DRIFT is the title of the fourth art in nature project of Rerun Productions Foundation. The Waterloopbos, the former Hydraulic Laboratory in Marknesse, the Netherlands, will host this contemporary spatial art project from May till December 2012. The project invites artists to send proposals which respond to the theme and to focus their idea on the special location of the exhibition, a curious combination of an industrial heritage site and forest.

Theme

DRIFT refers to our passion for change, transformation from old to new, from sea to land, from industry to nature, from basic to digital and back again. Drift cannot be directed, it is a primal force. It pushes us in a direction, it brings us something new.

DRIFT invites us to reflect on the impact of transformation; the impact of human interventions in nature, the disappearance of the old world and its replacement by a new one, and the possibilities that arise from that.

Location

The site where DRIFT will be located is an expression in a nutshell of a metamorphosis. The Waterloopbos (Marknesse, The Netherlands) is situated on a ”polder” (land conquered on the sea in the 1930s). It has been a hydraulic laboratory until 2001, where engineers experimented with scale models of harbours and estuaries to solve specific problems with currents, waves and mud flows. Nowadays the half overgrown, partly restored industrial ruins lie scattered in the forest.

Proposals

Artists are invited to send a concrete proposal for a spatial installation that can survive the conditions on site for at least 7 months (a public forest, the influences of nature). The choice of material is free, if harmless to nature.

Work period: 8 to 18 May 2012

Dismantling of the exhibition: after mid-December 2012

Proposals should contain:

- A project outline and project description (including use of materials and workplan)

- CV and documentation of previous work by the artist

Proposals can be sent only digitally in PDF format (up to 10 A4) to: proposalskunstbroedplaats@gmail.com

Deadline: February 25, 2012

The results of the selection by an expert jury will be announced 1 March.

Thanks to Jan van Boeckel for highlighting this.

ecoartscotland is a resource focused on art and ecology for artists, curators, critics, commissioners as well as scientists and policy makers. It includes ecoartscotland papers, a mix of discussions of works by artists and critical theoretical texts, and serves as a curatorial platform.

It has been established by Chris Fremantle, producer and research associate with On The Edge Research, Gray’s School of Art, The Robert Gordon University. Fremantle is a member of a number of international networks of artists, curators and others focused on art and ecology.
Go to EcoArtScotland

Tenor Saxaphonist Kevin Robinson, who is a firm believer in the power of music to heal, demonstrated how the sound that comes out of his instrument is influenced by his stance, breath, emotions – even the rate of his beating heart.  He showed how musical instruments can be fashioned from found objects such as hat stands, lamp stands and shades. Even the voice, hands and feet can be effective instruments, he said. A lesson in learning about how the music becomes one with your body came with Kevin encouraging the kids to clap their hands to a set beat, while he riffed and a NOMAD kid repeated sounds to a tune.This winter, the Kevin Robinson Ensemble (KREation) will be on tour in New York City and Baltimore this Winter (see dates)

For her part, Kenyatta A.C. Hinkle recounted tales from her Kentifrica homeland, providing maps and drawing of the people who live there and the instruments they play.  She encouraged the NOMADS to draw maps of their own home country (real or imagined) and then asked them to describe what life was like there.

Artist Kenyatta A.C. Hinkle's shows her portrait of a fellow citizen of Kentifrica to kids with the NOMAD Lab Art Project

Kevin Robinson, Kenyatta A.C. Hinkle and the NOMAD Lab Art Project collaborate with Sam Breen’s Trailer Trash Project in its mission to foster creativity and a sense of community through a program of art performances, exhibits and residencies in local Los Angeles neighborhoods.

NOMAD Lab founder, artist and CalArts faculty member Evelyn Serrano

In recognition of Human Rights Day, two international human rights lawyers based in Geneva, Switzerland joined the group.  Tom McCarthy and Anna-Lena Svensson McCarthy who were in California on a family trip, provided an opportunity to explain to that shelter is a human right.

Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housingand medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.” (article 25(1))  Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Thanks to Whole Foods of Valencia and  Steve’s Valencia Florist for their donations. 

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.

