Artist
Eddy Peng
Category
Publicity
Medium
Website
Date
Nov 2023 - Present
The Ecollective Virtual Art Gallery (2023) is a minimalist website by eco-artist Eddy Peng that allows other eco-artists to showcase their works digitally while connecting visitors to climate change resources. The gallery has its works separated into categories surrounding common themes. Eddy also added an art submission feature where eco-artists can submit their works to be considered for induction into the gallery.
Eddy laid out the user interface of the website on a design tool, which was then made accessible to the internet using a website builder called Framer that converted the concepts into the building blocks of the Internet: HTML and CSS.
Eddy was heavily influenced by the structure of Professor Wieczorek’s Art History class on art and climate change (Autumn 2023 at the University of Washington in Seattle) and saw the importance of collaborating with his peers to fight for a common goal. Overall, the design and layout of the platform are basic and minimalistic because Peng wanted the artist's work to shine.
During his time in Professor Wieczorek’s lecture, he distinctly recalled viewing Olafur Eliasson’s website art gallery called Studio Olafur Eliasson. A digital platform made it possible for Eliasson to capture his work in the moment so people can experience it no matter where they are in the world. The idea stuck with Eddy throughout the quarter and beyond.
Ecollective relates to the theme of publicity because it facilitates the spread of information. Since the gallery is a website, it allows information to be accessed by all internet users and gives eco-artists a platform. Not done there, Eddy directs the audience to explore additional resources to learn how they can create change.
Climate change is a complex issue. Thus, people must come together. Ecollective inspires website visitors through a collection of works that touch on different aspects of the issue and empowers them to stand up, collaborate, and be a part of the solution that will put a stop to one of humanity’s greatest challenges.
Assets Used (Citations):
FavIcon: Illustraly Design, Tree 3D Icon, 2021, 3D Icon
Masked Ecollective Image: Andrew Coelho, Lush green pine forest, 2017, photograph
GIF: Noman Hussain, Scroll Down Circle, 2023, animated GIF
Host: Koen Bok and Jorn van Dijk, Framer, 2015 – Present, website builder