Alexis Rockman on Art, Science, and Environmental Storytelling

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): The Good Men Project

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2025/04/03

Alexis Rockman, a contemporary American artist born in 1962, discusses his fascination with natural history, sparked by early visits to the American Museum of Natural History. He reflects on influences like King Kong and Bride of Frankenstein and his views on science communication, AI art, and environmental activism. Rockman critiques market-driven journalism, celebrates Stephen Jay Gould and E.O. Wilson and shares a skeptical yet hopeful outlook on the future. With humour and honesty, he explores artistic process, despair over climate inaction, and the enduring need for storytelling grounded in scientific and ecological awareness.

Scott Douglas Jacobsen: So today, we’re here with Alexis Rockman. Born in 1962, he is an American contemporary artist known for his vivid, often speculative landscapes that explore the intersection of nature and civilization. Raised in New York City, his frequent visits to the American Museum of Natural History, where his mother briefly worked as an assistant to anthropologist Margaret Mead’s secretary, ignited his fascination with natural history. He studied animation at the Rhode Island School of Design before earning a BFA from the School of Visual Arts in 1985.

Rockman’s work addresses environmental issues such as climate change, genetic engineering, and species extinction, with notable exhibitions at institutions like the Brooklyn Museum and the Smithsonian American Art Museum. In 2025, he designed the official Earth Day poster with the theme “Our Planet, Our Future,” emphasizing environmental stewardship and renewable energy.  Thank you very much for joining me today. I appreciate it.

Rockman: Pleasure.

Jacobsen: So, I did get to visit briefly as a Canadian travelling in the United States on Amtrak, all the way across the United States. I was very struck by two things in D.C.: the landscaping and the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. It was so vast compared to any museum I’d ever been to. It goes on forever. I could not explore it all during the half day I was there. Half day. Yes, I know. I felt so… touristy. Another thing that struck me about D.C. is that the landscaping and gardening are done better than anywhere else I saw in the United States.

Rockman: It’s about public spaces and power.

Jacobsen: Yes, so, have your early experiences at the American Museum of Natural History and your exposure to Margaret Mead had a profound or a minor influence on your artistic direction?

Rockman: Which?

Jacobsen: The experience of going to the American Museum of Natural History and the impacts of Margaret Mead.

Rockman: Margaret Mead—my mother was the assistant to her secretary. So, I know who Margaret Mead is. She’s an interesting figure. My mom found her abusive, if you read between the lines. Somehow, she still loved anthropology.

However, the museum profoundly affected me and formed my perception and expectations about what nature should be. I’ve done a fair amount of travelling. I have to confess. I often secretly wish that nature looked more like a diorama than some disgraced, eroded, or human-induced clear-cut forest—or something like that.

Jacobsen: How has King Kong—and is it The Bride of Frankenstein?—influenced you?

Rockman: You did your homework coming up with those two movies! They are perfect examples of incredible world-building. King Kong and The Akeley Hall at the AMNH share a lot of cultural DNA and were made around the same time in the early 1930’ . They’re both looking at nature as a theatrical experience. Kong is horizontal tabletop miniatures, glass painting with stop motion animation models and the dioramas are the same idea though lifesize with taxidermy with painted cycloramas. So you’re dealing with a highly constructed stagecraft representation of nature that is very expressive and atmospheric. Both owe a huge debt to art history and Kong look is based on engravings by the great French illustrator Gustave Doré.

In terms of Bride of Frankenstein, that is one of the great witty horror black comedies. Again, it’s a very beautiful production, very theatrical, and an incredible cinematic experience.. Great writing. They have great scores from European émigrés, such as Franz Waxman for Bride of Frankenstein and Max Steiner for King Kong.

Jacobsen: How was your experience collaborating with Stephen Jay Gould?

Rockman: Well, I never collaborated with him. I knew him, and read his books which I love. He wrote about my work, not me personally. He’s one of the science writers I admire most in the world – being able to bring so many ideas together.. He wrote two essays about my work—one in 1994 and one in 2001, right before he died.That was a thrill to be taken seriously by someone I admired so much.

