Protesting through art: Ackroyd & Harvey

Using art as a form of protest is an effective way to express creativity while addressing the seriousness of the important issues like climate change. 

Through their work, artists Ackroyd and Harvey show their audiences that the climate crisis is not all doom, there is a hope to be found. 

They use grass as their medium to create artworks that deliver a strong message about the climate crisis through their innovative approach. Being open about their stance as climate activists, their work also arguably reflects their political beliefs. 

Vital

Renowned for their work, they’ve received many awards, including the Royal Academy Rose Award, L’Oreal Art, Science of Colour Grand Prize, and the Wu Guanzhong Prize for Art & Innovation. 

Science Gallery London has launched their new exhibition, Vital Signs – another world is possible, featuring the work of Ackroyd and Harvey. 

We interviewed the pair to discuss using art as a form of protest, starting by asking how they initially formed as a duo.

Ackroyd: At the age of 18 I went straight to college; I didn’t do a foundation, and I went to the very first college that offered what was called a combined creative arts degree. 

So, there were five options between creative writing, English, music, visual arts, performance and dance, and I chose to do performance and visual arts. I was always looking at a way to bring them together.

Harvey: It was that point that somebody said we two should meet up. We met up that year and worked together in the following year in 1990.

The pair uses grass as an artistic medium, inspired by the light sensitivity of chlorophyll in plants, particularly grass. Their artistic process is unique and involves blocking light to create shapes in living grass seedlings. 

Ackroyd and Harvey choose their medium carefully, using grass varieties from the area where they create each piece. This choice is an important factor in the sustainability of their work, showing a conscious decision to use local resources. 

Their concept first emerged when they used a ladder and directional light to leave imprints on a wall of grass. For photography enthusiasts, they have compared their process to photography, as it shares similarities to the process of exposure and development. 

However, instead of working with light-sensitive paper, they harness the light sensitivity of chlorophyll, the natural compound in grass that gives it its green colour. For the pieces currently displayed at the gallery, they were produced on site, in the lead up to the exhibition opening. We are especially interested in how this medium brought them together and shaped their artistic style.

Interviewer: So, you’d say that you bonded over your mutual love of grass and using kind of live forms of art?

Ackroyd & Harvey: Yeah.

Harvey: Yeah, I think it was that that brought us together. We collaborated on a project in a village in Northern Italy, and we grew this interior vaulted ceiling space with seed. 

It was there that we first saw the photosynthesis effect, we had a ladder in the room and very directional light. When we moved the ladder, we saw the shadow was in the lighter grass, which is sort of obvious, but it took us a while to understand what was happening. It was from that that we started to experiment with the photosynthesis works.

Ackroyd: When I look back at the first few years we were together, I think our imaginations were unleashed. Dan was coming slightly more from a sculptural side, and I was coming more from a performance side; we could employ both skills that we’ve developed to a really strong effect. 

But we were very intuitive about what we were doing. What happened was we did a piece in Italy, and we used Italian language which is “L’altro lato” which means “The Other Side.” We were already very interested in this sense of impermanence and fragility, and possibility of a life beyond. That whole notion of well what happens when we die.”

As repression of climate and environmental protests intensifies, more creative and impactful acts of protest are emerging around the world. Media representation is allowing environmental groups to be seen and heard. 

As protests and demonstrations gain media coverage, the importance of climate awareness is increasingly brought to the public’s attention. Ackroyd and Harvey referenced their involvement in fashion protest alongside Vivienne Westwood.

Ackroyd: I think when we were in Italy, there were two ideas that we gave voice to. One was a grass coat, and the other one was grown in the interior of a recongregated church. 

So, the grass coat we realised within a matter of months. Well, what happened was I went to Vivienne Westwood’s studio for a meeting. She wasn’t there. Well, she should’ve been there, but she wasn’t there. Which I actually think is very good for us now. Although when she was alive, she was a huge champion of protest.

Ackroyd: Her assistant said she saw our images, and she went you should do this on your own.

Ackroyd & Harvey: Don’t give this to Vivienne

Harvey: She’ll steal it.

Ackroyd: She said that because her reputation was huge. She said actually, there’s a fashion show coming up, which is saying we shouldn’t be using fur. It’s an anti-fur organised by Lynx, and we just thought oh we could do a grass coat for that. It’s like it was given to us on a plate.

Their creativity in experimenting with materials is particularly inspiring, ranging from creating with coats to buildings and grass canvases. During the interview, we asked about their process.

Interviewer: I’m sure you’ve been asked a lot of things about the artwork, but we wanted to ask what drew you to the process of using grass?

Harvey: The reason why we met was that we were both working with grass within our work prior to meeting, and so we have come at it from different angles. I was making sculptural work, and I was using a lot of bones and dead things in my work and natural objects. 

But the work was very much about life, and I think people see bones and they immediately think death whereas you look at a seashell and maybe you think something else. 

I wanted to bring life into the work and one of the simplest sorts of seeds is grass. I think the first piece of work I did was the Bible, I did the parable of the sowing of the seeds in an old Bible that I found then I just stuffed the book with seeds and watered it and grew it. That was the first sort of work I did with grass. 