Proposals Due:  Feb. 8, 2012

Artists Notified by:  Feb. 22, 2012

Residency in Taiwan:  April 8 – May 7, 2012

Selected Artists Receive:  NT50,000 (US$1,662), round trip economy airfare, accommodations and meals for 26 days in Taiwan, local transportation, volunteer help to find materials and make the artworks

Send the following by email to Curator, Jane Ingram Allen, allenrebeccajanei@gmail.com

1. Description of your proposed sculpture installation giving estimated size and materials to be used (limit 1 page as a .doc or .pdf file).
2. Sketch of your proposed work as a .jpg or .pdf file (less than 1 MG in size)
3. Images and image list (title, date made, dimensions, materials/media, and where located) of 6 previous outdoor sculpture installations (6 .jpg files each less than 1MG in size)
4. CV or resume showing exhibitions, awards, residencies, education and experience as an artist (.doc or .pdf file)
5. Contact information:  Name, Present Address, Nationality, Email address and Website (.doc or .pdf file)

For more information visit the Blog at http://artproject4wetland.wordpress.com or contact Jane Ingram Allen, allenrebeccajanei@gmail.com

The banquette will be used for readings and discussions. It can fold away and become a small performance stage for indoor or outdoor audiences.

The work should be finished for up-coming performances this Fall, including one in December for the NOMAD Lab Art Project for kids.  Like Sam, most artists pursue their work with little outside help – often by holding down low-paying, no benefits jobs. CCI understands that at certain points along an artists’ creative path, material and organization support can be critical.  In addition to material assistance, CCI provides training organizational support and networking with organizations like USA Projects. 

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.

Children with Evelyn Serrano’s NOMAD Lab Art Project toured Sam’s trailer to inspect the progress since his last visit to their neighborhood in December.

Sam and friends gave neighborhood children a tour of the trailer during the Valle del Oro Neighborhood Festival, held May 6th at an apartment complex near Cal Arts. The festival was a chance to highlight the art work of  at-risk children, age 6-14, who participate in the NOMAD Lab Art Project.  Trailer Trash partners with the NOMAD Lab, exploring the importance of home and community through art.

In a public art “lab”,  the children made signs stating their views on the ingredients necessary for a safe and happy neighborhood.  In another lab they designed furniture for the inside of Sam’s trailer and gave pointers how to make it a welcoming place for young people.

Artist and teacher Evelyn Serrano directs the volunteer-run NOMAD Lab with help from Cal Arts students and others. The City of Santa Clarita is one of the project’s boosters and helps with the cost of materials.  In an email thanking the project’s teachers and helpers, Evelyn described  how happy the children were  to put their art (music, drawing, story-telling and photography) on display at festival:

Children at the Valle del Oro Neighborhood Festival watch as NOMADS receive certificates for participating in art projects held throughout the school year on the grounds of their apartment complex.

Test run on an experimental design for modular furniture inside the trailer.

Nomad signage filled in the blanks: "A good home is....", "A safe neighborhood is..."

I was at the verge of tears more than once during the festival. I was just so very proud of the young people and of the work we have accomplished this year. I can’t tell you how many of them came to me pleading that we have class THIS Saturday, that they can’t wait till September…

They have made friends in the program, they have become advocates of the program and understand the importance of it.

A NOMAD reads one of his stories while Evelyn Serrano holds the mike.

The girls shocked me with their impromptu speeches [saying why they like the NOMAD Project].  How proud I was! To see them exercise their collective and individual voices with power and fearlessness. How energized I felt after witnessing them. And seeing the boys so proud of their work (and rightly so).

My best wishes for an extraordinary summer.

Lots of love, Evelyn

Stay Tuned: On June 4th the NOMAD kids will exhibit their signs in a show called “ Slanguage” at a gallery in Willmington, CA.  For more information, check out the blog for the NOMAD Lab Art Project.

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.

