Yearly Archives: 2011

TWO DEGREES Produced by Artsadmin – 12–18 June 2011

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Cycle Sunday: House of Hot Breath, photo by Erica Earle

 

Sitting between art and activism, performance and protest, this year’s Two Degrees festival takes over the streets of East London

Two Degrees is the first ever festival to bring together over 30 radical and political artists to respond to and intervene in the public debate on climate change and government cuts.

Transcending the gallery space and traditional definitions of ‘art’ this festival is about audiences actively taking part. From bike rides and haircuts to sharing food and stories, Two Degrees is a unique series of performances, films, installations, walks and interventions by artists and activists that offer a positive, alternative response to the current financial and climate crises.

Our consumption of food is increasingly a high-profile political issue, from food miles to fair trade. For one week only a pop up café created by Clare Patey will draw attention to some of the lesser known problems we face. Crayfish Bob’s stylish eatery invites dinner party conversation whilst highlighting the damage caused to London’s waterways by the invasive American Signal Crayfish. Elsewhere in the festival, Rebecca Beinart investigates herbal medicine and natural poisons in a performance that gathers powerful plants from London’s streets and the Otesha Project lead a food foraging cycle tour.

Finding new ways of sharing ideas and creating dialogue can mobilise change. The Haircut Before the Party is a hair salon with a difference. Customers at this temporary Whitechapel salon will be offered a free haircut in exchange for swapping their opinions, experiences and thoughts with their hairdresser.  Future Editions, an alternative human library at Toynbee Studios will allow you to actively engage with leading climate change specialists. Visitors to the library are met by a maverick librarian who selects for them a human book. Your book will then offer you a 10 minute conversation – a rare opportunity to ask questions or exchange views. Glasgow based artist and activist Ellie Harrison looks at our increasingly fragmented and precarious labour market in Work-a-thon; an attempt to break the world record for the most self-employed workers in one space, creating a social environment for workers to combat issues of isolation, lack of solidarity and unregulated hours.

Green transport is also part of the programme and Cycle Sunday (in collaboration with Arcola Theatre) invites audiences to participate in a range of performances, events and workshops, all made for bikes. From a grafitti tour of London to a bingo bike ride and bike powered smoothie maker – artists, campaingers, engineers and designers explore the possibilities of green technology and low carbon lifestyles.

Across the UK, protest and activism have hit the headlines in recent months, but what is the link between the economic crisis and climate change? Two Degrees asks this question, bringing together artists and activists working outside of the mainstream, proposing alternative and inspiring solutions to the problems we face today, bridging the gap between art and activism.

For further information and images please contact Penny Sychrava PR on 0796 791 5339 or pennysychrava@hotmail.com or Sam Scott Wood at Artsadmin on sam@artsadmin.co.uk or 020 7247 5102.

Crayfish Bob, photo by Dan Houston

 

ABOUT TWO DEGREES

Two Degrees is Artsadmin’s weeklong festival of art and activism, climate and cuts. Following the first festival in 2009, Two Degrees 2011 takes place from 12-18 June in and around Artsadmin’s Toynbee Studios home.

Two Degrees takes place as part of the activities of the Imagine 2020 Network of European arts organisations who are working together to encourage arts organisations and artists to engage more with the subject of climate change. The current partners in the network are Artsadmin; Lift, London; Bunker, Ljubljana; Le Quai, Angers; Kaaitheater, Brussels; Domaine d’O, Montpelier; New Theatre of Institute of Latvia, Riga; Transforma, Torres Vedras; Domino, Zagreb, Rotterdamse Schouwbourg, Rotterdam; and Kampnagel, Hamburg. www.imagine2020.eu

Two Degrees is supported by the European Commission Culture Programme and by the National Lottery through Arts Council England.

ABOUT ARTSADMIN

Artsadmin is based at Toynbee Studios and is a unique producing and presenting organisation for contemporary artists working in theatre, dance, live art, visual arts and mixed media, also offering various support services for artists, including a free advisory service, mentoring and development programmes and a number of bursary schemes. Toynbee Studios is Artsadmin’s unique centre for the development and presentation of new work.  The studios comprise a 280-seat theatre, five studio spaces and the Arts Bar & Café, all of which host performances and events throughout the year. www.artsadmin.co.uk

Gulf Coast Fund Responds as Region Braces for Yet Another Disaster

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As Mississippi River Flooding Heads South, Gulf Coast Fund Launches Text-to-Donate Campaign to Raise Desperately Needed Resources

New Orleans, LA – The Gulf Coast Fund for Community Renewal and Ecological Health, (www.gulfcoastfund.org), a community-led philanthropy in the Gulf Coast, is mobilizing in anticipation of yet another disaster. As rising flood waters from the Mississippi River approach the region, the Fund is working with grassroots leaders to distribute emergency grants to underserved communities that will likely be severely affected, such as those along the Atchafalaya River in the Louisiana Bayou. Flood waters are expected to cover ten percent of Louisiana, impacting 2,500 people living in its immediate path and an additional 22,500 who are predicted to be affected by backwater flooding.

