“Fragility and Resilience: Art, Ecology, and our Contemporary Moment” with Sayler/Morris, Rachel Sussman and Dr. Scott Manning Stevens

July 27, 2021

Join artists Sayler/Morris, Rachel Sussman, and Dr. Scott Manning Stevens as they discuss the connections between art, ecology, and climate change. Sussman’s photographic series The Oldest Living Things in the World and Sayler/Morris’s video installation Eclipse are included in “Cross Pollination: Heade, Cole, Church, and Our Contemporary Moment,” on view at the Thomas Cole National Historic Site and Olana State Historic Site. Through their artwork, both Sayler/Morris and Sussman examine the fragility of life and the question of balance between humans and the natural world. This conversation will aim to bridge the gap between artistic practice and scientific thought, a theme in Cross Pollination. During this conversation, all of the artists will be in conversation with Dr. Scott Manning Stevens, Associate Professor and Director of Native American and Indigenous Studies at Syracuse University.

The panel will be co-moderated by Cross Pollination Co-Curators Kate Menconeri, Curator / Director of Collections & Exhibitions at Thomas Cole National Historic Site, and Will Coleman, Director of Collections & Exhibitions at The Olana Partnership.

Rachel Sussman is a Brooklyn-based artist whose critically acclaimed, decade-long project “The Oldest Living Things in the World” combines art, science, and philosophy. Susannah Sayler and Edward Morris (Sayler/Morris) use diverse media to investigate and contribute to the development of ecological consciousness. Sayler/Morris are the founders of Toolshed, housed at Basilica Hudson, and the Canary Project.