Yearly Archives: 2010

Green Stage Scratch Night Part of the Branching Out festival (also actors needed)

@ Rosemary Branch Theatre in Islington

November 28th, 7:30pm

Calling actors and directors:

We are looking for actors interested in participating in the a night of rehearsed reading for 3 exciting new plays!

We are also looking for one director who is interested in directing one of the plays.

Green Stage is an exciting new theatre project that plants sustainability at the heart of the creative process and at the root of new works themselves. Over the past 7 months they have devised original work inspired by environmental debates and interesting green spaces. Their short play Unplugged imagined how London would respond to a week long power cut and was performed at Spitalfields City Farm and Camden Green Fair. An interactive piece called Forest Trails & Urban Tales, inspired by King Henry’s Walk community garden, gave audiences a chance to reconnect with the forest through encounters with creatures both mythical and real. Now they venture inside a theatre building, with excerpts from 3 intriguing new plays tackling themes of activism, energy production and the frenzied detachment of urban living.

About the plays:

Good Fix by Meghan Moe Beitiks

A radical do-gooder art collective’s converted warehouse: a world of miso soup, grant applications, drunken hysteria and toxic sludge.
A play about the high we get from ‘right’ actions, the difficulty of pursuing lasting solutions, and the danger of defining ‘good’ too narrowly.

Cogent Park by Ian Lane

There is C. There is P. Together they make CHP.
P does the pacing. H hitches a ride.
P makes things happen. H makes things the happenings more bearable.
An absurdist physical theatre piece about the relationship between heat and power, and the benefits of cogeneration.

Hollow Glass by Lara Stavrinou

“The plundering of the human spirit by the market place is paralleled by the plundering of the earth by capital”—Bookchin, Murray, Post Scarcity Anarchism
Witness the dysfunctional social arrangements of six twenty-somethings as they struggle to accustom themselves to life in the city. Activism, vintage shoes and microwave brownies provide instant gratification, but in the midst of rising crime and distrust, can they find the space and time to relate to one another?

Rehearsals:

Thursday, Nov. 25th 6:30-9:30pm
Sunday, Nov. 28th 10:00 – performance at 7:30pm.

Unfortunately this is an unpaid opportunity but your travel expenses will be covered.

Please email: greenstageuk@gmail.com if you are interested and available for the rehearsals.

EXIT ART – Call For Proposals for Projects on Fracking

Exit Art announces an exhibition on fracking, on view from December 7, 2010 to February 5, 2011. Hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”) is a means of gas extraction that accesses gas trapped more than a mile below the earth’s surface. Fracking: Art and Activism Against the Drill, a project of SEA (Social Environmental Aesthetics), will expose this process of gas extraction that is contaminating water supplies worldwide. Through documentary videos, photographs, commissioned works and literature, it will engage the public in dialogue on this issue through public lectures and calls to action; and encourage audiences to continue educating themselves and their communities on fracking and its effects. It is organized by Assistant Curator Lauren Rosati, and Peggy Cyphers, Ruth Hardinger, and Alice Zinnes. As part of this exhibition, Exit Art invites artists and the general public to respond to the issue of fracking by submitting a postcard-sized artwork and brief written response.

PLEASE SUBMIT:

a 4 x 6” postcard with original work on one side (original drawing, painting, collages, photograph, etc.) and a brief written statement responding to fracking on the other side. Postcards must be mailed or dropped off in person during regular hours.

ALL postcards must be received by Wednesday, November 24, 2010.

MAIL TO:

Exit Art
Attn: Fracking
475 Tenth Avenue
New York, NY 10018

All received works will be exhibited and handled by the public. Works will not be returned and will become property of the Exit Art Archive. No phone calls, please.

MORE INFORMATION on FRACKING

When a well is fracked, small earthquakes are produced by the pressurized injection of millions of gallons of fresh water combined with sand and chemicals, releasing the gas, as well as toxic chemicals, heavy metals and radioactive materials that contaminate the air and water. The Energy Policy Act of 2005, passed under the guidance of then-Vice President Dick Cheney, exempts fracking from the Safe Drinking Water Act and major provisions of other protective laws, virtually eliminating the gas industry’s liability and E.P.A.’s regulatory oversight. Exemption from the Community Right to Know Law also absolves the gas industry from being required to report the actual chemicals used in the drilling processes—chemicals that can severely contaminate the water supply and cause serious illnesses. A drilling moratorium is in effect in New York State until the D.E.C. issues fracking regulation, potentially paving the way for drilling to commence in New York in 2011.

via EXIT ART – Programs | Call For Proposals.

