High Art on a Mission

It's not uncommon for art shows to make vague references to philanthropic causes, and encourage empty pleas for "doing more." So there was some general skepticism when candy-store-to-the-elites Christie's auction house unveiled its new sale, "Death in America: Selections from the Zadig & Voltaire Collection" with an activist pitch. The collection from the french-rocker-luxury-brand was assembled by founder Thierry Gillier, and is named after the late artist/noise-rocker Steven Perrino's 2003 piece "Death of America". It features over 40 works, including Maurizio Cattelan's 2007 life-size sculpture imposed on a prison-like wall, and makes a direct nod to the perceived state of lousy global affairs, taking a sharp jab at how the United States is in desperate need of getting its shit together. Besides the art itself giving a hard wink to social commentary, the sale is expected to raise over $20 million for environmental protection and clean ocean efforts, namely for the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation and Oceana's United States Shark Conservation program. That's largely due to the involvement of Christie's Chairman of Post-War and Contemporary Art, committed environmentalist and shark-loving adventurist Loïc Gouzer .

Gouzer is a man of action who has used his access to get much-needed funds to various organizations and causes fighting climate change. This may get eye rolls from some, but Gouzer is dead serious about his work and is doing what he can to address the immediate threat climate changes poses to a liveable planet. He knows the situation of undeniable climate change isn't being given the attention it deserves, and is a bit frustrated with the world's elites taking a wait-and-see approach to impending ecological collapse while simultaneously forking over millions to get their name on a new opera house. He's very good at what he does, and knows how to get important people to make big decisions -- something many in the advocacy community can learn from. Gouzer chatted with VICE Impact's Director of Advocacy Nick Chedli Carter to discuss the new collection, and Gouzer's vision for what's necessary for climate change to be addressed seriously. The collection will be represented in this week during a May 17 evening sale and May 18 afternoon sale. VICE Impact: Given the overall weirdness of the last year, have you noticed a heightened sense of awareness amongst the philanthropic community?

Loïc Gouzer: I thought we'd be able to raise much more money than in previous years. But so far it's been very disappointing. We haven't seen a real awakening of the wealthy of this world to really come together and give more. It's a bit disheartening. Everybody was hoping that maybe with Trump coming into power we would have some sort of awakening, not only of the masses but of the high net worth people. And it hasn't happened so much I would say so far.

Do you think with things so uncertain and uneasy right now that maybe these "high net worth people" are being more cautious with their money?

People aren't confused. Business and the economy is still good for the one percent. They have confidence and they have liquidity. People are more willing to put their name on an opera house or whatever it's called to get more cred. And if you give money to save the last Indonesian forest there's no sign that you can put there. No one will really acknowledge it.

How do we get to that point where it becomes a standard practice that the wealthy are putting more of their money towards good causes instead of fancy art? There's people like Bill Gates and all that who pledge a lot of their fortune away, and we hope that some of those tech guys will get involved with the environment too. But a lot of them are still fully working on their businesses and not yet thinking so much in terms of philanthropy.

What are the similarities you see between the two worlds of the activist community and the art community? I have a lot of exposure to high network individuals, but the ones I know are collectors. By definition, collectors are gatherers and they like to possess, own, and keep. It's not the same thing as when people give, help, or make the world a better place. Someone who collects isn't prone to giving, and I'm always trying to turn those people.
If I sell a $50 million painting, sometimes I find it easier than raising $15,000 for a charity.

Are the personalities and the character traits similar?

You have to sell an idea. People buy art to empower themselves. The same way you can be the proud owner of a great work, and that piece is going to define you as the person who owns that -- I work the same way. I say, "This is your chance to be the one guy who saved the orangutan from extinction." Or, "You're the guy who is saving the last breeding site for scalloped hammerhead sharks," or something like that. I try to use the same principles when empowering people.

What do you think it's going to take to get to that point where we need to be so everyone is doing what they can to stave off disaster?

Ten years ago when I used to dive off Montauk I would see 20 sharks. Now, ten years later, I see one shark every 20 dives. Apparently ten years ago was already really bad compared to ten years before that. If we were lucky enough we saw some healthy coral. Now we go to the same place and see that everything is dead. A lot of people think that that's normal. That's their baseline. They don't know that before it was like coral gardens filled with life.

I think the next generation is going to look at us and say, "How did they let the biggest ecocide happen under our watch when it could have been stopped?" I think everyone who does a job can leverage whatever he's doing to try and make this planet a better place.

The name, "Death of America," implies a dire state of affairs. Are you worried that too much negative thinking will scare people away rather than inspiration to take action?

When I sit on board meetings and I see what can be done when we get money and what we do with it I become positive. I get extremely negative when I see the lack of a reaction from people. If Martians attacked Earth, there would be some kind of global unity to defeat them. We'd say, "They're plundering our planet, they're destroying our forests, they're polluting our air, they're emptying our waters." Everybody would be at war with them. But the fact that we're doing it ourselves makes everyone numb to it. This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.