Yearly Archives: 2015

Biophilia – Biology for Artists

Cultura21, Open Calls

This post comes to you from Cultura21

Call for applications. Deadline March 3rd.

Biolophilia is the urge to affiliate with other living forces. The term literally means the love of life or living systems.

Biophilia is a residency for Canadian and international artists interested in ecology, nature and life sciences to study, research and experience themes of interacting with the living natural world. It will take place over a week in Gatineau, Quebec, Canada in the spring 2015. The residency will facilitate daily excursions into natural habitats for collection of materials, exploration of and production within a wide range of Canadian wildlife. Daily expeditions into forests, wildlife sanctuaries, farms and research labs will be enriched by biologists, naturalists and experts.

Ayatana workshops focus on experience, research and brainstorming by visual and conceptual artists. Writers, poets, musicians and dancers are also invited to apply. Preference will be given to artists working with natural materials, bio art, performance, intervention, site specific installation, interactive or nomadic work, interdisciplinary research and collaboration. Although it is not necessary for a resident to produce work during the program, collaboration with each other and the non-artist community of biologists and nature observers is encouraged. All participants will be invited to give a short public artist talk, and to contribute to the residency catalogue. It is hoped that the residency will facilitate connection between participants and lead to collaborations or international shows.

The organizers are looking for adventurous artists with enthusiasm for daily brainstorming and creation and a willingness to share the development of early-stage work with a small group. Like-minded artists will be grouped together to encourage collaboration and skill share. The workshop will instigate the experimentation and sharing of new materials and artistic ideas in a supportive, analytical and critical context.

Outline:

Mycology:

Hike and forage with a mushroom expert in the Gatineau forest: Residents will be invited to step off the path to experience making decisions with intuition and their senses to see, smell and taste the forest from a new perspective. Guided by a mycology expert the goal of this walk will be to appreciate and be inspired by the wild life with an emphasis on wild mushrooms. While enjoying the forest and collecting natural materials you will learn about the life cycles of mushrooms and some of their practical uses and industrial applications, including dye and ink making and print making.

Dinner with foraged wild mushrooms depending on what the group found that day.

Sterile technique workshop:

During a demonstration of sterile tek for home biology experiments, grain with bioluminescent mushrooms will be inoculated for residents to grow at home.

Herpetology:

Guided tour of the frogs, snakes and turtles of the Ottawa Valley. Visit from Reptiles Rock, Ottawa’s Herpetological Center.

Botany:

The Ottawa area is covered in lush trees. Be guided by local arborist in the magic of local trees and plants on a hike through the forest.

Entomology:

According to physics, bee flight is impossible. Still, we will visit a honey farm to witness the magic of bees. A moth lure with UV light will be set up to observe the local moths.

Ornothology:

Learn about wild bird rehabilitation and the natural history of the birds of Canada and the magic of feathers through a guided tour of the Wild Bird Sanctuary. An up close look at ostriches, emu, peacocks, turkeys, ducks, geese and some other favorites of this local farmer and bird lover.

Local University Laboratory:

A guided visit to the Andrew Pelling Research Laboratory for Biophysical Manipulation to learn about synthetic biology. Residents will get expirience with lab equipment and working with human HeLa cells.

Location:

Residents will be picked up in Ottawa, Canada and driven to the residency house where you will stay in the small town of Wakefield in Quebec. The culturally vibrant town, surrounded by mountains is nestled between the Gatineau Provincial Park and the Gatineau River and is home to many scientists and artists.

Cost 

$1200.
Residency places are limited to 6 artists. Official invites will be given to accepted applicants to help in the procuration of grants and funding.

What is included: 

  • Accommodation with bedding in the Birch and Pine Ranch. Indoor and outdoor work spaces
  • All activities
  • Ground travel to all activities
  • Most meals will be provided, cooked by the resident chef. *Residents will be responsible for paying for their own meals from restaurants
  • Workshops by members of local community
  • Introductions to sites and contexts
  • Facilitators / production assistants
  • Participation in residency catalogue

How to apply

Send the following material to ArtLovesScience [at] gmail [dot] com (digitalucid [at] gmail [dot] com) before March 3rd 2015
  1. Artist CV
  2. Artist statement (about 200 words)
  3. Ayatana form
  4. Portfolio 5 – 10 images

More info: http://www.artayatana.com/biophilia%20ottawa.html

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Cultura21 is a transversal, translocal network, constituted of an international level grounded in several Cultura21 organizations around the world.