Otis College of Art and Design, Graduate Public Practice and Graduate Fine Arts present author and public intellectual critic Lucy Lippard

To kick off Street Smart, three events on public art, Graduate Public Practice and Graduate Fine Arts present author and public intellectual critic Lucy Lippard, whose interests and writing include tourism, archaeology, anthropology, and small New Mexico towns.

Seating limited, reservations suggested at publicpractice@otis.edu or (310) 846-2610. Free to the public.

Since 1966, Lippard has published 20 books on feminism, art, politics and place and has received numerous awards and accolades from literary critics and art associations. In her lecture, “Farther Afield,”she will speak on landscape, history, place-making and tourism from an interdisciplinary perspective. In the hands of many artists, her writing has inspired research and production on the relationship between visual art, space, activism, research, publics, and the social and political uses of art.

In a long history of key publications in the visual arts, The Lure of the Local: Senses of Place in a Multicentered Society and On the Beaten Track: Tourism, Art and Place have particular relevance for public artists. Her most recent book Down Country: The Tano of the Galisteo Basin, 1250-1782 is yet another relevant departure.

The informal studio setting of the MFA Public Practice program in the The 18th Street Arts Center –formerly home to the historic production of Judy Chicago’s The Dinner Party – will set the stage for an intimate and informal engagement with Lippard.

Graduate Public Practice Studios, 1657 18th St, Santa Monica CA 90404

Otis College of Art and Design.

Watch the Trailer for Waste Land, a Documentary About Beauty and Trash

WASTE LAND Official Trailer from Almega Projects on Vimeo.

Jardim Gramacho, outside of Rio, is the world’s largest landfill. In a new documentary called Waste Land, Vik Muniz, a Brazilian-born, Brooklyn-based artist, returns to create portraits, made from the trash itself, of the so-called “catadores” who work there.

It looks like an interesting peek at a subculture you’re not likely to be exposed to otherwise, a helpful reminder that we’re creating incredible volumes of trash, and a nice example of the redemptive power of art.

Filmed over nearly three years, WASTE LAND follows Muniz as he journeys from his home base in Brooklyn to his native Brazil and the world’s largest garbage dump, Jardim Gramacho, located on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro. There he photographs an eclectic band of “catadores” — self-designated pickers of recyclable materials. Muniz’s initial objective was to “paint” the catadores with garbage. However, his collaboration with these inspiring characters as they recreate photographic images of themselves out of garbage reveals both the dignity and despair of the catadores as they begin to re-imagine their lives. Director Lucy Walker (DEVIL’S PLAYGROUND, BLINDSIGHT, COUNTDOWN TO ZERO) has great access to the entire process and, in the end, offers stirring evidence of the transformative power of art and the alchemy of the human spirit.

2 Degrees of Separation – United Nations Climate Conference, #COP16

2 Degrees of Separation

Cancun, Mexico

November 29-December 10, 2010

Javier Velasco, La Isla Hundida (2010)

ARTPORT_making waves and Cinema Planeta are proud to present engaging art where it matters—at the heart of the most important climate conference in the world!

A rich program of cell phone video contests, art videos, panels with conference participants and artists, and a live art performance with hundreds of children drowning little islands in the midst of a heated climate debate.

Presented as part of the official cultural program of the United Nations Climate Conference in Mexico, COP16, at local cinemas, outdoor screens, public spaces, and conference locations in Cancun, Tulum, and Playa del Carmen.

A full program will be announced in November.

PARTICIPATE!

Send in your cell phone video of 20 seconds for the planet. Learn more at www.my20sec.org

DONATE!

Learn more about the groundbreaking live art performance, La Isla Hundida (The Drowned Island) by artist Javier Velasco with hundreds of school children during the UN climate conference in Cancun… and help us make it happen through Kickstarter! Even a small contribution can go a long way. http://kck.st/92oUXD

Also:

(Re-) Cycles of Paradise

Spanish Cultural Center, Mexico City

November 11, 2010-January 9, 2011

In conjunction with COP16 (First presented at COP15, Copenhagen, Dec 2009)

International artists raise challenging questions about gender and climate change.

