ABSTRACT
The separation of art and labor producing garbage is indexed by corporate art sponsors. Big polluters make cynical use of art in order to greenwash their public image. Absent external evaluation of the social composition of counter-BP/Shell art world participants, the nature of old, middle-aged, and new media coverage, and subsequent shifts in public opinion and reactions from lawmakers, it's difficult to be sure about the impact of such spectacles. A complex philosophical heritage underpins artistic ambivalence about the old and the new: anthropocentric versus eco-centric worldviews. The very concept of nature as something to be molded, discarded, or preserved forgets the principles of unity that animate the sign 'nature' as an idea and a representation, which have long been touchstones of the philosophy of art and hence semiotic and financial value. The art world could implement ecological reforms at the level of its own organization as well as its works.
