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.

The rain didn’t stop us from having fun on Sunday November 20 when our 1951 Spartan Trailer served as a video booth for people to record their stories about food access and equity at Cornerstone Theatre’s Block Party. The party was the last in a two-week series of events called Creative Seeds – performances, discussions and learning opportunities – that kicked off a major Cornerstone Project, The Hunger Cycle – nine world premiere plays that will be performed over the next five years. In preparation for a show we plan for July, Sam Breen performed Bob Dylan’s poem “Last Thoughts On Woody Guthrie” accompanied by musician Kevin Robinson. Share YOUR stories of hunger and food at www.cornerstonetheater.org.  Cornerstone will post them on their blog and use them to inspire their work on the Hunger Cycle. 

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.

The CSPA congratulates the second recipient of a CSPA Supports MicroGrant:  Elizabeth English and A Collection of Shiny Objects in Brooklyn, NY for their original theater production of Goods & Services (The Walmart Project).

Goods & Services is a collaborative, semi-devised object theater piece that explores Americans’ relationhship with the buying and selling of consumer gods with a focus on the phenomenon of the “Big Box” store.  The project will be developed and presented at the Henson PATCH (Puppetry at the Carriage House) in April 2012.  The project will then move on to New York City early in 2013, with a goal of touring afterwards.

The theme of the project revolves around issues of American consumer culture, the buying and selling and life cycles of objects, and by extension the nature of the community formed by consumers and Walmart employees.  The project reflects three facets of sustainability simultaneously: the environmental impact of consumer culture through theme, the economic impact of the “Big Box” store (and community impact), especially as it manifests in the current climate of economic crisis through story, and new models of sustainable creative space through process.

The recipient of Round Two of CSPA Supports has been selected by a small panel of adjudicators including Ian Garrett, Sarah Peterson, and Miranda Wright, based on the CSPA’s articulated grant guidelines.  We are looking forward to Round Three!

More about A Collection of Shiny Objects here:  http://www.collectshinyobjects.org

CSPA Supports

CSPA Supports is a micro-grant program for artists working in any facet of sustainability.  Awards range from $200 to $1,000.  Our next deadline is January 1st, 2012.  Guidelines may be found at http://www.sustainablepractice.org/cspasupports/

PAST RECIPIENTS:

ROUND ONE:

Public Office for Architecture (POA) is a collaborative project situated at MoKS, Center for Arts and Social Practice in Mooste, Estonia.  POA is an artistic practice conceived as a a nomadic architecture office.  POA involves and engages the public with the built environment through architectural and artistic dialogue and intervention.

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.

Saturday, 24 September

11 a.m. – 6 p.m.

MacArthur Park in Los Angeles

corner of 7th and Park View St. (see map) 

Bring along these items to donate to KPFK:  computers, monitors, printers, scanners, copiers, routers, hubs, modems, peripherals, TVs, VCRs, DVD players, A/V equipment, cell phones,  and answering machines  No large home appliances like microwaves, refrigerators or air conditioners, please. For more info on KPFK’s solar plans, click here.

Featuring Music by KPFK’s Chuck Foster, Sergio Mielniczenko and DJ Boxy D!  Raffle, Food Trucks, Good Vibes & Green Energy!  Other participants: Lime Truck, Rebel Bites, Nomad on Wheels, ANEW, Grid Alternatives, Energy Upgrade California.

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.

LOS ANGELS/EDINBURGH –

Allotment is a dark and physical tragicomedy that takes place in a real allotment. It follows green-fingered sisters Dora and Maddy as they live out their rivalry among the plants. When the unexpected rocks their uneasy balance, it’s time to do something radical.

“We chose Allotment because its successful incorporation of its location into the drama.” comments Ian Garrett, Executive Director of the CSPA.  “The show’s honesty and heart is revealed in choosing to set it in a garden, and not build a facsimile on stage. Kudos to nutshell and Assembly for serving an already fantastic play so brilliantly ”

The award is determined by the submission of a questionnaire about how the show was produced along with audience response. Amongst dozens of entries, Allotment stood out in it’s minimal environmental impact, very much a result of it’s setting in the Inverlieth Allotments, requiring very little scenic construction and no additional show technology. Additionally the venue was easily accessible by public transportation, refreshments created little waste, themes of one’s relationship to the natural world were evident and it received excellent audience response. Allotment was also awarded a fringe first award by the Scotsman.

The CSPA Directors, Ian Garrett and Miranda Wright adjudicated the award, along with select CSPA affiliates. For the Edinburgh Fringe, Mhora Samuel and Tim Atkinson from The Theatres Trust’s European Regional Development Fund-backed Ecovenue project have helped the CSPA adapt the criteria for a UK audience, providing guidance on UK equivalents to US name brands, as well as providing insight on measuring conventions and policy. The award simply would not have been complete with out their assistance.