Cultura21′s international network, launched in April 2007, offers the online and offline platform for exchanges and mutual learning among its members.

The activities of Cultura21 at the international level are coordinated by a team representing the different Cultura21 organizations worldwide, and currently constituted of:

– Sacha Kagan (based in Lüneburg, Germany) and Rana Öztürk (based in Berlin, Germany)
– Oleg Koefoed and Kajsa Paludan (both based in Copenhagen, Denmark)
– Hans Dieleman (based in Mexico-City, Mexico)
– Francesca Cozzolino and David Knaute (both based in Paris, France)

Cultura21 is not only an informal network. Its strength and vitality relies upon the activities of several organizations around the world which are sharing the vision and mission of Cultura21

Go to Cultura21

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Creating and Developing your Environmental Policy

Creative Carbon Scotland

This post comes from Creative Carbon Scotland

Wanting to update your current environmental policy for 2015? Or maybe you’re looking to create a new environmental policy and don’t know where to begin- whichever best describes your current situation, our latest resource is a useful read for now and to return to later.

Our Creating and Developing your Environmental Policy resource lists simple questions to ask yourself at the beginning of your policy-creating or policy-updating procedure. The process is also broken down into five simple steps- Involve staff in your policy development, Think about boundaries, Don’t start from scratch, Break it down into manageable chunks and Think about processes.

To read more from this resource, please click here.

Other resources about policies can be found in our Policies Case Study Section.

These resources include Environmental Policies from The Tron Theatre, CCA, Glasgow Film Theatre and National Theatre of Scotland, amongst others. Have a look for some inspiration to get started today!

The post Creating and Developing your Environmental Policy appeared first on Creative Carbon Scotland.

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Creative Carbon Scotland is a partnership of arts organisations working to put culture at the heart of a sustainable Scotland. We believe cultural and creative organisations have a significant influencing power to help shape a sustainable Scotland for the 21st century.

In 2011 we worked with partners Festivals Edinburgh, the Federation of Scottish Threatre and Scottish Contemporary Art Network to support over thirty arts organisations to operate more sustainably.

We are now building on these achievements and working with over 70 cultural organisations across Scotland in various key areas including carbon management, behavioural change and advocacy for sustainable practice in the arts.

Our work with cultural organisations is the first step towards a wider change. Cultural organisations can influence public behaviour and attitudes about climate change through:

Changing their own behaviour;
Communicating with their audiences;
Engaging the public’s emotions, values and ideas.

Go to Creative Carbon Scotland

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“Ghosts of the Gulf” by Brandon Ballengée

Cultura21

This post comes to you from Cultura21

Currently on view at the Beacon Institute for Rivers and Estuaries is an exhibition by artist/biologist Brandon Ballengée, co-organized by Amy Lipton of ecoartspace. The exhibition titled Ghosts of the Gulf includes several stark and brilliantly colorful images of marine species collected in the Gulf of Mexico directly following the deadly 2010 Deep Water Horizons (DWH) oil spill disaster.

Ballengée’s artistic and scientific inquiry has focused on the rapid decline of amphibian populations around the world and the occurrence of developmental deformities among amphibians. He has received international attention for this work as well as his scientific research publications. Ballengée’s work as a biologist looks at amphibians as bio-indicator species, particularly their development in complex ecosystems and the proximate causes for developmental deformities among wild populations. “Understanding amphibians at this point in history is very important as they are suffering from rapid wide-spread population declines at over 40% in less than half a century” said Ballengée. Though the Gulf of Mexico species depicted in Ghosts of the Gulf do not appear to show deformities, Ballengée, hypothesizes as to why; “The subjects in Ghosts were found shortly after the spill so do not have any obvious morphological abnormalities, however we don’t know what the long term impacts of the spill yet will be, on these species or even our own”. These images of species once common to the Gulf, represents a creative process that blurs the lines between art and biology. Ballengée’s specimen-subjects transition from their once living state to brightly colored x-rays revealing the complex architectural anatomy of these beautiful and vanishing species.

Beacon Institute is proud to welcome artist/biologist Brandon Ballengée to its gallery at 199 Main Street in Beacon, NY for a new show that will be on display through March 8, 2015.

———-

Cultura21 is a transversal, translocal network, constituted of an international level grounded in several Cultura21 organizations around the world.

Cultura21′s international network, launched in April 2007, offers the online and offline platform for exchanges and mutual learning among its members.