Ackroyd: Well, I’d also just in terms of what you’re looking at, protest, I had a performance I was doing, and I did a life-sized camel with a grass coat. The grass coat went all yellow and dried and really did start to look like a camel and that camel appeared in some art magazines. 

In fact, it was an art magazine that a friend of Dan’s saw and they did an interview with me. I was talking about climate change, which back in 1988 was called the greenhouse effect, and I was saying in time to come we’re all going to be moving around on camels.

Their newest work titled “I Sing the Spirit Fantastic,” expresses the words of poet Sir Ben Okri in a creative and thought-provoking way. The work centres around the poem, which could be interpreted as shining a light onto the climate crisis and the evolving nature of the environment. 

Their work is displayed as two large-scale art pieces, one expressing the words “Unleash the innocent imagination that we may draw paradise closer,” while the other features a longer version of the poem. Curious about the effectiveness of the collaboration, we inquired about their experiences working with others.

Interviewer: In reference to these collaborations, how easy do you find it to work with other people? As a duo art pair with some of your work, how does the sharing of responsibility work? 

Ackroyd: It’s great, I think it works really well; we’ve got a shared piece with Sir Ben Okri. It feels very life-enhancing, like he came up with a poem and I said has that been inspired by Walt Whitman, you know “The Body Electric” because he talks about the spirit fantastic, and he said yes. 

Dan’s got a book by Walt Whitman that his grandfather bought, but it’s got a handwritten note by Walt Whitman in it.

Harvey: The book is called “Leaves of Grass” as well. There are lots of funny coincidences, like The Garden of Enchantment and Uses of Enchantment.

Ackroyd: Yeah, your great grandfather wrote the Garden of Enchantment.

Harvey: Before working with Heather, there was no way I would’ve thought that I would collaborate with anyone. I was very set in my ways and what I wanted to do. It’s quite funny, the way we have managed to collaborate together, and it’s certainly led on to things that neither one of us, on our own, could’ve done.

Ackroyd: But it was because of the grass that we both had such a rapport with it as a material, and the material had a rapport with us. We subtly had a language that we could just begin to share, which just felt innate to some extent. 

And that still continues, even though we’re no longer together as a couple, we’ve had a child, we were together for 30 years. Now we’ve separated as a couple but we’re still working. We’re still pursuing our own work in different ways.

We visited the gallery to see the artwork in person. The complete version of the poem is displayed at the gallery entrance, encased in glass to protect the dried grass. 

A shorter excerpt of Okri’s poem is arranged above the staircase, leading up to Level 1. In our opinion, Ackroyd & Harvey have merged their interests to address climate change through a unique expertise. Climate activists come in all varieties, and yet we think this work could appeal to all of them. 

Wishing to connect with the community over the artwork, we conducted interviews with people inside the gallery to gather their personal perspectives. 

During this process, we spoke with a staff member who offered particularly insightful reflections on the artwork. When asked about the sustainability of the art, they shared their thoughts on the topic.

“So many artists will make pieces to do with sustainability or the environment and just things like that. But they’re made out of paints that have all of these chemicals that are involved and they’re really bad for the environment. 

"Or if it’s something that you’re making out of like acrylic paint, you’re using resources that can never be used again. What are you doing with them after it’s made? Are you throwing it away? Maybe you could sell it and someone will put it in their house, but there’s so much waste involved in making stuff. So I like that it’s actually grass.”

We found this to be a thought-provoking comment on the sustainability of art. To effectively convey an environmental message, it is important that the artwork is created ethically and sustainably. 

Nevertheless, the strength of the message remains intact regardless of the medium used, protesting through a sense of creativity. Inspired by this perspective, we asked Ackroyd and Harvey about the sustainability of their work.

Interviewer: Our next question is about the artistic process and its environmental impact. How does it compare to acrylic paint for example, which contains chemicals and is less eco-friendly than biodegradable materials, like grass?

Harvey: For me, it is really important the materials that we work with. The sculpture that I was doing and still do is often around found objects. But there are elements that have a large carbon footprint, and there are elements that don’t; even grass has a carbon footprint. 

We’re not really working much within the commercial gallery side of the art world, where you make permanent pieces that you can then sell. 

Often a lot of our work will actually be temporary and will get composted, and it has a timeline to it. It shifts and changes, and I suppose one of the lengthier pieces with the timeline is our work with trees and Beuys’ acorns. 

Ackroyd: I think what we’ve learned, grass has revealed stuff. Grass has revealed an inner nature to us that is, for me, spellbinding. That is to do with the fact that we can make these complex photographic images. 

But we began to see it could also look like a pelt, like a skin, like a fur. And then we began to realise that the material at times, was very uncanny. Dan and I will say we collaborate together, but we also collaborate with grass, and grass collaborates with us.

Ackroyd and Harvey’s work emphasises the impermanence of art, reflecting the ongoing climate crisis. In a world that is constantly changing and often in danger of disappearing, society frequently adopts a limited perspective. 

