Discuss Harrison and Harrison’s A Vision for the Green Heart of Holland, noting how it relates to Lorenzetti’s Allegory of Good Government, and then argue for or against the idea that art and artists should recommend particular policies to government

Question

Please provide the best answer for the statement.

Answer 1

1. In 1995, the environmental and ecological artist team of Newton and Helen Mayer Harrison conceived a project at the request of the Cultural Council of South Holland. The Harrisons wanted to address the population growth over the next 20 years in the central lowlands of Holland. Their plan, which they called A Vision for the Green Heart of Holland, leaves the existing “green heart” of the central lowlands undeveloped. Emanating from this natural core are ribbons of greenway that serve to separate the sometimes densely populated regions on the periphery and carry fresh water to the urban areas. The alternative is plotted out on the left-hand wall—the “green heart” missing, replaced by a broad band of housing crossing the entire country, transforming it into a vast megalopolis. The Harrisons have labeled their vision of uncontrolled development “Bad Government,” and their vision of the ecologically more responsible plan “Good Government.”
2. The Harrisons’ work shares with Lorenzetti’s Allegory of Good Government a sense of balance between the urban and the rural and a shared belief in the idea that the well-being of the city depends on the well-being of the surrounding countryside.
3. Students’ arguments about the proper role of art vis-à-vis government will vary.