Margaret Mc Laughlin, fine artist, has attended and written about an innovative sound work that was performed in Mooney’s boatyard, Killybegs, Co. Donegal, Ireland, on the 16th of October 2010. The work was part of the Donegal County Council’s Lovely Weather Art and Climate Change Public Art Programme (2009-10) . The project was co-curated by the Regional Culture Centre’s John Cunningham and Leonardo’s Annick Bureaud.  The sound performance pieces were based around the topic of ‘dead zones’, which are areas in the ocean in which aquatic life has been dramatically reduced. Artists Sean Taylor and Micheal Fernstrom, the Softday partnership, have extensively researched this subject.  As part of Leonardo/OLATS and Donegal Co. Council Lovely Weather Artist’s Residency, ‘Softday’ interpreted the sound of ‘dead zones’ into a tangible form for local audiences in a variety of sound forms.  Disturbingly there are 20 contested deadzones around Ireland, two of which are in Donegal bay and Killybegs harbour. The number of dead zones are increasing worldwide.

Read more at http://ecoartnotebook.com/?p=1624

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

Rumen Dimitrov – Bulgaria
Firman Djamil – Indonesia
Karen Macher Nesta – Peru
Julie Chou – Taiwan
Hsin-yu Huang – Taiwan

These artists will come to Cheng Long village for the installation period, April 8 – May 2, to create their site-specific environmental sculpture installations; the opening weekend for the exhibition is set for April 30 and May 1.  You can follow the artists’ progress on this Blog.  I will be posting more about each artist and what they are planning to create in Cheng Long.

I look forward to meeting all of the selected artists and welcoming them to Cheng Long, Taiwan.  Thanks again to all of those who entered, and we hope you will consider sending another proposal next year when we have a different theme and need different artists.

via Announcing the Artists for 2011 Art Project « Cheng-Long Wetlands International Environmental Art Project.

KUAN SHU EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATION

www.artproject4wetland.wordpress.com
Curator Jane Ingram Allen
Contact allenrebeccajanei@gmail.com
Phone: 886-930375160

Address:
KUAN SHU EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATION
Lane 79, Wu Lang Street
Taichung City 403
Taiwan
Call for Proposals: Deadline Feb. 11, 2011

2011 CHENG LONG WETLANDS International Environmental Art Project in Taiwan

‘Children and Artists Dream of Greener Wetlands’

Artists from all countries are invited to send a proposal for a site-specific outdoor sculpture installation that will involve working with local elementary school children to create an artwork focused on making the Cheng Long Wetlands a ‘greener’ place where biodiversity can flourish. This year the emphasis will be on sculpture installations in the waters of the wetlands that can improve the habitat for wildlife and increase biodiversity as well as provide aesthetic enjoyment and raise public awareness about the importance of wetlands. Any living plants used in the artworks should be able to survive in salty water and difficult growing conditions. Artists will work alongside other international artists and Taiwanese artists and with children at Cheng Long Elementary School, teachers, and the community during a 24-day residency in rural Yunlin County, Taiwan.

Deadline for Entries: February 11, 2011.
Artists will be notified by March 1, 2011.
Installation and Residency at Cheng Long Wetlands: April 8 (artists arrive) – May 2 (artists depart)
Dates of the Exhibition: April 29 (opening ceremony)- July 30, 2011

About the Exhibition Place:

The Cheng Long Wetlands is a developing wetlands preserve and environmental education area in Yunlin Country located on the southwestern coast of Taiwan. The Cheng Long Elementary School has about 75 children in grades 1-6 (ages 6-12) who will join with the artists in this project. This area in Taiwan is economically depressed, and most jobs have been traditionally connected with fish farming and nearby oyster farming. Most young people now have to move away to find jobs. There are no super markets, movie theaters or coffee shops, but this place will offer artists a unique cultural experience and an opportunity to share life with a community in rural Taiwan. For more information and some photos of the Cheng Long Wetlands, please see the blog on the wetlandcenter.blogspot.com/ There is also a blog in Chinese and English that contains information about the 2010 Cheng Long International Environmental Art Project, and more detailed information about the 2011 art project will also be on this Blog: www.artproject4wetland.wordpress.com

Selected International Artists will receive the following:

• Artist’s fee of NT$70,000 (about US$2,302) for international artists, and this fee is intended to cover airfare to Taiwan and train fare to Chiayi HSR Station as well as an honorarium to the selected artists. Detailed travel instructions will be sent to selected artists and an official letter of invitation that can be used to seek other funding if the artist desires. *Taiwanese artist’s fee will be NT$45,000, and they must pay their own train fare to Chiayi HSR Station.
• 24 days of accommodations in a local house with other international and Taiwanese artists. The houses will have a bedroom for each artist and a shared bathroom and kitchen for preparing meals.
• Local transportation by car to Cheng Long Wetlands in Yunlin County Tours to local sites will also be arranged. Bicycles will be provided for the artists to use around Cheng Long Village.
• Volunteer help from school children and adults in the community to create the artworks. We also plan to assign at least one adult volunteer to help each artist for the entire residency period.
• Meals provided for breakfast, lunch and dinner each day. A local cook will prepare dinner for the artists; lunch will usually be at school with the children and breakfast food will be provided for artists to make their own breakfast.
• Help to find local free materials and natural materials to make the artworks. Reeds and oyster shells are the most common available materials, but bamboo and tree branches and other materials may also be available. Artists should use only natural and recycled materials and processes that will not harm the environment. Artists will have to use some of the artist’s fee if they need other materials than those available for free locally.

Qualifications of Artists:

Artists who apply should have experience working with children and creating site- specific outdoor sculpture installations in public settings and involving ordinary people in their thoughts and process. The artists should also have an interest in wetlands and environmental education. The selected artists should be able to speak English and be able to get along well with other artists, the local community and school children. The selected artists should also introduce their home culture to the students and community in Cheng Long and possibly establish a connection with a school or environmental organization in their area to share experiences. We plan to select 3 international artists from different countries around the world and two artists from different places in Taiwan.

Curator of the Exhibition:

Jane Ingram Allen, an American independent artist, curator and critic, living in Taiwan since 2004 when she came to Taiwan as a Fulbright Scholar artist in residence, will again be the curator for this exhibition. Jane will work with the Kuan Shu Educational Foundation in Taiwan, to administer and coordinate all aspects of this project, including the selection of artists and supervising art installations and public programs. Jane has experience curating international art exhibitions and working with public art projects and children in communities around the world. Jane was the founding curator for the Guandu International Outdoor Sculpture Festival at Guandu Nature Park in Taipei, from 2006 – 2009

To Apply:

Send the following in English by e mail to Jane Ingram Allen by the deadline of February 11, 2011, at this address: allenrebeccajanei@gmail.com

Entries in Chinese may be sent to Ms. Chao-mei Wang at 觀樹教育基金會 Kuan Shu Educational Foundation ks.kk696@gmail.com

• Description of a proposed sculpture installation for the 2011 Cheng Long Wetlands Project (limit one page) as a Word .doc file or a .pdf file, including dimensions and materials to be used in the proposed work.
• Statement about your interest and experience working with children to create sculpture and installation art projects and about your interest in wetlands environmental issues (limit one page) as a Word .doc file or a .pdf file. This statement should include details about the school or environmental organization that you can introduce to the children at Cheng Long Elementary School for cultural exchange.
• Sketch or rendering of your proposed artwork for the Cheng Long Wetlands project (.jpg file of less than 1 MG)
• 6 images of previous related works (each sent as a .jpg file of less than 1 MG each)
• Image list to give details about the 6 images such as title of work, date made, materials used and location of the artwork (sent as a Word .doc file or .pdf file)
• CV or Resume in English that details your education and experience, previous awards and exhibitions. Be sure to include your name, present address and nationality.

Support for the Cheng Long Wetlands International Environmental Art Project

Supported by: Taiwan Forestry Bureau Organized by: Kuan Shu Educational Foundation, Taiwan (www.kskk.org.tw) Additional Support from: Cheng Long Elementary School, Kou-Hu Township, Yunlin County, Taiwan

As part of the Trailer Trash Project,  Sam will be working with the Nomad Lab Art Project, a program for at-risk children aged 6-14.  and their parents from the Valle Del Oro Neighborhood in Santa Clarita, CA.  The program currently offers art classes or labs) in writing, photography, guitar and public art.  Computer and cooking classes are available for parents.   It is run under the voluntary direction of Evelyn Serrano who also teaches a class on art and activism at CalArts.