One could argue that we are taught the value of permeance in a world that does not provide it. Interested in their opinion on the matter, we asked the pair about the temporary nature of their work:

Interviewer: Going back to what you said about the temporariness of everything, would you say your art reflects that?

Harvey: I mean everything is temporal really. Our lives on this planet are a fleeting moment, but within that there’s sort of a permanence. Everything is in motion somehow, so everything shifts and changes and nothing were to last.

Ackroyd: Nothing can be destroyed.

Harvey: Yeah, but nothing lasts forever either.

An interactive feedback point set up by the gallery invited viewers at the Science Gallery exhibit to consider their feelings, prompted by the question, "Another world is possible. 

What does that world look like for you?” This encourages individuals to reflect on the meaning behind the art, leading to an evolved mindset regarding climate change and hopefully inspiring action. Below is a compilation of the responses:

“A world where everyone is treated equally. People are kind to all animals.”

“A world in which every voice can be heard, be they quiet or loud, tall or short. Where meetings are held at all levels, in circles where the principle is first affirmed.”

“Free from capitalism. All decisions are made to consider the environment equal to the economy and society. There is no planet B.”

“Nature is thriving, blossoming and endless resources for every human in the world. Leaving no room for hunger, war, and conflict of every nation. A world full of love, peace and kindness. 

“Free from capitalism, where everyone has a chance to grow up and succeed.”

The audience’s diverse perspectives are evident. Inspired by this, we inquired about the extent to which the audience influences their art creation:

Interviewer: What would you say is your aim with your recent artwork? And your ideal audience, who you’re factoring in when you’re making the art?

Harvey: Yeah, we’ve sort of found our own path within what we do. 

Ackroyd: We work very collaboratively with other people. We worked together, we’ve worked with historians, psychologists, activists, environmental lawyers, conservationists, scientists, ecologists. 

We’re always looking for a bigger dialogue, so our audience can be shaped by who we’re working with. There is at some point, something will just go ohhh that really matters to me, or I really care about that, or I find that really inspiring and that will be the lead. That’s always the pleasure and the delight of being an artist and being able to freewheel a little bit.

Harvey: I think we follow our own desires and not trying to gear it to any particular audience at all. Something which has been really quite nice about working within derelict buildings or buildings on the street is that you’re not showing to the elite. 

Maybe it will go to the gallery but you’re putting the artwork somewhere where people can come across it and find it. Or working in derelict houses, people are often curious to see inside that house that they’ve seen boarded up for years. It opens it up to a different public too. 

Ackroyd: There’s always a drama in materials we deal with, because we work with living processes, we work with decaying processes, we work with decomposition, we work with petrification at times.

Harvey: So, it’s often lead by science and by natural processes.

This exhibit captures the creativity behind the pursuit of a better future, uniting people through the beauty of the artwork whilst retaining the severity of its message. Believing in a better future is open to everyone, regardless of gender, sexuality, age, or background. 

Experiencing this space firsthand reminds us that we are not alone in our hopes for change. While it can feel overwhelming to be just one individual among millions, recognizing the collective desire for a healthier planet can inspire us to work together toward this shared goal. 

It could be said that the climate crisis is above politics and personal opinion; it is a collective necessity.

Interviewer: Would you view your work as more personal or political, although obviously it’s very open to interpretation?

Ackroyd: There’s a very good feminist statement which says, “the personal is political”. Just seeing what’s happened in America and in other countries, where women are denied rights over their body. At that point, the feminist statement “the personal is political” becomes very important.

Harvey: Well, I think the work we do comes from our personal viewpoint on things and our personality. And that is political because the more we see of this world, and the more out of balance it is, the more that takes on importance.

Ackroyd: We’re political, but it doesn’t stop us from being personal and poetic about stuff as well.

Protest is a form of expression. For us, their works represents this, becoming an outlet of collective emotion and community. Like any form of art, there will always be mixed opinions, especially when working within the climate activism community. 

The importance of art is that it can continue to express ideas and messages regardless of societal views. This is what makes Ackroyd and Harvey's work effective in spreading the message and importance of climate activism.

We highly recommend experiencing their work in person. Ackroyd and Harvey’s work is on display at the Science Gallery of London until May 2025. 

Their sculptural forms, titled “Ash to Ash”, are exhibited at the White Horse Country Park in Kent until October 2025. Additionally, in June 2025, they will present a film screening at the Tate Modern entitled “Ackroyd and Harvey: The Art of Activism”.

These Authors

Amy Rogers is a student at The College of Richard Collier in Sussex. She is soon to study journalism at the University of Sheffield with a view to a career in journalism. She is particularly concerned with climate change and sustainability. 

Erica Fanlo Doane is a student at Collyer's VI Form College. She is soon to study medicine at the university of Dundee with the aim of a career in medicine. She is particularly interested in climate protest and sustainability.

The College of Richard Collyer is a sixth-form college in West Sussex whose English department has run a competition through the 2024-25 academic year in partnership with The Ecologist online, open to all upper-sixth students, to develop their journalistic skills by exploring environmental interests and concerns.