The activities of Cultura21 at the international level are coordinated by a team representing the different Cultura21 organizations worldwide, and currently constituted of:

– Sacha Kagan (based in Lüneburg, Germany) and Rana Öztürk (based in Berlin, Germany)
– Oleg Koefoed and Kajsa Paludan (both based in Copenhagen, Denmark)
– Hans Dieleman (based in Mexico-City, Mexico)
– Francesca Cozzolino and David Knaute (both based in Paris, France)

Cultura21 is not only an informal network. Its strength and vitality relies upon the activities of several organizations around the world which are sharing the vision and mission of Cultura21

Go to Cultura21

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Opportunity: Textiles – Circular by Design Workshop

Creative Carbon Scotland, Open Calls

This post comes from Creative Carbon Scotland

FUNDING OPPORTUNITY

Design in Action Chiasma: ‘ Textiles – Circular by Design’, 4pm, 18th – 20th March, Kirknewton, Edinburgh

Design in Action and Zero Waste Scotland invites academics, organisations, businesses and designers to take part in an exciting 2-day residential workshop and networking event to collaborate on generating and developing innovative ideas for the Scottish textiles sector. Following the event, there is the opportunity for attendees to apply for funding up to £20k to prototype ideas as near-to-market solutions.

The ‘Circular by Design’ Chiasma will explore emerging issues around textiles and the circular economy. In Scotland, the unique and world-renowned luxury fashion and textiles market is ready for change. The sector is big business, generating 9,500 jobs and a turnover of £956m each year (Scottish Government, 2013) and exports to more than 150 countries worldwide. This event will bring together stakeholders to inform and equip the Scottish textiles sector with the skills and resources to realise opportunities for a circular economy, focusing on smart innovation, material efficiency, collaborative consumption and the continuation of making meaningful, alternative products in the wake of new social and disruptive technologies.

The Chiasma will take place at the Dalmahoy Marriott Hotel, EH27 8EB and is free to attend. All meals and accommodation will be provided throughout the event and reasonable travel expenses reimbursed. Designers who meet the qualifying criteria will also have the opportunity to apply for a Design Support Grant worth up to £500 to attend.

APPLY ONLINE: http://www.designinaction.com/chiasmas/waste-scotland-chiasma
(closing date for applications is 4pm, Monday 16th February).

FURTHER ENQUIRIES: Contact Louise Jack, enquiries@designinaction.com (01382 385361) or Jen Ballie, j.ballie@dundee.ac.uk.

Design in Action is a Knowledge Exchange Hub for the Creative Economy based primarily at the University of Dundee and funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council and Creative Scotland to research, promote and create opportunities for the adoption of design as a strategy for economic growth in industry.

The post Opportunity: Textiles – Circular by Design Workshop appeared first on Creative Carbon Scotland.

———-

Creative Carbon Scotland is a partnership of arts organisations working to put culture at the heart of a sustainable Scotland. We believe cultural and creative organisations have a significant influencing power to help shape a sustainable Scotland for the 21st century.

In 2011 we worked with partners Festivals Edinburgh, the Federation of Scottish Threatre and Scottish Contemporary Art Network to support over thirty arts organisations to operate more sustainably.

We are now building on these achievements and working with over 70 cultural organisations across Scotland in various key areas including carbon management, behavioural change and advocacy for sustainable practice in the arts.

Our work with cultural organisations is the first step towards a wider change. Cultural organisations can influence public behaviour and attitudes about climate change through:

Changing their own behaviour;
Communicating with their audiences;
Engaging the public’s emotions, values and ideas.

Go to Creative Carbon Scotland

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Navjot Altaf at Kochi Muziris Biennale 2014/15

Cultura21

This post comes to you from Cultura21

Navjot Altaf is known for her sustained engagement with interactive / collaborative art practices. Since 1997 she has also been working in collaboration with indigenous artists and community members of Bastar in Chhattisgarh, Central India on Nalpar (hand pump sites) and Pilla Gudi/Temples for children projects that seek to situate artistic production within the fabric of community life. An early encounter with Marxism leading to her interest in feminism has been instrumental in shaping Altaf’s sensibilities as an artist.

Altaf’s interactive installation at the Kochi- Muziris Biennale titled ‘Mary wants to read a book’ (2014) is a built up space / a library,  to recognize significance of the literacy movement and library culture in Kerala. The work is based on the visual of ‘Study Charts 2,000 Years of Continental Climate Changes’.  This work is to be viewed from an ecological perspective / the web of life of which we are a part, a critique of hyper production and consumption which has continued to grow and led civilizations to estrangement from life-world experiences – resulting in climatic catastrophe.