Participating artists:

Kim Abeles (USA), Ander Azpiri (Mexico/Spain), Subhankar Banerjee (India/USA), Charley Case (Belgium/Spain), Meschac Gaba (Benin/NL), Anita Glesta (USA), Yolanda Gutiérrez (Mexico); Perla Krauze (MEX); Nnenna Okore (Nigeria/USA), Betsabée Romero (Mexico); Javier Velasco (Spain), Frances Whitehead (USA), Insa Winkler (Germany)

Partners: United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC); International American School of Cancun; Summit of Environmental Cinema, Mexico; Government of the Maldives; Maldivian Youth Climate Network; Bluepeace Maldives; Spanish Agency of International Cooperation for Development (AECID); IPADE Foundation Spain.

Your ARTPORT_making waves team:

Corinne Erni, Co-Founder and Co-Director New York

Anne-Marie Melster, Co-Founder and Co-Director Valencia, Spain

Oliver Orest Tschirky, Co-Director Zurich, Switzerland

WWW.ARTPORT-PROJECT.ORG

9 DAYS|3 LOCATIONS|20 SUN BOXES

Sound artist, Craig Colorusso, returns to Western Massachusetts with his latest piece, a solar powered sound installation; SUN BOXES.

For the first three weekends of November Turners Falls River Culture will present Craig Colorusso’s latest piece Sun Boxes.  At three locations, allowing the participants to observe the piece evolve as it moves through the town.

Nov. 5-7      Lawn of the Great Falls Discovery Center, 2 Ave.

Nov. 12-14   Peskeomskut Park, Ave. A + 7th Sts

Nov. 19-21   Lawn at the beginning of the bike path, 1st St

Sun Boxes is a solar powered sound installation.  It’s comprised of twenty speakers operating independently, each powered by the sun via solar panels. Inside each Sun Box is a PC board that has a recorded guitar note loaded and programmed to play continuously in a loop.  These guitar notes collectively make a Bb chord.  Because the loops are different in length, once the piece begins they continually overlap and the piece slowly evolves over time.

Participants are encouraged to walk amongst the speakers, and surround themselves with the piece.  Certain speakers will be closer and, therefore, louder so the piece will sound different to different people in different positions throughout the array.  Allowing the audience to move around the piece will create a unique experience for everyone. in addition, the participants are encouraged to wander through the speakers, which will alter the composition as they move.  Given the option two people will take different paths through the array and hear the composition differently.  Sun Boxes is not just one composition, but, many.

We are all reliant on the sun.  It is refreshing to be reminded of this.  Our lives have filled up with technology.  But we still need the sun and so does Sun Boxes.  Karlheinze Stockhausen once said “using Short-wave radios in pieces was like improvising with the world.”  Similarly, Sun Boxes is collaborating with the planet and its relation to the sun.

Colorusso now lives on the South Shore of Boston with a wife and a cat.

Come be part of the drone.  Craig Colorusso  muudon@yahoo.com 718.809.2349

Lisa Davol, riverculture@montague-ma.gov 413-230-9910

Unruly ecologies: Biodiversity and art

A SymbioticA Symposium

November 26 to 28 2010

A symposium exploring the possibilities and difficulties of the diversity of life through critical investigations in art, ecology and activism.

The ecology of biodiversity is based upon an uncertain definition, incomplete statistics and the need to act in a world without balance. While multiple flora and fauna databases have being established and are being coordinated, there is an urgent need to engage even more proactively with complex ecosystems and human responses. Artists, scientists, humanities scholars and conservationists will come together to talk of the ‘matters of concern’ around the potentials and futures of biodiversity.

Confirmed Speakers include Professor Bruce Clarke (Professor of Literature and Science, Department of English, Texas Tech University), Professor Timothy Morton(Professor of English (Literature and the Environment), Department of English, University of California, Davis), Associate Professor Anas Ghadouani (School of Environmental Systems Engineering, The University of Western Australia), Greg Pryor (Artist and Lecturer, School of Communications and Arts, Faculty of Education and the Arts, Edith Cowan University), Dr Lesley Instone (Lecturer, School of Environmental and Life Sciences, Faculty of Science and
Information Technology, Newcastle University) and British Artists Dr Bryndís Snæbjörnsdóttir and Mark Wilson.

