Only a few months ago, on the occasion of the Venice Music Biennale, Brian Eno (Woodbridge, 1948) was awarded the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement. While last April 20th the British composer and artist made his debut at the Barbican in London with the experimental biopic (Eno) directed by Gary Hustwit, who worked on hundreds of hours of footage, also making use of artificial intelligence, to render a portrait as as complete as possible by a decidedly multifaceted author. Inventor of ambient music, producer of bands such as Roxy Music, Talking Heads and soloists such as David Bowie, the artist has combined the publication of over forty albums and the live dimension with exhibitions and installations all over the world. The latest dates back to summer 2023, when Eno arrived in Trento with two “soundscapes”, in dialogue with Castello del Buonconsiglio and Castel Beseno.
Brian Eno and his commitment to defending the planet
And his prolific approach to art has always been followed by an active commitment to supporting social causes. For this reason it is not surprising to find him in the role of supporter and animator of the collective newborn Hard Art, which brings together artists, scientists and activists to react to the climate crisis and humanitarian emergencies caused by the collapse of politics and diplomacy. The declared objective is to promote interdisciplinary collaboration that can trigger a change of direction, starting from a cultural break with the pre-established system. A hope that, however, is based on consolidated previous experiences: Eno founded the charity platform in 2021 Earth Percent, calling together musicians intending to provide their contribution against climate change, paying a percentage of their respective proceeds to the organization, which in turn is in contact with organizations committed to the cause. “We can and will make the change”, confidently recites the motto of Earth Percent, which aims to raise 100 million dollars by 2030.
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Hard Art: the collective of artists and scientists
Hard Art aims to adopt the same approach, starting, however, from the crisis of democracy: “Until we address the crisis of our democracy, we will not be able to make the bold and courageous moves needed to address the climate crisis.”, explains Eno. “If we don’t try to involve everyone in this process we can’t expect people to take up the challenge”. Therefore, based on the model of popular assemblies, Hard Art would like to demonstrate that speaking different “languages” can prove to be an advantage when all the parties involved are committed to reaching a common goal. Therefore the collective also involves university professors, such as Graham Smith, religious leaders, philosophers. In addition to the creatives who have already joined in good numbers, from visual artists such as Jeremy Deller, Cornelia Parker and Gavin Turk, to the writer Jay Griffithsto the designer Es Devlinto the director Asif Kapadia. In total, the collective today has around 150 members. All together to go beyond individual genius, determining a change in “scenario”, what Eno defines – coining a neologism – “scenius”, that is, collective genius.
Hard Art. The activities of the collective
The group has actually been working together since the end of 2022, meeting a couple of times a month in Brian Eno’s recording studio. And it has already created a manifesto in the form of a fanzine: The Work WE Need to Do. Among the first organized activities, however, stands out Fête of Britain (staged in Manchester last February), an event that celebrates imagination in all its forms. In the meantime, the synergy with the new online platform has developed Metalabelco-founded by Yancey Strickler, former CEO of Kickstarter: on Metalabel, Hard Art will publish and share its contents and upcoming activities.
Livia Montagnoli
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