptible through
artworks that deliberately invoke factual and counterfactual strategies in mutually relevant ways (defined here as “data art”) may be able to support environmental consciousness (Section 3.1); and
there are myriad ways of combining these strategies across media, which may yield different outcomes, so the shortcomings of individual works do not necessarily reflect the absolute potential of all art (Section 3.2).
We apply the term “counterfactual” to communicative strategies that express what is not the case (Lea and Bradbery,
We draw on insights from diverse, interdisciplinary fields, including environmental psychology (Zelezny and Schultz,
Currently, the field of climate science communication operates on the “deficit model” (Hulme,
Though these critiques are valid, they constrain artistic visualizations within a narrow window of perceptualization akin to infographics. Take Laurie Frick's
Contra the deficit model, scholars in various fields have acknowledged that obstacles to pro-environmental action exceed a lack of awareness (Van Liere and Dunlap,
Research on the disconnects between pro-environmental sentiment and action has yielded the multi-faceted concept of environmental consciousness (Van Liere and Dunlap,
Where artistic visualizations support the cognitive dimension of environmental consciousness, fine art movements support affective and dispositional objectives,“exchanging ‘matters of fact' for ‘matters of concern”' (Demos,
The intrinsically counterfactual (or subjunctive; Zelizer,
Artists facilitate intersubjectivity in multiple ways, and at various registers. Most fundamentally, they instate a shared cultural logic/vocabulary that can be used to broach difficult topics (see, for example, Funk,
Some artists strive for emotional communication, or the direct depiction of subjective states that viewers may access through cognitive mindreading and stylistic analysis. Such is the case for works of literary fiction, which have been shown to improve readers' Theory of Mind, empathy, and social cognition over time (Oatley,
Insofar as artworks provide access to empowered, belonging, or empathic attitudes, they may nurture what Geller (
Of course, not all artworks succeed in rendering these states, and those that do are only temporarily effective (Schneider-Mayerson et al.,
Pursued separately, both artistic visualization and artistic affectivization have important limitations. Where the former eschews ambiguity and overlooks the background of experiences and perspectives that inflect reasoning (Seevinck,
Data art might take a page from longstanding discussions about the factual and counterfactual dimensions of photography, wherein Barthes described a “third meaning” beyond “literal and figurative meaning” (Zelizer,
The deliberate interpolation of factual and counterfactual strategies reveals the potential fruitfulness and
It is essential, though, that the given counter/factual strategies do not simply coincide, as a lack of meaningful relation between them could yield the (undesirable) ambiguous state of confusion. Instead, combinations and permutations of counter/factual strategies should be explored early on, possibly as a constitutive component of artistic genre. This would pave the way for studies that identify genre-specific blends of fact and counterfact and their relation to different kinds of ambiguity/liminality, or studies that examine whether different media afford different strategies and liminal states (see, for instance, McLuhan,
Answers to these questions could elucidate a more formal and testable conceptual model that could help artists (and other actors) to plan their communications. At present, they suffice to dismantle the notion that “art” is a homogeneous category whose objects are commensurable with each other. Though we have attempted to provide some theoretical basis for comparison, it can only be partial and contingent, requiring further appraisal of works according to their particular qualities and contexts.
In this paper, we have drawn upon psychological models of environmental consciousness and literature on the cognitive benefits of art and fiction to illustrate how various combinations of factual and counterfactual strategies might align—or create tension between—constituent dimensions of environmental consciousness (as distinct from other objectives of climate communication), thereby creating unique routes to potential environmental action. Moreover, we have outlined differences between three kinds of artistic perceptualization: artistic visualization, artistic affectivization, and approaches that combine the two (data art). Where the first informs and the second moves (as per Aesthetic Trinity Theory; Konečni,
The perspectives presented here could be developed in several ways, both by extending the inquiry into new fields and by following it into new theoretical directions. For example, neuroaesthetic studies could supplement phenomenological research and psychological measures of environmental consciousness to empirically map connections between constructs. Alternatively, research could expand on specific person/liminal states, such as by exploring the connections between optimism, active caring, and intersubjectivity. On the philosophical side, researchers could investigate the possibility of an environmental morality within environmental consciousness, insofar as it conceptually extends empathic thinking and agency to non-human, non-animal others. This includes studies of artworks that include non-human animals within their audience, such as Jim Nollman's musical performances. Politically-oriented studies could examine the implications of this argument within ongoing discussions of rationalizing/affectivizing the public sphere (Zelizer,
RB undertook the literature review, developed the argument, and wrote up the conceptual portions of the paper. TM helped to refine and shorten this argument, sourced and analyzed the examples, and wrote up the illustrative portions of the paper. KL corrected the psychological aspects of the argument and helped to pare down the material. EA managed the project's development. All authors agree to be accountable for the content of the work. All authors contributed to the article and approved the submitted version.
The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.
All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article, or claim that may be made by its manufacturer, is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.
The Supplementary Material for this article can be found online at:
1See
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3Blue ring = male, orange ring = female, warm colors/larger circles = higher emission foods/outputs, cool colors/smaller circles = lower emission foods/outputs, etc.
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5Where a photograph departs from the real by isolating information and suspending time (Zelizer,
6Consider the fairytale-esque work of Sally Mann (photographer) and Yoshitaka Amano (illustrator), or the politically irreverent work of Andres Serrano (photographer) and most political cartoonists.
7Though Salvatore et al. (
8See, for instance,
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12Prominent examples outside of environmental art include Velasquez's