Jacobsen: What are your thoughts about E.O. Wilson?

Rockman: Wilson—I love him too. He was a great gentleman in the history of science and a great popularizer. His life’s work was the love of ants, of course… After I returned from Guyana in 1995, I created a series of portraits of ants inspired by his research. He wrote me a wonderful rejection letter when I asked him to write something for a book I was doing! Somehow, a couple of years later, I ended up on the cover of one of his books.

Jacobsen: What research in science has fascinated you the most and led to a work of art you’re most proud of?

Rockman: I don’t think there’s just one. There are so many things about the history of science that I’m fascinated by, and it’s an ongoing thing. I’ve worked very closely with scientists on certain projects.. To be clear, I do projects that have sets of rules and I’ve ignored science on others—for example when I worked on the movie Life of Pi, it had nothing to do with science. It was purely about world-building and fantasy. I pointed out to Ang Lee that there would never be meerkats on an island in the middle of the ocean because they live in the desert. And he said, “Well, this is a fantasy,” and I quickly realized he was right.

Jacobsen: When you work with scientists, what have you noticed about how they look at things? What is captivating to their eye when they’re examining something?

Rockman: They’re storytellers. They’re telling the story of not only the history of life on this planet but also the history of geology—how old the planet is and what happened on Earth. So, to me, it’s another incredible resource. Scientists, as people, can be very different—some are flamboyant and extroverted; others, like my mom—she’s an archaeologist and a scientist—are more reserved. 

Jacobsen: In your travels, what places have you found the most exciting to explore for stories, artistic inspiration, and so on?

Rockman: All these questions about “what’s the most”—the quantified—it doesn’t work like that. Because, for me, going to a dump around the corner from here in CT is exciting. Going to Antarctica is fascinating. There are interesting things everywhere—even in a gutter in the city. I love going to places. I want to go to Borneo. I’ve never been there. But I’m very democratic when it comes to thinking about these things.

Jacobsen: Regarding a garbage dump around the corner. What parts of it would appeal to you artistically?

Rockman: What’s making a living there? What animals am I going to see? If it’s the right season, you’ll see turkey vultures because they migrate. What types of plants can survive? Where are they from? Are they native or invasive? That kind of thing.

Jacobsen: When you examine fantasy worlds where people are creating whole worlds—” world-building,” as you called it—do you find a preference for yourself? Are they built entirely from scratch, or are they built using parts of the real world? Using facts about real organisms and their migratory patterns, lifestyles, or physics—or ones more entirely concocted from the imagination?

Rockman: Anything that’s interesting. There are no rules with this stuff but I’m interested in visions that I haven’t seen before. When I saw Star Wars when I was 15, I knew about Jodorowsky’s unmade production of Dune. Alien hadn’t been made yet. I knew Star Wars was derivative to a point—of 2001 and other things like that—but I thought it was a fresh take on that stuff, even at 15. These films have one thing in common- a huge amount of planning and the use of artists to articulate the filmmakers vision.

I find the new Dune movie—the one by Denis Villeneuve—unbearably tedious and derivative-  it’s too brown, and I’ve seen it all before. Blade Runner is the benchmark of incredible visionary work by Syd Mead. Ridley Scott knows how to turn to artists and was so smart to bring him on. He was brilliant at understanding who could help him show a unique version of the future, even in 1980 when the movie was starting production. We still exist in its shadow.

Jacobsen: What do you think of the Earth Day theme “Our Power, Our Planet”?

Rockman: It’s hopeful. I sympathize with it.

Jacobsen: How do you think Americans are doing regarding sustainable development, working on climate goals, and so forth?

Rockman: Before the last election, things were in serious trouble that seemed insurmountable from my perspective. And now, it’s a disaster and a global embarrassment.

Jacobsen: Any words for your brothers and sisters in the cold North?