Library that documents global rise in temperatures in the last 2000 years. Weaved into this narrative is an homage to Kerala’s library movement. Closely linked to left cultural activism, The library movement along with the state’s drive towards full literacy is widely considered a key ingredient in the success of the ‘Kerala-model of development’; marked by high social indicators and political participation despite comparatively low levels of industrialization and per capita income. The installation takes its form- that of a library from this history.  Comprised of more than two thousands of multi-coloured books made from recycled paper each with text from Altaf’s research. Work also includes audio and video.  the  library is the three dimensional model of a chart depicting 2000 years of continental temperature change on earth.Coded to correspond to a colour spectrum (with red and blue indicating the highest and lowest temperatures respectively), The chart documents temperature changes including the alarming rise of the last decades. By cross referencing this chronicle of an impending ecological disaster with an idealized version of a social progress within the largely unindustrialized state of Kerala, Altaf is perhaps suggesting / asking for an alternative, less ecologically punishing mode of development.

The books that are part of the installation can be taken away by the audience in the last two weeks of the biennale.

The biennale will be taking place from Dec 2014 – March 2015.

More info at: http://kochimuzirisbiennale.org/.

———-

Cultura21 is a transversal, translocal network, constituted of an international level grounded in several Cultura21 organizations around the world.

Cultura21′s international network, launched in April 2007, offers the online and offline platform for exchanges and mutual learning among its members.

The activities of Cultura21 at the international level are coordinated by a team representing the different Cultura21 organizations worldwide, and currently constituted of:

– Sacha Kagan (based in Lüneburg, Germany) and Rana Öztürk (based in Berlin, Germany)
– Oleg Koefoed and Kajsa Paludan (both based in Copenhagen, Denmark)
– Hans Dieleman (based in Mexico-City, Mexico)
– Francesca Cozzolino and David Knaute (both based in Paris, France)

Cultura21 is not only an informal network. Its strength and vitality relies upon the activities of several organizations around the world which are sharing the vision and mission of Cultura21

Go to Cultura21

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GALA Member Spotlight: GeoAIR

Creative Carbon Scotland

This post comes from Creative Carbon Scotland

As a GALA partner, GeoAIR has been an active participant in the GALA general meetings, building collaborative relationships with other GALA partners across a wide geographical area.

GALA is a partnership between 19 cultural organisations that has enabled a collaborative investigation of the role of environmental sustainability for the arts and design sectors. In March 2015, the Green Art Lab Alliance (GALA) will be meeting for its third and final meeting in Glasgow.

CCS: What organisation do you represent in GALA and how did you find yourself involved?

Sophia Lapiashvili (SL): I’m representing GeoAIR (Georgia). Me and my partner Tamar Janashia were intensively involved in the project. GeoAIR participated in both components of the GALA project (the LAB and Workshop). In Spring and Summer we invited four international artist to Tbilisi for the GeoAIR residency to work with local artists together on the topic of environment and sustainability. The artists worked very closely with local context. As we implemented the project in the market space of Tbilisi, the local workers were also very much involved.

From 22nd-23rd January 2015 we organised the Green Laboratory: Culture and Environment conference/workshop which included participants from Julie’s Bicycle and Pollinaria (two other GALA project members).

CCS: What is the significance of GALA to you and how has the project contributed to your work?

SL: During the project I have met very interesting people and learned about many interesting projects and organizations. The GALA project created a very good network and I’m very thankful to be part of it. The working process for the project helped me to develop the ideas for my future projects. I wish to keep contact after the project is over and collaborate with GALA members again.

CCS: What is your favourite memory, moment, discussion or thought that you’ve taken from past GALA general meetings?

SL: The general meetings were very exciting to me- in Maastricht at the Jan van Eyck Academie meeting Lex ter Braak and getting to know the development of the academy, how they are dealing with art and environment. Also visiting Visby and the amazing  landscapes of Gotland was an interesting experience for me, to see the positive attitude toward the sustainable environment, as it is not the case in Georgia. Also working with the whole GALA team was very positive and contributed a lot to my professional development. All project partners are so different, and this diversity makes the project successful and exciting.

CCS: What are your hopes for the final GALA general meeting in Glasgow this coming March?

