brian eno, es devlin, jeremy deller, and more form social justice collective

brian eno introduces social justice collective hard art

Renowned musician and artist Brian Eno has teamed up with a diverse group of individuals, including designers, artists, filmmakers, writers, and more, to form HARD ART, a cultural collective seeking to combat the challenges of climate change and democratic decline. The team counts 150 members, with names involved including designer Es Devlin, artists Cornelia Parker and Jeremy Deller, filmmaker Andrea Arnold, writer Jon Ronson, and many more.

The collective was created in late 2022, when creatives, activists, democracy specialists, faith leaders, economists, and scientists began gathering in the studio of musician and artist Brian Eno. The meetings were prompted by the realization that individuals across society were striving for the urgent change needed in our world, but often felt isolated in their efforts. ‘When we came together the impact was immediate: we could feel our shared hopes, concerns, and beliefs, even as we differed in backgrounds, professions, and temperaments,’ the team shares. ‘Together, we began to organically explore ideas alongside likeminded groups who inspired us. Through an organic process, those meetings marked the birth of a new project: HARD ART.’ Two years later, in 2024, the collective is now ready to release work for the first time publicly.

musician and artist Brian Eno | image via @brianeno

The HARD ART team (find more here) identifies itself as a cultural collective comprising artists, activists, and scientists who unite in solidarity amidst climate and democratic crises. They produce individual and collaborative work aimed at addressing these challenges and fostering new possibilities. Operating without rigid political affiliations, they embrace change and adapt their approach to align with the needs of both humanity and the planet. The members physically gather together twice a month, and their meetings are a mix of open-ended dialogue and structured collaboration. Guests are sometimes invited to give a deeper look into a specific issue — economics, politics, climate science. ‘We devote time to support likeminded projects with ideas and consultation, as well as cook up ideas of our own,’ the team says.

As their first project, the collective issued The WORK We Need to Do, the first edition of the zine that includes the manifesto of the organization. ‘The crisis is here, we are in it, and it’s worse than we imagined. There is no ‘somewhere’ outside of this crisis now. It is in our politics and on our supermarket shelves, it’s in the burning forests and our broken legal system, in our dwindling pay cheques and rising energy bills,’ the manifesto reads. ‘It’s time to join the dots.’ HARD ART also curated The Fête of Britain (22 – 25 February 2024), a four-day takeover at Aviva Studios, Manchester. Through a mix of play, workshops, people’s assemblies, talks and performances The Fête of Britain explored the intersecting crises affecting the UK – with a focus on the cost-of-living crisis and climate collapse – and asked how we can draw on our history of resistance, art, culture and assembly, to find our collective power today.

Es Devlin, Forest of Us | image by Andrea Mora courtesy of Es Devlin, 2023