“We hope for the best but prepare for the worst,” states Marylee Orr, Executive Director, Louisiana Environmental Action Network (www.leanweb.org). “The challenge is waiting to see what the river will do. For now, we’re doing what we can–patrolling the River, distributing daily updates on flood conditions, keeping communities informed, and supplying clean-up kits for use after the water recedes, which is expected at the end of May at the very earliest,” Orr continues.

“Most evacuees have stored their belongings and are staying with friends or family, and more mandatory evacuations will likely be issued in the coming days,” explains LaTosha Brown, Director, Gulf Coast Fund for Community Renewal and Ecological Health. “Just as with the residents displaced by the recent tornadoes, permanent and lasting housing solutions need to be developed. Staying with friends and family can not be considered a long-term solution,” Brown states.

This latest emergency response by the Gulf Coast Fund is in addition to ongoing support for hard-hit, low-income and often isolated rural communities in Alabama and Mississippi, who are still reeling from the tornadoes that struck last month, as well as continued funding and aid to support residents impacted by health issues and loss of livelihood due to the BP drilling disaster.

“By establishing an extensive network of grassroots organizations, the Gulf Coast Fund has been able to move resources quickly to areas with urgent needs,” Brown declares. “But in the face of so many recent disasters occurring one after the other, the need for funds has increased. Our hope is that by launching a text-to-donate campaign, we can reach out to a broad audience, and fortify our ability to provide emergency grants to disenfranchised communities with crucial needs,” Brown states.

You can now donate to the Gulf Coast Fund with your cell phone:

TEXT “RESTORE” to ‘85944’ to donate $10 instantly

Make sure you Reply Yes to confirm your gift

Standard Messaging Rates Apply

The Gulf Coast Fund will also be launching the “One Gulf. One People. One Future. Restore America’s Gulf Coast” social media campaign on their Facebook, Twitter and YouTube pages as part of the RESTORE text-to-donate effort to increase funds supporting Gulf Coast organizations.

www.Facebook.com/GulfCoastFund

www.YouTube.com/GulfCoastFund

@GulfCoastFund on Twitter

* Interviews with Marylee Orr and LaTosha Brown available upon request*

Call for participants/presenters in a panel presentation and round table discussion, with possible breakout sessions at Scenofest, PQ2011

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Roundtable Information

10am  21st June

Considering Sustainable Design: expanding the possible by rethinking the way we create

In their book, Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things, William McDonough and Michael Braungart argue that we will never sell sustainable practice by pitching cutting back, but rather through creating products that are beneficial to the earth. As Braungart points out, ants have a greater biomass than humans, and have been industrious for millions of years, yet unlike humans, their industry nourishes the planet. This panel will consider the benefits of sustainable design practice beyond the ‘it feels right’ motivation. By Rethinking the Way We Create Things, might we be opening up to a whole new and exciting world of design possibilities?

If you are planning to attend PQ2011, are interested in this aspect of design, and feel you would be interested/available to participate, please send your proposed presentation topic (abstract), and a short bio to William Mackwood:  mackwood@yorku.ca

2pm 21st June

Sites of Performance – Theatre out of frames

This years Scenofest sees two major performance projects happening outside of a theatre building, so what is it that this form of theatre achieves that cannot be achieved through other means ? Over the last ten years there has been a real surge in the interest in making work in unorthodox spaces from garages, botanical gardens, intimate apartments to massive industrial units.  Increasingly this work seeks out intersection with other collaborators, historians, cultural geographers, urban planners as the work seeks to map hidden histories. Street theatre performance too has developed in sophistication and scale and artists are employed as a catalysts to re-imagine their futures. Work by pioneering artists like Meredith Monk, Ariane Mnouchkine, Peter Brooks and companies like Dogtroep, Skewed Vision, Wilson+Wilson, La Machine all shaped the form, but what does the future hold ?

This roundtable considers the unique opportunities offered through this work and explore sites of performance potential for spectacle / community engagement / regeneration / as text / scenographic material.

If you are planning to attend PQ2011, are interested in this aspect of performance, and feel you would be interested/available to participate, please send your proposed presentation topic (abstract), and a short bio to Peter Reed at peter.scenofest@gmail.com

Green Building: Where Does The Art Fit In?

