The Earth By project has been the chief reason art-lovers everywhere have flocked to buy the New York-based magazine PLANET since it first hit the shelves over a decade ago. Some of the most important artists in recent memory have stepped up to the
The Earth By project has been the chief reason art-lovers everywhere have flocked to buy the New York-based magazine PLANET since it first hit the shelves over a decade ago. Some of the most important artists in recent memory have stepped up to the title’s remit of communicating their vision of the planet we inhabit, resulting in an archive of images that reflect our sometime frail psychological relationship with the environment. Last month, PLANET put the archive online, with specially commissioned new works from the likes of Ernesto Caivano, Allison Schulnik and Chris Scarborough (ten percent of all proceeds from sales of prints go to environmental charities). AnOther went into orbit with the artistic director of PLANET, Derek Peck, and contributing artist Schulnik, to take a look at our world from a whole new perspective.
What inspired you to create the Earth By project?
Derek Peck: When I was starting PLANET I wanted a concept that would provide a special ending to each issue [all works feature on the last page of the Magazine]. It struck me that it would be amazing if we could get contemporary artists to create their own personal interpretations of Earth. In doing so, I noticed that the motif of working with a circular shape and depicting one's perceptions of Earth through painting and drawing is naturally occurring in the work of important contemporary artists. If you look back at art history, this hasn't really occurred much. But something is clearly happening in the collective consciousness that is making it a necessary shape to explore.
Allison Schulnik: The internet has helped bring our comprehension of the entirety of Earth more within reach than ever before, and I think artists are reflecting that change.
How do you choose the artists you want to contribute?
DP: The goal is to include the most relevant voices and visual styles across the full spectrum. For me, the project won't be complete without one from Yoko Ono, Julian Schnabel and Banksy.
What do you think of the Jim Morrison lyric: "What have we done to the earth / what have we done to our fair sister? / stabbed her with knives in the side of the dawn and dragged her down?" – are we destroying the earth?
DP: It's a brilliant, beautiful, tragic lyric at an important time – what amounted to the dawn of ecological consciousness in the modern era. But the reality is that we're not actually destroying the earth. We're destroying the Earth's capacity to sustain us, which is more like killing ourselves.
AS: It's a beautiful lyric for a sad truth. Politics, lack of education, denial, and pure laziness are the biggest threats to our planet. For the most part, however, I am optimistic humans will inhabit and thrive on this planet indefinitely, which means we'll have to do something soon to find harmony with the Earth and reverse the damage we've already caused.