Rockman: What Trump is saying and doing is appalling and shameful.

Jacobsen: People often reference Carl Sagan’s writing—probably not even a full page, maybe half a page of one book—where he imagines a future America in his children’s or grandchildren’s time, which is now. He warns of a society with immense scientific and technological prowess but a public without the capacity to make effective, informed decisions regarding technology and science. Do you have thoughts on the prescience of that?

Rockman: It reminds me of that great E.O. Wilson quote: “We have Paleolithic emotions, medieval institutions, and god-like technology.” It’s a fucking disaster. Let’s face it. He was right. And he’s one of my heroes. It’s a bad moment all around. And sure, I pick on America, but the rest of the humans are universally idiotic. Are you in Canada now?

Jacobsen: Yes, and I’m Canadian.

Rockman: I got that. You could still be in Jersey, for all I know.

Jacobsen: Joysy? I almost was in Joysy. I got back a day and a half ago, not even. I’m in a small town on the outskirts of the Lower Mainland in British Columbia.

Rockman: I will speak in Tacoma in a couple of weeks at The Museum of Glass.

Jacobsen: What are you going to be talking about?

Rockman: Evolution, my first big panorama painting I made in 1992.  Wow. That’s a long time.

Jacobsen: Not to the Earth.

Rockman: Yes.

Jacobsen: I just returned from thirteen days in New York, where I attended events surrounding the 69th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW69), held in 2025. The visit also marked the 30th anniversary of the 1995 Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and the 25th anniversary of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace, and Security. It was also Nigerian Women’s Day—a big event. That was fun. So yes, New York was very fun.

Rockman: Good.

Jacobsen: Now, you’ve expressed skepticism about the effectiveness of art as a tool for activism. What’s with the skepticism?

Rockman: Show me some activist art or activism that’s worked, and I’ll change my mind. Could you show me? That’s being polite—”skepticism” for you Canadians.

Jacobsen: Unabashed disdain?

Rockman: No, it’s not disdain. It’s more… it’s bleak. You’re not getting the vibe. This is despair. This isn’t some attempt to be above it all. I tried. I’ve been doing this for a long time. I’ve seen the arc of this story. I know where we’re headed. The election is just an exclamation point on this stuff. I blame myself as much as anyone else. I didn’t—couldn’t—do anything about it. 

Jacobsen: When you have public commentary against scientific truisms—let alone the more nuanced truths science discovers—in American discourse, politically and socially, do you note any colleagues who… I don’t want to say “sell out,” but…

Rockman: …more like with Bobby Kennedy?

Jacobsen: Sure. 

Rockman: Yes. He was a friend of ours… So don’t laugh. I saw the arc of that.He wrote the preface for an exhibition catalogue for Manifest Destiny in 2004,  a project of mine at the Brooklyn Museum about what Climate Change is  going to do to NYC. I even did a poster for Riverkeeper in 1999. He and Cheryl have been to our house. So, I hope he’s selling out because if he believes what he’s talking about, he’s lost his damn mind. He was a hero to many people. Articulate. Charismatic. Believed in the right things. They had been a champion of all the things we cared about. It’s a disgrace.

Jacobsen: Have you seen this happen to more than one person?

Rockman: I’m not sure I can think of someone off the top of my head, but don’t—don’t get me going. Of course, it’s happening to more people. 

Jacobsen: I remember Noam Chomsky being interviewed once in someone’s house and talking about honest intellectuals who went against their cause—or went against higher motives—and his response was, “Do you want to start from A?” When doing your paintings and going for scientific accuracy, how do you balance that with the aesthetic you’re trying to convey simultaneously?

Rockman: That’s a fun process. Because that’s done at the beginning before I start making something, once I figure out what I’m doing and feel confident that it’s credible and makes sense in the context of my goals, then I’m good. For instance, I’m starting a big project for the Jewish Museum in a couple of weeks and meeting with the director of education. It will be built around hunting, fishing, and agriculture artifacts in their collection.

