28 Days of Sustainability: environmental art, emotion, and action

Written by Chaeyeon Lim, Student Ambassador and MSC Human Computer Interaction Student 

Introduction

My name is Chaeyeon, and I’m currently studying Human-Computer Interaction at UCL Interaction Centre. I’m interested in understanding how engagement with artwork influences pro-environmental intentions through interactive exhibition design. Recently, I had the opportunity to put theory into practice by organizing "ArtScape: Connecting Art, Data, and Sustainability," an interactive environmental art exhibition as part of UCL's 28 Days of Sustainability initiative.

The exhibition transformed the Student Center Mezzanine into a space where art meets environmental awareness. ArtScape invited visitors to engage with thought-provoking environmental artwork and create data visualisations on how art and emotion perception can influence pro-environmental behaviour against plastic pollution.

"Fossil Remains": fossils of today and tomorrow

The exhibition featured "Fossil Remains," an installation by Dutch artist duo Driessens & Verstappen that draws parallels between ancient marine fossils and contemporary plastic waste. Originally exhibited in the St-Laurens Church in Alkmaar, this installation creates a powerful dialogue between natural history and our modern consumption patterns by juxtaposing Belgian bluestone formed 345 million years ago with today's plastic materials.

What makes this work particularly striking is its materiality – the physical presence of ancient stone containing countless fossils of shells, corals, and sea sponges alongside representations of our disposable plastic culture. Visitors could directly engage with these representations, creating a tangible connection to geological time scales and the persistence of human-made waste.

As artist Erwin Driessens explained, "What we actually want is for people to think about the state of the world and how that will develop in the future. The fossil fuels and fossil materials that we use end up in nature and the sea. Perhaps in the very distant future, fossils will be found that represent our time with all kinds of plastics."  This materialisation of ecological crisis invited visitors to confront what environmental researchers describe as the collapse of distinction between natural history and human history. This is often referred to as the Anthropocene, our current era during which human activities have become geological forces. 

Visualising visitor experience: mapping emotions and action

The interactive part of the exhibition was designed to explore how different emotional experiences with artwork might inspire various sustainability actions. I developed an Emotion & Readiness Grid where visitors placed color-coded notes indicating both the intensity of their emotional response and their readiness to take environmental action. 

As visitors engaged with the material reality of plastic pollution through art, their emotional responses varied widely – from distress and guilt to hope and determination. Some visitors interpreted the work through a historical lens, and others through a consumer responsibility and waste. One visitor reflected, "I think it's a visual reminder of our legacy. The idea of fossils is really interesting as it forces us to confront the material remains of our own civilisation and what people think of our actions in the future."

Environmental dialogue with diverse perspectives

Throughout the day, ArtScape facilitated conversations about environmental responsibility, directly acknowledged humanity's central role in both creating and potentially addressing ecological crises. The diversity of visitors’ responses captured on the grid demonstrated how a single artwork can generate multiple interpretations and emotional reactions, all potentially valuable for motivating environmental action. 

Artists also gained valuable insights from this exchange. As Erwin Driessens noted, "I'd be interested to know how diverse the effects of an artwork can be, because I aim for multi-interpretability, which is another way of saying that the artwork is a thing on its own, with its own validity."

By resisting fixed meanings, the artwork created a more inclusive space for engagement, inviting diverse audience members to participate in environmental dialogue regardless of their prior knowledge or convictions. The installation didn't tell visitors what to think about plastic pollution; rather, it created conditions for them to develop their own interpretations and responses.

Environmental imagination and action with art

The ArtScape exhibition experimented with an approach to environmental communication that recognizes the power of aesthetic experiences to drive behavioral change. By connecting art, data, and sustainability, it opens new pathways for engaging communities in environmental action.

By designing interactive experiences that engaged with materiality, emotion, and human impact while respecting the artwork's open-endedness, I found that art can help audiences process complex environmental realities while fostering the collective imagination needed to envision more sustainable futures. My research will continue to explore how environmental art can drive community engagement and behavioural change with our most pressing ecological challenges.

This blog was written by one of our students as part of 28 Days of Sustainability 2025. You can read more about this campaign here:

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