Dates: Friday 26 November to Sunday 28 November

Locations: Perth and Mandurah, Western Australia

Registration: Symposium sessions free but please RSVP for catering purposes sym@symbiotica.uwa.edu.au

Call for contemporary artworks for a survey of examples:

Artist whose work explores the idea of biodiversity are invited to post links to their work under the following categories or email an image and paragraph of text to: perdy@perditaphillips.com

  • 1. as a concept or idea (eg taxonomy and classification, issues of scale in ecology, resilience)
  • 2. as an issue (habitat loss, over-exploitation of resources, alien species, pollution and climate change)
  • 3. as a way of thinking — diversity (human/nonhuman), complexity and interconnectedness, compositionist strategies (Latour), resilience

Tipping Point Announces Second Round of Commissions

From the Tipping Point Website:

We are pleased to announce that our second round of commissions is now launched.

This year we are delighted to be able to offer a co-commission with Without Walls, the consortium of 8 of the UK’s most strategically significant outdoor arts festivals.

We will be able to sponsor around 6 commissions and will offer awards as follows.

  • One award of up to £30k (this will be a co-commission between TippingPoint and Without Walls and should meet specific criteria)
  • One award of up to £25k (TippingPoint Commission)
  • Two awards of up to £15k (TippingPoint Commission)
  • One award of up to £10k (TippingPoint Commission)
  • Two awards of up to £5k (TippingPoint Commission)

Proposals must be submitted by Monday 6th December at 5pm. For further guidance and a full application form please download the following document: TP Commissions Round 2 How to apply.doc

Relevant Info: New Guide For Healthy Flooring Materials

from healthystuff.org

October 19, 2010 – from HealthyStuff.org

Largest-Ever Study of Chemicals in
Home Improvement Products Finds Lead, Phthalates, Cadmium, Organotins and Other Harmful Ingredients

Study Finds Flooring & Wallpaper Contain Hazardous Additives
Already Restricted or Banned in Toys

Groups Call for Stronger Regulations of Toxic Chemicals in Consumer Products

(Ann Arbor, MI) — Researchers known for exposing toxic chemicals in children’s toys have turned their attention to home improvement products, finding ingredients in flooring and wallpaper that are linked to serious health problems. The nonprofit Ecology Center tested over 1,000 flooring samples and nearly 2,300 types of wallpaper for substances that have been linked to asthma, birth defects, learning disabilities, reproductive problems, liver toxicity and cancer. The results were released today on the easy-to-use consumer website – www.HealthyStuff.org – which also includes prior research on toys, pet products, cars, women’s handbags, back-to-school products and children’s car seats.

“The public needs to know that there are practically no restrictions on chemicals used in home improvement products,” said Jeff Gearhart, the Ecology Center’s lead researcher, who founded HealthyStuff.org. “Our testing shows that toxic chemicals show up everywhere in home improvement products. If we don’t want these chemicals in our toys, we certainly don’t want them in our floors.”

HealthyStuff.org tested home improvement products for chemicals based on their toxicity or tendency to build up in people and the environment. These chemicals include lead, bromine (brominated flame retardants), chlorine (PVC), cadmium, arsenic, tin (organotins), pththalates and mercury.

Phthalates — chemical additives used to soften PVC products — were particularly prominent in flooring and wallpaper, raising a number of health concerns. For example, a 2008 European study (Kolarik 2008) found an association between concentrations of phthalates in indoor dust and wheezing among preschool children, especially when PVC flooring was in the child’s bedroom. In addition some phthalates have endocrine-disrupting properties, meaning that they can disturb normal hormonal processes, often at low levels of exposure. Studies have also demonstrated possible links between phthalates and adverse impacts on the reproductive system, kidneys, liver, and blood. Finally, a 2009 Swedish study (Larsson 2008) found that children who live in homes with vinyl floors, which can emit phthalates, are twice as likely to have autism.

People spend about 90% of their time indoors, so indoor concentrations of hazardous chemicals can be more relevant to human exposure assessment than ambient concentrations. Children and pets are particularly vulnerable, since they are frequently close to the floor and therefore have high levels of exposure. In fact, many of these substances have already been restricted or banned in children’s products.