I don’t believe the director of education is technically a scientist, but she’s an authority on the history of these artifacts. I’ll take whatever she says seriously. So I’ll build this painting around that, and then I get to a point where I do research and figure out where everything goes. Got to make sure it’s a dromedary, with one hump and not a Bactrian Camel lol. Then I change hats and focus on the process of making the best painting I can.

Jacobsen: Was there any project in your history—up to now—that you’ve had in mind for a long, long time, but it was simply too lofty or too costly in terms of time and effort? Where mid-sized projects might be–might not necessarily be expedient, but they might be…

Rockman: …lucrative.

Jacobsen: Potentially lucrative—yes. 

Rockman: Listen, I’m a small businessperson. I have to balance risky projects that might sell somewhere with things I’m confident I’ll sell within a relatively reasonable amount of time. So, absolutely—and I’m constantly conversing with people about how to get these things done. I’ve been very lucky, Scott, that I’ve had so many projects that started as lofty pies in the sky and ended up becoming a reality. But we’re not dealing with movie money here—it’s just a painting!

Jacobsen: Right. Now, I’ve talked to AI people. I had two conversations with Neil Sahota, who’s a UN advisor on AI ethics or AI safety. I asked him, “How much of this is hype?” And he said there’s quite a bit, but it still needs to be taken seriously. So, on the creative front, what are your thoughts on developing AI that generates visual imagery?

Rockman: I have a mixed-bag reaction to AI. On one hand, it’s dazzlingly fascinating. Then, it reminds me of eating a Twinkie—it feels great while doing it, and then it’s just garbage afterward. To me, the sky’s the limit in terms of potential. It will revolutionize the workforce— People will lose jobs just like every revolution. 

But my job is to make unique objects that reflect the human experience. And AI is not the human experience. It mimics things that have already been done and reconfigures them. But there’s a strange hangover to it—no matter how incredible it seems—and they are incredible—there’s something familiar. It’s like a dream you’ve already had—a hangover from a dream.

I’m sure AI will get better and better. But luckily, I make objects. Hopefully, what’s interesting about my work is that it involves mistakes and reactions. Intimacy will be valued more and more as our culture evolves.

That’s my perception.

Jacobsen: Where do you think the place is now for art activists, despite the “despair”?

Rockman: Well, there are other mediums—film, streaming, or other forms of moving entertainment that come out of the history of television and movies. For example, The China Syndrome when that came out in 1979— crippled the nuclear industry. Unfortunately, in retrospect, environmentally, it was probably not for the best. So if you tell human stories that are relatable it might be extremely effective. But I don’t think what I’ve done so far as an artist has been effective.

Jacobsen: Do you think collective art activism is still worth pursuing, rather than individual?

Rockman: Well, I don’t know what “collective” means. What does that mean?

Jacobsen: Like artists organizing under banners—Earth Day, or through symposia and conferences—organized around a theme relevant to climate change activism? Things like that.

Rockman: Environmental Activism has not been effective since the 1970’s. Civil rights activism was effective. Gay and women’s rights—have been effective in the past. The problem is that we’ve run out of time. It’s a physics experiment. It’s not negotiable.

Jacobsen: Yes, and that also goes back to the prior mini-commentary about how people, largely, aren’t physics-literate.

Rockman: Right. But you must understand something, Scott—in America, huge industrial, corporate, and global forces make sure people are skeptical about science because it’s in their best interest. When science tells stories about industries like fossil fuels or plastics who want to make money- they don’t want to go out of business.

Jacobsen: Yes. Not an accident. What do you think the effectiveness of popular science communicators has been—your Bill Nyes, your Carl Sagans, your Neil deGrasse Tysons, and others?

Rockman: I was lucky enough to—well, I know Neil. I know Bill Nye. They’re wonderful. I don’t think they’re quite up to the task. I don’t think anyone is. We need someone equivalent to Martin Luther King as a spokesperson who can take on the mantle. That’s why the Bobby Kennedy affair is tragic—he could have been that person.

