The aesthetics of green guerrilla. From activism to fine art.

Agnieszka Gralińska-Toborek

doi:10.1344/waterfront2021.63.1.02

Abstract

Grassroots movements – the activisms associated with the greening of the cities, reclaiming wastelands, establishing community gardens, improving the quality of life in industrialized places through minor nature-based interventions, as well as protection and safeguarding of the scraps of nature within cities – are what in this article I call green guerilla. I want to demonstrate how these small-scale grassroots movements grow; how their actions lead to official solutions; how they become institutionalized and, sometimes, commercialized. However, above all, by linking them with the environmental and participatory aesthetic trends, I wish to indicate their aesthetic aspects and the fact that they frequently bear the hallmarks of art.

Highlights

Resumen Los movimientos de base: - los activismos asociados con la ecologización de las ciudades, la recuperación de tierras baldías, el establecimiento de jardines comunitarios, la mejora de la calidad de vida en lugares industrializados a través de intervenciones menores basadas en la naturaleza, así como la protección y salvaguardia de los restos de la naturaleza dentro de las ciudades- lo que en este artículo llamo guerrilla verde
Quiero demostrar cómo crecen estos movimientos de base a pequeña escala; cómo sus acciones conducen a soluciones oficiales; cómo se institucionalizan y, a veces, se comercializan
Green guerilla activities are embedded in DIY urbanism because the result of the gardeners’ own work is a visible transformation of the urban space, and because they stem from the needs that Cathy Smith defines as ‘a fundamental desire of people to connect to a place’ as well as ‘self-identification and individual narratives that make a community unique’ (Knight 2020)

Summary

What to call it?

Even though the term green guerilla became a proper name designating a particular movement in the US (in New York) which, eventually, became a non-governmental organisation, it cannot be used exclusively in reference to the mentioned group. Even though guerrilla gardeners usually constitute informal groups, there exist official organisations that support them The biggest such organisation, a non-profit one, is “Green Guerillas” from New York which was established in 1973 and its beginnings date back to the first actions led by Liz Christy. Today, they support communities of gardeners, conduct training, and cooperate with the local government. They support communities of gardeners, conduct training, and cooperate with the local government On their website, the organisation describes their mission in the following way: “Green Guerillas helps grassroots groups obtain the materials, volunteers, and funding they need to sustain colourful community gardens and bountiful urban farms” (www.greenguerillas.org). The most significant area of focus for “Green Guerillas” are community gardens of which over 600 have been established in New York

Guerilla Tree Planting

Nomadic and Community Gardens

Green guerilla as a part of DIY Urbanism

Green graffiti and street art

Findings

Green guerilla aesthetics