The classes focus on the meaning of home – a theme Serrano has previously explored in her work as an artist and curator.  Coincidentally, it is also the theme that Sam is focusing on in his Trailer Trash project. On November 6th, Sam brought the Spartan to the Nomads, asking for their help figuring out what makes a house (or a tin can) a home.

The following article describes how the NOMAD LAB Art Project got started.  Over time, Sam’s Spartan Revival will keep you posted on the design ideas the Nomads come up with for the trailer.

They gather in empty spaces to turn dreams into art.  And as they draw and write,  they are planting the seeds of a peaceful community.

Meet The Nomads, children aged 6-14, who gather Wednesday and Saturday mornings at The Village Apartment Complex in Santa Clarita’s Valle del Oro (VDO) Neighborhood.  Here they have time to slow down, to get to know and trust each other.

The NOMAD LAB Art Project offers labs (or classes) in photography, public art, story telling and guitar. At the same time, their parents can participate in cooking and computer labs.   But art is just a starting point. It provides opportunities for neighbors in Santa Clarita’s troubled Valle del Oro Neighborhood to come together to explore what they like and what they want to change in their community.

“If we are successful, the kids and their parents will get to know each other,” says artist and NOMAD LAB organizer, Evelyn Serrano. “They will learn to be tolerant and respectful of each other.”

The program started off modestly enough last year with 30 children and Serrano as their  teacher.  Since then attendance has doubled to 60 kids and their parents, with five teachers, some from Serrano’s class at California Institute for the Arts.  Classes are free and everyone works on a volunteer basis.

“It’s a great program,” said Cynthia Llerenas, Community Services Supervisor for the City of Santa Clarita.  “I would like to see it modeled in different locations.”

Llernas, who also head’s the City of Santa Clarita’s Anti-Gang Task Force,  was an important force in helping Serrano get the program up and running.  Two years ago she was attending meetings with the Valle del Oro Neighborhood Committee to address problems of crime and racial tensions in their community.  Neighbors were feeling unsafe and they were their fingers at the young people.

Serrano, who was living in the Valle del Oro Neighborhood at the time, was aware that youngsters were joining gangs in the 5th and 6th grade.   As an artist and teacher committed to community art,  she agreed to run a program for at-risk youth in the neighborhood.

“Having worked with kids, I knew we shouldn’t place all the blame on them.” she explained. “The truth was more complex. There were no after-school or weekend programs in that area of town.  We needed to provide positive alternatives to gangs. And the voices of young people needed to be part of the solution.”

She went in search of a venue for classes, approaching the local elementary school and a youth organization. All requests were denied until she got a green light the management company at The Village – an apartment complex where much of the trouble was taking place.  Classes could meet in a vacant apartment until it was rented out and they would have to move into another one that was vacant.   The changing venues inspired the name, The Nomads.

“It’s like we are a gang,” explained Serrano. “But what we offer is another way of being together.  A lot of our kids see violence in their homes.  Art is the starting point for them to learn how to be together respectfully, to learn to collaborate successfully when we work.”

Nomads who participate in the writing, photography and music labs sit on the floor or in folding chairs. The minimalist, temporary nature of the venue creates a setting that seems conducive to creative output.

The public arts lab, taught by Serrano, takes place outside in the apartment courtyard. They are encouraged to closely observe their community and think about what they like about it and what they would like to change.

(See photo gallery of the public art lab: The Art of Observation.)

“I want the labs to be a special opportunity for the kids to re-engage with their neighborhood.  I want them to re-consider what it takes to make their home and community safe, healthy and sustainable,” Serrano explained.

Cynthia LLerenas is pleased with how all the pieces of this program are falling into place, and she wishes similar opportunities were open to other young people.   “If we had recreational opportunities for kids in every apartment complex it would eliminate 95% of our problems,” she says.

Her experience working 17 years as a prevention specialist has taught her a thing or two. “Kids don’t want to be involved with gangs, but they get sucked in, partly because there aren’t other viable alternatives, partly because the parents have lost control at home.  But there are no easy fixes.  A program like the NOMAD LAB requires on-going commitment from organizers, teachers and parents:  “You have to be passionate and you have to have a vision.”

“These kids are finding their niche,” she says.  ”Some of them come from a background where they have no self-esteem.  Now they are raising their hands in class and trying out for sports.  It’s all about building confidence.”

