Mosaic Art: Lessons in Sustainability
In 2023, archaeologists uncovered a 2300-year-old mosaic art piece in Rome’s Palatine hill, after a five-year extensive excavation, almost perfectly preserved.
The medium employed in its creation included shells, corals, marble flecks and shards of glass. This piece is a portrayal of both artistic excellence and the sheer opulence of the age in which it was made.
Across the vast waters, in the southwest United States, you will find earthen structures, built more than a thousand years ago by the original stewards of the land, the Asanazi. These buildings made with adobe bricks, have withstood both the harsh elements and the test of time.
Presently, I am not aware what length of time modern professionals guarantee their clients that their built structures are meant to abide, considering that they are made with the latest materials and technology.
One of the key tenets of sustainability is that something should be able to continue or last for a long time. This ensures that we will not have a need to extract, affect or use resources repeatedly, leading to serious depletion or long-term detrimental imbalance.
The aforementioned Roman mosaic and the adobe native American houses were made by two decidedly different civilizations but have one thing in common. Longevity. That which endures, sustains.
In tandem with the longevity, are the materials used to make these lasting monuments. In the case of the adobe buildings, we witness the use of one of the most sustainable materials on earth. Soil. No frills. Just soil, most probably burnt into adobe bricks using dead wood, as the ancients were very careful about cutting trees and other habits which deplete natural resources.
For the mosaic piece they likely used uncalcified lime both for the art and the stone building. Cement was not an option then.
Today most builders worship at the altar of cement. In fact, it is commonly believed that we can no longer do without it. Yet it is the very devil of modern building, owing to its unsustainability.
Cement is so incredibly dirty to produce. In fact, this process is guilty of emitting a whopping 8% of all global greenhouse gas emissions!
The production of cement also contributes to lots of dangerous air pollution, which naturally exposes the populace to an array of health concerns. The industry enjoys a place as the third largest source of industrial air pollution.
In creating mosaic murals, my main materials are recycled granite, marble, tiles and glass. I also use cement to attach it to walls. The art pieces come with an assurance of lasting for at least two thousand years, if the structure on which they are is still standing. I aver that the use of this cement in this case may be deemed as somewhat sustainable, seeing the longevity of the installation.
Yet while I may not be one of the biggest players, the weight of responsibility for my material use still communicates its presence. Thus, I must join others in asking the right questions, if we seek to find the right answers.
What does enhanced sustainability for a safer tomorrow really look like? Do we ultimately have the courage and goodwill to look at it, dead in the eye?
My journey through the landscape of creating mosaics has allowed for long inward reflections, as the art consumes tonnes of concentrated time. I have learnt many lessons, which I strive to apply, to make not just the art, but to place it in a space where the development of our species moves beyond sustainability.
Mostly though, I have learnt to question deeper.
The answers lie within us, waiting and hoping to find a way to the surface to respond to these pertinent questions. The future, as I position another piece into my creation, is literally in my hands.
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