“The CSPA is not just another ‘go green’ organization,” says Wright.  “We hope to gather and distribute information that aids in the sustainability of the earth, the sustainability of our communities, and the sustainability of our art.  And so, the purpose of this award is not to recognize the greenest production.  Our objective in offering this award is to ask questions of ourselves, as theater artists, about the greater impact of our work on the world around us. The fringe model provides an ideal platform to introduce these ideas and the award due to the expectations and scale of the shows.”

“Even more so than we want someone to score perfectly on the questionnaire we use to evaluate shows, we want theater artists to look at the questions and think about how it helps to guide their thinking about sustainability in the their art. There may be questions asked in ways they hadn’t thought, and we hope they ask these questions of their next project and the project after that,” adds Garrett.

Ian Garrett and Miranda Wright founded the CSPA in early 2008 after individually working on each of the programs that now make up the multi-faceted approach to sustainability separately. The organization provides a network of resources to arts organizations, which enables them to be ecologically and economically sustainable while maintaining artistic excellence. Past and Present partnerships have included the University of Oregon, Ashden Directory, Arcola Theater, Diverseworks Artspace, Indy Convergence, York University, LA Stage Alliance and others.

Grants range from $200 to $1,000.

For our Guidelines and Application, visit sustainablepractice.org/cspasupports.

Boxetti wall unit incorpates desk, lounge chair and storage

We are always on the lookout for cool ways to conserve space; we’re especially interested in modular design ideas for furniture and fixtures that can fold into the wall or transform into something else.  These ideas were shared with us by Dovid Feld, the SCI-Arc student who is design for our trailer was featured in a another post.

In the YouTube video below, Michael Harboun’s  “Living Kitchen” features kichten fixtures made from nanobots, devices made from materials that transform along a programmed path then fold back into the wall when no longer needed: 

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.

Sam and his cousin Sasuke make templates for plywood that will be used to cover the walls and ceiling.

With graduation over, work on the Trailer Trash restoration has heated up.  The 1951 Spartan Royal Mansion left it’s CalArts home on June 15 and was towed 10 miles to a canyon on the the outskirts of Santa Clarita, where lizards and coyote are almost as plentiful as motorcycles rushing to the Angeles National Forest.

In June, Sam’s cousin, Sasuke, came from Japan to help out.  A recent graduate in geology from Kyoto University,  he spent a month working with Sam inside the trailer.  (Sasuke has an interest in nuclear energy and hekept us posted on recent happenings at the Fukushima nuclear reactor.)

The task at hand was to the walls and ceiling.  First, Sasuke attached wooden strips to along the ribs where the cabinets and closets will eventually be installed. Then he fashioned carboard templates which will be used as a pattern for the plywood that will cover the walls. The job isn’t  as easy as it looks; it requires lots of measuring, precision and patience.  Although he had little building experience, it is hard to imagine how Sam would have gotten the job done without Sasuke’s help!

If you are considering volunteering your time with The Trailer Trash Project, this slideshow might show you the kind of work we’re involved with now: 

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.

Sam’s cousin, Sasuke Breen, came from Japan to help out.  A recent graduate in geology from Kyoto University,  he spent a month helping Sam get ready to install the walls and ceiling.  He crafted and installed wooden strips to reinforce the studs on the walls and ceiling.   Then he made cardboard templates for the walls and ceiling – not as easy as it looks. The job requires lots of measuring and patience.  It’s hard to imagine how the job would have gotten done would have gotten done without Sasuke’s help. 

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.

The award, which debuted last year at the inaugural Hollywood Fringe Festival will be adjudicated by the CSPA Directors, Ian Garrett and Miranda Wright, along with a number of CSPA affiliates. It will be looking at public communication/education, resource use, and transportation in support of presenting a fringe show based on methodology developed by the CSPA itself and San Diego’s Mo’olelo Performing Arts Company, who have created a comprehensive Green Theater Choices Toolkit with a generous grant from the Theater Communications Group.

For the Edinburgh Fringe, Mhora Samuel and Tim Atkinson from The Theatres Trust’s European Regional Development Fund-backed Ecovenue project have helped the CSPA adapt the criteria for a UK audience, providing guidance on UK equivalents to US name brands, as well as providing insight on measuring conventions and policy. The award simply would not have been complete with out their assistance.

Last year’s winner was The Pantry Shelf a satirical comedy that takes place in any ordinary pantry shelf, was produced by Team M&M at Sweet Grassmarket, . Characters are food items most of us have readily available. The story follows the addition of a revolutionary new snack to the shelf: Queenie, a quinoa, date and bark bar. Queenie discovers that her healthy branding doesn’t accurately represent what’s actually inside. The comedy explores branding, consumerism and the corporate control of our diets. It’s also a “love story between a quinoa bar, a bag of Scottish porridge and a sexy block of dark chocolate,” about staying true to yourself.

“We chose The Pantry Shelf as the award winner based on its comprehensiveness,” comments Ian Garrett, Executive Director of the CSPA. “The show raised valid questions that are relevant to everyone’s daily lives, without being heavy handed. Team M&M took great care to ensure the production was produced as environmentally sustainable as possible, and the content of the play was both entertaining and informative.”

