John Cloake

Eden Lost

Linocut
30x20cm
Limited Edition of 30 printed on Japanese Hosho paper

It is well known that an artist loses control over the interpretation of the piece because viewers bring their own readings but this time, it is me bringing new readings! My print was originally created as part of my “Climate Crisis” series. I was driven by a growing sense of anger and frustration that our obsession with “growth” and “profit” was leading to climate destruction and a wasteland society. The “Think Resilience” discussion has provided an interesting new lens in demonstrating the role of over-globalization in this process and why the apparent short-term benefits become dangers over time.

Here is an extract from Richard Heinberg’s talk: “Globalization is largely about the relentless pursuit of economic efficiency. And while there are benefits to efficiency (increasing profits, minimizing waste), as an economic strategy it has serious costs to community resilience. Wealthier countries lose jobs for higher-paid wage laborers, as well as the skill base and the infrastructure to produce goods and equipment. The offshoring of manufacturing to poorer nations reduces domestic pollution but increases pollution in the exporting nations (which often have less stringent regulations). Economic inequality increases, both within nations and between nations. And as regions specialize, there is an overall loss of local diversity in jobs.”

But as Heinberg points out “The point is not that all economic efficiency is bad, but that the pendulum has recently swung much too far in favor of globalization and centralization, and a rebalancing is in order”. Looking forward to seeing his suggestions for achieving that in the next chapter!
2023
  • John Cloake

Resilience

wood engraving8x4cm

I thought a leaping salmon would be a good example of resilience but carving it developed that reflection further than I expected. The salmon is certainly resilient, thrown back thousands of times and each time regrouping and trying again. But it also dawned on me that many of the individual salmon don’t make it. But overall, as a community they succeed, ensuring their survival as a species.
2022
  • John Cloake

The Final Forest – Regeneration

linocuts, 30x20cm on washi paper
2022

While working on my Climate Crisis print series, I have been catching up with The Post Carbon Institute’s online course “Think Resilience.” In nature’s “Adaptive Cycle,” certain adaptive species flourish in the aftermath of a shock. They may rapidly dominate the environment, but without diversity, they exhaust resources and become less resilient until they are themselves vulnerable to shock.
My Climate Crisis series views the push for ever-increasing “Economic growth” in this light. After a long period in which progress and even “freedom” have been equated with unrestrained consumerism and resource exploitation, we face resource scarcity and an existential Climate Crisis. In this context, what does “Resilience” mean? Certainly, it is about adapting. But surely not seeking to preserve the old system intact. That system is already dying. Rather, the crisis offers an opportunity to develop a new resilience based on rethinking our core values and the development of new (and probably some very old) narratives about value and worth.
The prints in this series are often paired. One expressing anger and one projecting a more hopeful future in which the connotations of “Anthropocene” shift from destruction, fear and denial towards symbiosis, respect, and positive engagement with our ecosystem.
2022
  • John Cloake

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