Jacobsen: What if we’re looking through a historical lens here, from a generational psychology perspective? Think about it—during the peak activism era you’re referencing, there were fewer media channels: television and radio. A narrower distribution meant greater cohesion. Civil rights had figures like Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, and maybe Marcus Garvey as an intellectual legacy. Women’s rights had Gloria Steinem and others. These movements had leaders whom people wanted to follow—with enthusiasm.

What if there’s been a gradual slide over decades toward cohorts that respond less to singular, charismatic leadership? If that’s the case, the tactics need to change accordingly. What about that?

Rockman: Sure. Whatever works. Maybe Muhammad Ali was a great figure for these issues, and he put his career and life on the line. He went to prison. I don’t see… I don’t see LeBron doing that, even though he’s someone who has, much to his credit, kept himself out of controversy and lives a life worth emulating on many levels. But I don’t see anyone taking those risks in these generations.

Jacobsen: Yes. So, is there a large, risk-averse trend?

Rockman: It’s a type of corporateness. I don’t see Vince Carter—Air Canada—doing it. 

Jacobsen: Who would be the one for this generation now? Whoever uses “Sigma” and “No Cap” best. What’s the longest piece you’ve ever taken to produce—and what’s the quickest? I know, sorry. I’m doing extremes here.

Rockman: I don’t know… The sketch I did of Manifest Destiny on a napkin when I was at a dinner sitting next to Arnold Lehman, the then director of  the Brooklyn Museum in 1999,was the quickest. Then making the damn painting took five years which I finished in 2004.That was the longest. So there you go. It’s the same piece.

Jacobsen: The official Earth Day poster for 2020 features solar panels in a vibrant natural setting. What inspired it?

Rockman: It was a hard process, Scott, because I kept coming up with ideas that Earth Day deemed too negative. And this was, of course, before the election. I was thinking to myself, “Are you kidding me? What is this—We Are the Worldor some fucking Coke commercial?” I was about to bail, and my wife Dorothy said, “Don’t be an idiot. This is a dream opportunity for you.” You must understand that Robert Rauschenberg did the first Earth Day poster in 1970, and my wife used to work at Leo Castelli, the gallery that represented him. We have two Rauschenbergs. So, this is bucket list. So, I talked to some friends. We devised the idea over a couple of beers. Much to my surprise, the Earth Day people liked it. I was thrilled.

Jacobsen: Quick question—side note. What beer?

Rockman: One of the local IPAs up here in CTHeadway IPA.

Jacobsen: Do you ever drink Guinness?

Rockman: I’ve loved Guinness, though it’s a little heavy. I had it more when I was younger and needed less exercise.

Jacobsen: That’s right—it’s for molasses aficionados or something like that.

Rockman: Molasses—there you go. 

Jacobsen: I remember one time in a small town, there was this guy named Veggie Bob. I had the phone number (604) 888-1223—that’s how small the town was. He ran Veggie Bob’s. Later called it his Growcery Café. I remember I bought a bucket of molasses from him for no good reason. What should I ask… How is Madagascar?

Rockman: Sad and incredible.

Jacobsen: How sad? How incredible!

Rockman: These islands have unique biodiversity. Who doesn’t love land leeches and beautiful lemurs? On the other hand, the human population is so desperate for resources. It’s like moths eating a blanket. Then, the Chinese try to eat it, too. So, it’s sad.

Jacobsen: You had a recent Journey to Nature’s Underworld exhibition, correct?

Rockman: That’s in Miami. And I also have a gallery show in Miami called Vanishing Point at the Andrew Reed Gallery.

Jacobsen: Was the former one with Mark Dion?

Rockman: Yes. At the Lowe Art Museum in Miami.

Jacobsen: How was that collaboration going?

Rockman: We’ve been friends for forty years. About twenty works each from over the last four decades are juxtaposed next to each other.

Jacobsen: Forty years ago, one might hazard a guess—you drank Guinness at some point.