A big part of her job is to help parents and youth to learn how to access resources that will help them keep their neighborhoods safe.   In meetings that take place after the labs, parents learn how to access social and legal services as well as employment opportunities.   For communities to be sustainable, so it is important the talents and resources of people who live in the neighborhood must also be utilized.

Serrano says the mothers are in the cooking lab are “incredibly bright and resourceful.” Their energy and organizing talents help make the whole project run smoothly. It’s not just the moms.  When Nomad dad Jose Chunga  proposed labs for parents, he volunteered  himself to teach a computer class which has become a success.

Serrano says the NOMAD LAB Art Project is all about breaking down walls of fear and insecurity between neighbors.   “It’s hard for people to invest in their community when they are afraid of each other.  We are trying to create a safe context for people to interact and see each other as people who are very rich in resources.”

As for the kids, Serrano hopes that the observation skills she is teaching them as artists will carry over to change the things they don’t like about their community.   “I want them to learn to be critical observers in a positive way.  I would like them to ask themselves: ‘What is my say? Even though I am young, I have a lot of power.’”

“If we do anything right at least we can give them models and other alternatives about what a home can be.  We can encourage them to become dreamers.  And their dreams can influence their lives and the lives of other people.”

———-

The NOMAD LAB Art Project is a collaborative effort between the Valle Del Oro Neighborhood Association, the City of Santa Clarita, the Los Angeles County Human Rights Commission and The Village Apartments.

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.

This November 20-28, 350 EARTH will launch the world’s first ever global climate art project. In over a dozen places across the globe, citizens and artists will create massive public art installations to show how climate change is already impacting our world as well as offer visions of how we can solve the crisis. Each art installation will be large enough to be seen from space and documented by satellites generously provided by DigitalGlobe.

350 EARTH will be the first-ever global scale group show on the front line of climate change—our polluted cities, endangered forests, melting glaciers, and sinking coastlines. People around the world are invited to take part by attending signature events, submitting their own art, and spreading the word about the project.

350 EARTH will take place on the eve of the next United Nations climate meetings in Cancun, Mexico where delegates will work to create an international climate treaty. Our politicians have all the facts, figures, and graphs they need to solve the climate crisis. What they lack is the will. 350 EARTH will demonstrate the massive public support for bold climate action and the role that art can play in inspiring humanity to take on our greatest challenge: protecting the planet on which we live.

About – 350 Earth Art.

The Arctic Perspective Initiative (API) is working towards the construction of free, open, information sharing infrastructures for people living in the Arctic. It is the brainchild of artists Marko Peljhan and Matthew Biederman, and grew out of Peljhan's 10-year Makrolab project. As the first step, the API is working in collaboration with communities in Arctic Canada to design a mobile work and habitation unit to support seasonally nomadic lifestyles. A prototype is currently being built in Pond Inlet, Nunavut. When complete, the unit will be customisable to suit a variety of needs and uses on the land: from basic survival and safety, to global media streaming, communications, and environmental monitoring.

API is an art project, conceived by an artist and presented in arts contexts, which sets out to highlight the cultural, geopolitical and ecological significance of the Arctic and its indigenous cultures. It is also a network of individuals and organisations working collaboratively on a practical project: a utopian quest for an a 'third culture' beyond specialisation and national interests. It it art? It seems to me that more interesting questions are rather: Is this something that art can do? And how do we do it well?

–Nicola Triscott, Director

Read he full article here: Autonomous technology and art in the North < Blog < The Arts Catalyst.

The Ivy Project, led by Sharon Kallis, was a community-involved public programming initiative born out of the Stanley Park Environmental Art Project.

Vancouver artist Sharon Kallis works with unwanted natural materials. Through engaging local community in common handwork, unwanted materials are re-purposed into something new, creating opportunities for individuals to connect with nature in a unique, meditative, yet community oriented way.

Run in partnership with the Vancouver Park Board and the Stanley Park Ecology Society, the Ivy Busters program has removed more than 3.95 hectares of invasive species from Stanley Park since 2004. The intent of The Ivy Project was to create art installations that use the biomass that is unwanted and create opportunities for learning about the ecosystem of the park; is a creative method for observation and turns a material with negative impact to potentially good uses.