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This post comes to you from Green Public Art

On May 4, 2011, Rebecca Ansert, Founder & Principal of Green Public Art co-presented an American for the Arts webinar Going Green: How to Align Public with Green Building and Infrastructure with

The premise of the webinar was this: Increasingly, various levels of government are demanding that new and retrofitted public buildings and urban infrastructure meet green standards. Through case studies and policy examples we will cover fundamental approaches for integrating art that makes green technologies visible into the design and construction of green buildings, as well as public infrastructure. Participants will learn key language that describes approaches to public art that showcases green building and infrastructure technologies such as stormwater capture and energy production and how these kinds of public art can be integrated into existing and new ordinances and modifications to comprehensive plans. Productive strategies for the artist selection process, as well as green building standards materials resources and maintenance will also be covered.

The following was my ten-minute contribution to the conversation which included the examination of a LEED certification checklist, where I believe public art can play a role. I hope this will enable others to continue to advance the conversation of public art in green building in their own organizations.

I believe that the public art community has a great opportunity to take a critical and creative approach to finding sustainable strategies to incorporate into our built environment. We need a green public art movement that can set a course to increase the aesthetic appeal of new construction and city planning; to encourage projects to take a holistic approach; and encourage artists to take an active role in creating works which demonstrate green processes, and utilize green design, materials and techniques in green building projects.

THREE LEADING GREEN BUILDING CERTIFICATION PROGRAMS

BREEAM (Building Research Establishment’s Environmental Assessment Method)was launched in 1990. It is a performance based assessment method and certification program for new building`s. The primary aim of BREEAM is to mitigate the life cycle impacts of new buildings on the environment in a robust and cost effective manner. There are ten categories for award points in this program

The Living Building Challenge is a program of the International Living Building Institute that was launched in 2006. It is an independent non-profit organization. The underlying principle of the Living Building Challenge is that all development projects should use nature as the ultimate measurement stick for performance. There are a total of twenty checkpoints in the Living Building Challenge and they are organized into seven categories. The major difference of this program is that certification is based on actual performance instead of modeled outcomes like LEED and BREEAM. Projects must be fully operational for at least twelve consecutive months prior to certification.

LEED (Leadership in Energy and Enviromental Design) was launched in 1998 by the United States Green Building Council, or USGBC. I will focus most of my discussion on this certification program primarily because it is widely being accepted by municipalities as the green building certification of choice.

VS. TABLE

This table enables you to view each program’s certification criteria side-by-side. Notice the high amount of overlap. For instance, every certification program awards points for water efficiency and renewable energy sources. A couple of certification criteria unique to their respectful programs are BREEAM’s Management category and the Living Building Challenge’s Equity category.  It is also interesting that the Living Building Challenge is the only certification program that awards points specifically for aesthetics in their Beauty category.

The conversation continues here… PUBLIC ART and LEED – Sustainable Sites and Water Efficiency

 

Rebecca Ansert, founder of Green Public Art, is an art consultant who specializes in artist solicitation, artist selection, and public art project management for both private and public agencies. She is a graduate of the master’s degree program in Public Art Studies at the University of Southern California and has a unique interest in how art can demonstrate green processes or utilize green design theories and techniques in LEED certified buildings.

Green Public Art is a Los Angeles-based consultancy that was founded in 2009 in an effort to advance the conversation of public art’s role in green building. The consultancy specializes in public art project development and management, artist solicitation and selection, creative community involvement and knowledge of LEED building requirements. Green Public Art also works with emerging and mid-career studio artists to demystify the public art process. The consultancy acts as a resource for artists to receive one-on-one consultation before, during, and after applying for a public art project.

Go to Green Public Art

‘Pool – Creative City Projects

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This post comes to you from Cultura21

What does “pool” in “Liverpool” stand for? It is the goal of ‘Pool to explore, reveal and celebrate the origins of the city of Liverpool and in so doing to contemplate and influence the city’s future. Through walks, picnics, celebrations, conferrings and positive documentation, ‘Pool works with communities in Liverpool to raise awareness about the ecology and social dynamics of their spaces.

Current projects:

1) Earth: Seed: Nurture: Grow reveals unused land in a series of monthly events which challenge the understanding of neglected urban spaces.

2) Growing Granby is a collaboration with Granby Adult Learning Centre to provide a course exploring sustainability past, present and future in the Granby triangle of Liverpool.

3) Construction Site is an exhibition which looks at the changes of the city and invites citicens to have their say.

For more information visit: www.poolproject.co.uk.

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