Rockman: I did, mostly in the ’80s.

Jacobsen: When action movies were a very big thing

Rockman: I was listening to a podcast about Predator—the movie.

Jacobsen: Ah, yes. That’s very cool. What did you learn?

Rockman: I learned so many things. For instance, I learned that the first location had to be moved because there was no jungle, and no one could figure out why that original location had been chosen to shoot the movie.

Rockman: Yes. That was the era of iconic movie lines.

Jacobsen: “If it bleeds, we can kill it!”

Rockman: Yes.

Jacobsen: Or what was that other line… “Pussyface”?

Rockman: Was it?

Jacobsen: Good. You’re married to a journalist. What are your partner’s perceptions of journalism now—and her perceptions of how the public views journalists now, based on your conversations?

Rockman: My wife Dorothy Spears, slowed down being an arts journalist because she felt that the things she wanted to write about for the places she was writing for became increasingly influenced by market dynamics. And—I don’t want to put words in her mouth—and this is my perception of her perception: the market for advertising in some parts of these venues began to dictate or influence the journalism content. And she didn’t want anything to do with that.

Jacobsen: That was the end of her journalism career?

Rockman: No, but she just moved on to other types of writing. She’s writing books now. A memoir about her experience at Leo Castelli Gallery, for example. So, no—she just lost interest in being at the service of the publicity department of art of journalism.

Jacobsen: Advertising?

Rockman: Ish. It’s a very tough situation.

Jacobsen: Sure. Yes. Especially when you’re making a decision right at the highest level in North America.

Rockman: Exactly.

Jacobsen: That’s fair. What question have you always wanted to be asked but have never been?

Rockman: I’m so lucky that I’ve been asked so many questions—that anyone even cares about what I’m doing.

Jacobsen: That’d be fun if you could ask yourself. What do you think your younger self, drinking a big pint of Guinness, would be asking your older self now? “Why are you drinking IPAs?”

Rockman: Ha! No, but seriously—we all have regrets. I’d give myself some advice at key moments: not to do certain things and to do other things.

Jacobsen: At what points do seemingly good opportunities arise, but “all that glitters is not gold”? What are some key signs?

Rockman: You’d never know. Every day, there’s some interesting email or offer. Things often go south, but you must be optimistic and hope something works out.

Jacobsen: So, this interview took a mood shift over forty minutes. I can’t tell if we went from despair to optimism or—

Rockman:Medication or my martini kicked in.

Jacobsen: Ha!

Rockman: No, I’m kidding.

Jacobsen: That’s right. That’s it. 

Rockman: Yes.

Jacobsen: So, that’d be quite a good question: “Why are you drinking IPAs and martinis now rather than Guinness?” That’s my question to you.

Rockman: Rather than what?

Jacobsen: Guinness into IPAs and martinis.

Rockman: You can drink more of it without feeling nauseated.

Rockman: Yes.

Jacobsen: Thank you very much for your time. I appreciate your expertise.

Rockman: Pleasure.

Jacobsen: Nice meeting you. Bye-bye.

Last updated May 3, 2025. These terms govern all In Sight Publishing content—past, present, and future—and supersede any prior notices. In Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons BY‑NC‑ND 4.0; © In Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen 2012–Present. All trademarks, performances, databases & branding are owned by their rights holders; no use without permission. Unauthorized copying, modification, framing or public communication is prohibited. External links are not endorsed. Cookies & tracking require consent, and data processing complies with PIPEDA & GDPR; no data from children < 13 (COPPA). Content meets WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act & is preserved in open archival formats with backups. Excerpts & links require full credit & hyperlink; limited quoting under fair-dealing & fair-use. All content is informational; no liability for errors or omissions: Feedback welcome, and verified errors corrected promptly. For permissions or DMCA notices, email: scott.jacobsen2025@gmail.com. Site use is governed by BC laws; content is “as‑is,” liability limited, users indemnify us; moral, performers’ & database sui generis rights reserved.