The Ivy Project saw over 180 volunteer community members turn mounds of English ivy into crocheted small bird net forms, woven nurse logs, a knitted boat, and a knitted anti-erosion blanket.

Please visit The Ivy Project website for more information and photos on this unique project.

Read an interview with Sharon Kallis by John K. Grande where Sharon goes into more detail around the process of re-purposing the ivy and working with SPES and community members on The Ivy Project.

via Vancouver Park Board – Arts.

Everything I hear from them, while I wait, makes me more and more admiring of this enterprise.

The Danes feel they have a reputation for being an unhospitable place. New Life Copenhagen has decided to turn this reputation on its head with a phenomenal act of generosity, opening the doors of their homes to 3,000 activists, NGO workers and delegates who are arriving in Denmark over the coming weeks to attend the pivotal COP15 conference.  It’s a spirit of openness you can only hoped will be matched by the governmental delegates.

In this act alone,  Woloo.org’s  Sixten Kai Nielsen and Martin Rosengaard, who created New Life Copenhagen may have already created the most significant artwork to align itself with the COP15 process:

The explain themselves: Instead of inviting artists to contribute art for a traditional museum exhibition, we have chosen to utilize hospitality and the human encounter as an exhibition platform. The purpose of the festival is to create a breeding ground for alternative ways of living together. Individual solutions are not enough. In order to stop climate changes, we have to rethink our way of life collectively.

The artists Superflex, Signa and Marisa Olson are also creating work as part of New Life Copenhagen. Olson will host a live event at Copenhagen’s City Square, Signa are going to produce a guest book in which we can all evaluate each others’ lifestyles, and Superflex are going to ask all of us to commit to a climate-friendly burial in the case that we die during our visit to Copenhagen.

Which is one of those committments I kind of hope I’m not going to have to live up to.

Go to RSA Arts & Ecology

Scores of Seattleites have been crocheting for months to create artist Mandy Greer’s “Mater Matrix Mother and Medium,” a 200-foot fiber “river” among the trees at Camp Long. Greerr installs the piece this week at Polliwog Pond. It’s part of a spring and summer of temporary public artworks, performances and films commissioned by the Seattle Office of Arts & Cultural Affairs “to celebrate the splendor of Seattle’s urban creeks” and encourage stewardship of essential watersheds. They include “Waterlines,” a performance in Volunteer Park where Stokley Towles traces the city’s water flow through interviews with city utility employees; a large, biodegradable water tower at the Bitter Lake Reservoir by John Grade; artists’ new short films on the work of Seattle Public Utilities; and a residency on the Fremont Bridge, plus a neighborhood art project, by Kristen Ramirez.

via APInews: Seattle Celebrates Urban Creeks, Watersheds.

“LAND/ART,” a massive six-month environmental art project involving more than 25 presenting organizations in New Mexico, opened last weekend with a symposium. Coordinated by 516 ARTS, events began June 27 with a guided bus tour by The Center for Land Use Interpretation through dramatic built landscapes. Continuing through December 2009, “LAND/ART” explores relationships of land, art and community through dozens of new exhibitions, community-based projects, site-specific art works, speakers series, performances, tours, excursions and a culminating book. “Historically,” says the organizers, “New Mexico has been a place where the intersection of nature and culture is at issue. In the 1960s and ‘70s, the American Southwest was the location of the first generation of Land Art or Earthworks,” including The Lightning Field, the Star Axis, Spiral Jetty, the Sun Tunnels and Roden Crater. Details are online.

via APInews: LAND/ART Opens in New Mexico .

via APInews: Sachaqa Offers Eco-art Studios in Peru .

For news of a panel debate here at the RSA around topics raised by this public commissioning initiative, featuring Grayson Perry, Munira Mirza, Andrew Shoben and Jonathan Jones, and hosted by Jon Snow see the main Arts & Ecology site.

Photo of Dream by Jaume Plensa courtesy of Channel 4

Go to RSA Arts & Ecology

Here’s me (and a few other interviews) from the reception at the end of the day (I’d like to thank the Academy and particularly thank my hairdresser…).

Go to the Green Museum