Sculpture is one of the least environmentally friendly artistic disciplines due to the cost of materials and water used. However, contemporary art and art practice, especially in recent years, is increasingly responsive to environmental issues and awareness. We know from published studies that the costs of transporting, loaning and displaying artworks are enormous and carbon offsetting is marginal in terms of pollution. It is more of a corporate-type greenwashing strategy that distracts from the real problem. By developing a method for determining the environmental impact of sculptures/art, the thesis aims to not only help beginning artists to become aware of environmental issues, but also to formulate questions and answers on the topic. At the same time, it is also about mapping the change in viewing the material as a carrier of information and its other meanings in a historical and contemporary context. The main aim of the thesis is to find a method for determining the carbon footprint of artworks with a focus on sculpture.
The question of the ecology of materials in art is not only about ecology by itself, but it is also important to take into consideration the knowledge offered in other discourses on materials, which can be roughly divided, besides the ecology, into two other sets that address this issue in depth. These are: material in the historical context of sculpture, used for specific fields and cultures; theory and philosophy dealing with object-oriented ontology, matter, materialism and realism, and the return to art. The theoretical text of the thesis is a synthesis of the above mentioned sets. This practise-based research is supposed to help artists to orient themselves to the issue of ecology in art, and at the same time to describe the changes in the viewing of material as a carrier of information and aesthetic action, especially in the contemporary context.

One of the practical outcomes of the research is an application that evaluates the carbon footprint of a specific sculpture by using the LCA (life cycle assessment) method and by inputting data, and offers the client a comparison of material solutions with a specific measure of carbon consumption. Furthermore, my research involves the investigation of technologically advanced materials and the development of new materials. In this direction, I am currently building a SuBLab laboratory at the Academy of Fine Arts, which is already working with specific materials. It is very difficult to replace some of the current materials used for sculpture.

The lab is primarily dealing with the emergence of materials created by recycling and also verifies the suitability of high-tech materials for use in classical sculpture. One of the more represented materials in the lab is plastic, or rather plastic waste, which due to its availability and workability has proven to be a suitable candidate in previous research. In general, these materials are materials that artists are able to process themselves or high-tech materials available in the Czech Republic and surrounding countries. I evaluate the suitability of their use on an experimental series of sculptures, which also provides a product list of the materials under research.