In addition to finding many products with chemical hazards, HealthyStuff.org test data shows that many products do not contain dangerous substances, proving that safe products can be made.

Highlights of Findings from HealthyStuff.org’s Home Improvement Study:

Flooring: Flooring that was tested includes wood, bamboo, cork, carpet cushion, sheet flooring, and vinyl and ceramic tiles.

  • 52 of 1,016 (5%) of all flooring samples had detectable levels of lead. Products with the highest percent of lead included: Vinyl Sheet Flooring: 23 of 731 (2%) samples of the vinyl sheet flooring had detectable levels of lead. Vinyl Tile Flooring: 29 of 39 (74%) of the tiles sampled contained detectable lead, with levels as high as 1,900 ppm.
  • Flooring samples contained numerous phthalates, at up to 12.9% by weight. Limited testing for phthalate plasticizers indicates most vinyl flooring contains four phthalate plasticizers recently banned in children’s products. Four representative samples of vinyl flooring were tested from two national brands, Armstrong and Congoleum, and two discount brands, Crystal and tiles sold through a local hardware chain.
  • Two-thirds 39 of 61 (64%) of PVC flooring tiles contained organotin stabilizers. Some forms of organotins are endocrine disruptors; and other forms can impact the developing brain and are toxic to the immune system.
  • Safe alternatives are available. Linoleum, cork, bamboo and hardwood all tested free of lead, cadmium, mercury and other hazardous metals. Non-vinyl flooring products are half as likely to contain hazardous chemical additives.
  • Wallpaper: HealthyStuff.org tested over 2,300 types of wallpaper, from 11 different brands and manufacturers.

  • The vast majority (96%) of the wallpapers sampled contained polyvinyl chloride (PVC) coatings.
  • Over one-half (53% or 1,234 of 2,312) of PVC wallpaper samples contained one or more hazardous chemicals of concern (at > 40 ppm levels) including lead, cadmium, chromium, tin and antimony.
  • Limited testing for phthalate plasticizers indicates that most PVC wallpaper also contains phthalates plasticizers which are now banned in children’s products.
  • Nearly one in five (18% or 419 of 2,312) wallpaper samples contained detectable levels of cadmium (>40 ppm). 13% (290 of 2,312) had levels over 100 ppm. All wallpaper with cadmium was vinyl coated.
  • To sample the home improvement products experts used a portable X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) analyzer and laboratory testing. XRF is an accurate device that has been used by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to screen packaging; the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) to screen food; and many State and County Health Departments to screen for residential lead paint. Additional samples were analyzed by laboratories using EPA test methods.

    “With each new scientific report linking toxic chemical exposure to a serious health problem, it becomes more obvious that the law intended to keep harmful chemicals in check — the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) of 1976 — is not working,” said Andy Igrejas, Director of Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families, a coalition of 250 groups, including the Ecology Center, working to overhaul our failed chemicals policy.

    In response to the increasing consumer demand for safer products, Senator Frank Lautenberg and Representatives Bobby Rush and Henry Waxman have introduced bills to overhaul TSCA. The Safe Chemicals Act in the Senate and the Toxic Chemicals Safety Act in the House are expected to be re-introduced in the next Congressional session.

    The full home improvement database and more information about what consumers can do is available at www.HealthyStuff.org.

    Links:

    Green Flooring Materials (from the Center for Health, Environment and Justice)   http://www.healthybuilding.net/pvc/PVCFreeResilient.html

    Alternative Building Materials (Healthy Building Network)  http://www.healthybuilding.net/healthcare/Screening-the-Toxics.pdf

    Green Alternatives for Pipe, Electrical Cable and Switching: (pdf)http://www.healthybuilding.net/pvc/Vittori_Div15-16_GreenBuild.pdf

    > Read More About the Release
    > View Home Improvement Research FindingsHome improvement products can also be searched or viewed in a variety of ways:> Search by Brand> Search by Type

    > Products with Low Level of Detection

    > Products with Medium Level of Detection

    > Products with High Level of Detection

    > Products with Detectable Levels of Cadmium

    This post is part of a series documenting Sam Breen’a Spartan Restoration Project. Please see his first post here and check out the archive here. The CSPA is helping Sam by serving in an advisory role, offering modest support and featuring Sam’s Progress by syndicating his feed from http://spartantrailerrestoration.wordpress.com as part of our CSPA Supports Program.