SL: For the March meeting I hope to see all GALA participants in Glasgow and learn more about their projects, problems and have feedback from all partners. I also wish to have some ideas for future plans.

The post GALA Member Spotlight: GeoAIR appeared first on Creative Carbon Scotland.

———-

Creative Carbon Scotland is a partnership of arts organisations working to put culture at the heart of a sustainable Scotland. We believe cultural and creative organisations have a significant influencing power to help shape a sustainable Scotland for the 21st century.

In 2011 we worked with partners Festivals Edinburgh, the Federation of Scottish Threatre and Scottish Contemporary Art Network to support over thirty arts organisations to operate more sustainably.

We are now building on these achievements and working with over 70 cultural organisations across Scotland in various key areas including carbon management, behavioural change and advocacy for sustainable practice in the arts.

Our work with cultural organisations is the first step towards a wider change. Cultural organisations can influence public behaviour and attitudes about climate change through:

Changing their own behaviour;
Communicating with their audiences;
Engaging the public’s emotions, values and ideas.

Go to Creative Carbon Scotland

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Seeds of Straw: Arts and Agriculture Collaborative Project

Creative Carbon Scotland

This post comes from Creative Carbon Scotland

Last week, Creative Carbon Scotlan Project Officer Gemma Lawrence joined artist organisation and fellow GALA member Pollinaria in the Abruzzo region of Italy to collaborate on the Seeds of Straw project. This collaboration took place 24th-31st January 2015, with aims of investigating local community relationships specific to agriculture.

Seeds of Straw is a collaboration between Creative Carbon Scotland and Pollinaria within the context of GALA – Green Art Lab Alliance. It originates from the themes explored by artists Futurefarmers’ Consortium Instabile, an experimental architecture, radio, research and public programme establishing a consortium of seed custodians and agents of rural regeneration.

As a part of Consortium Instabile, Seeds of Straw continues to explore these issues through the lens of sustainable agriculture focusing on a byproduct of cereals – straw – often forgotten or undervalued as a resource. The project is made up of a series of encounters and interviews with farmers, makers, designers, artists and architects in the region of Abruzzo, Italy.

The research focuses on both producers and users of straw and how these relationships bring together unexpected ecologies, for example between farmers and artists. It is concerned with how these connections might lead to greater resilience of practice, livelihoods and therefore the sustainability and regeneration of the region.

Seeds of Straw aims to increase awareness of these different practices within the specific territory of Abruzzo. At the end of a week-long field study, a final gathering at Pollinaria will be organised, where people visited during the tour will be invited to meet each other, connect and share their ideas on the themes crucial to the initiative.

As well as focusing on the local context, the research will contribute to a broader conversation within the GALA project around arts and sustainability. The information gathered will be broadcasted internationally and distributed on the Consortium Instabile radio along with other contributors.

This study uses straw as a starting point for looking at how relationships and communities of practice can emerge and what is needed to sustain them. It is hoped that this learning can be used and applied in other contexts.

Seeds of Straw is part of a series of coordinated collaborations between Pollinaria and other members of the GALA network in relation to the themes researched by Consortium Instabile.

Consortium Instabile is a project realised in the framework of the Green Art Lab Alliance – GALA and with the support of the Culture Programme of the European Union.

http://www.futurefarmers.com/consortiuminstabile

http://greenartlaballiance.eu/

 

Collaborators:

Gemma Lawrence, Beth Ramsay, Daniela d’Arielli, Gaetano Carboni

 

 

 

The post Seeds of Straw: Arts and Agriculture Collaborative Project appeared first on Creative Carbon Scotland.

———-

Creative Carbon Scotland is a partnership of arts organisations working to put culture at the heart of a sustainable Scotland. We believe cultural and creative organisations have a significant influencing power to help shape a sustainable Scotland for the 21st century.

In 2011 we worked with partners Festivals Edinburgh, the Federation of Scottish Threatre and Scottish Contemporary Art Network to support over thirty arts organisations to operate more sustainably.

We are now building on these achievements and working with over 70 cultural organisations across Scotland in various key areas including carbon management, behavioural change and advocacy for sustainable practice in the arts.

Our work with cultural organisations is the first step towards a wider change. Cultural organisations can influence public behaviour and attitudes about climate change through:

Changing their own behaviour;
Communicating with their audiences;
Engaging the public’s emotions, values and ideas.

Go to Creative Carbon Scotland

Powered by WPeMatico