“We’ve been working since we started the CSPA on how to provide resources and guidelines for sustainable production to the theatrical community. Both Miranda and myself come from theatrical backgrounds and it is important to us. The fringe festival model provides an ideal platform to introduce these ideas and the award due to the expectations and scale of the shows. It is easier to start the conversation at a fringe level of production than Broadway. By starting with the Hollywood Fringe, our local and the newest fringe festival, and immediately moving to the Edinburgh Fringe, the largest and oldest fringe in the world, we are looking to create the greatest visibility and excitement around the introduction of ideas of sustainability to the largest number of theatre artists at home and away,” says Executive Director Ian Garrett.

To be considered for the award, a production fills out an online questionnaire. Questions range from an inventory of materials used, to what public transportation lines run close to venues, to how themes about sustainability are addressed in their shows. To accommodate the widest variety of productions, sections of the questionnaire that are not applicable to a show, will be omitted from consideration. Shows are encouraged, but not required to provide a CSPA affiliate with tickets to their production to allow a trained eye to look at shows and projects as they exist in the real world.

“Even more so thanwe want someone to score perfectly on the questionnaire we use to evaluate shows, we want theatre artists to look at the questions and think about how it helps to guide their thinking about sustainability in the their art. There may be questions asked in ways they hadn’t thought, and we hope they ask these questions of their next project and the project after that.”

To apply, fringe show producers can head over to the CSPA’s website at http://www.sustainablepractice.org/fringe or email fringe@sustainablepractice.org. Applications for evaluation will be taken up until the end of the festival, though it is encouraged to apply while it is still possible for a CSPA affiliate to view the show. All questions regarding the award by also be be directed to fringe@sustainablepractice.org.

The CSPA was founded by Ian Garrett and Miranda Wright in early 2008 after individually working on each of the programs that now make up the multi-faceted approach to sustainability separately. It provides a network of resources to arts organisations, which enables them to be ecologically and economically sustainable while maintaining artistic excellence. We support the infrastructure of this network by supplying artists with the information, education and intellectual community they need to make the best choices for their sustainability. We do this through three independent programs: CSPA Online Resources, annual CSPA convergence and the CSPA Institute’s curriculum building. We extend these efforts with key partnerships with like minded organisations. Past and Present partnerships have included the University of Oregon, Ashden Directory, Arcola Theatre, Diverseworks Artspace, Indy Convergence, York University, LA Stage Alliance and others. Under the umbrella of the CSPA, each program and partnership uses different tactics with their own mission to create a comprehensive and cooperative synthesis in artistic sustainability.

###

At DAMU, the Czech Academy of Dramatic Arts, CSPA Executive Director Ian Garrett gathered with Nick Moran of the Central School of Speech & Drama and myself to discuss sustainability in design on a panel led by William Mackwood of York University (best known for hosting the Staging Sustainability conference earlier this year). While no one walked in with a paper dress or noisemaking speakers, some fascinating discourse ensued regarding the nature of performance.

Ian Garrett started off with a powerpoint overview of green practices in the arts. He’s extensively acquainted with the overall carbon impact of the average theater production: length of run, power consumption, material. In the years that he’s been building the CSPA, he’s also been gathering a mass of information on the complexity of the arts’ environmental impact. Garrett brings into the discussion issue of audience transportation (a huge factor in carbon footprint) vs. the potential impact of audiences if they had just stayed at home that night. He also discussed the work of groups like Mo’olelo Performing Arts Company and the Broadway Green Alliance.

Following him was Nick Moran, who focused on the resources on the site Julie’s Bicycle and the need within the green movement to make changes on a small (and totally unsexy) level, like type of toilet paper, while continuously pressing for systematic change in arts production culture. He discussed everything from tungsten lamps to fuel cells from the standpoint of a lighting designer who fiercely believes in sustainability.

I stepped up and discussed my obsession of the past several years—ecologically restorative art, including works from Xavier Cortada and Mierle Ukeles, and some of my own work.

Then Mackwood wrapped up presentations with examples of his current work and research at York and Out of the Box Productions, including a greening of “Opera Erotique,” which used all-LED lighting. He discussed design qualities unique to the famously energy-efficient lighting, including cut-lines on dancers, strobe capabilities, and the ability to fit an entire lighting rig in the trunk of a car. What followed was an interesting and brief discussion of LED design. Nick Moran brought up the fact that, unlike tungsten, LED color properties don’t change as they fade. “Imagine that you’re in a world where, for the first time, your lights change color as they fade out. WHAT?! What have you done? Change it!”

In the roundtable following, balance was a key issue in discussion: between medium and message, between creative and financial needs, between work and decompression.“You’ve gotta make good work, otherwise there’s no point: worthy, dull, theatre does not change anyone’s mind,” said Moran. The audience was a point of debate. Are we trying to change their minds, or just give them more sustainable spectacle? Are we trying to address the needs of their transportation, or just present eco-theater? In a field of limited resources it’s all about priorities, and needs are complex. As performances exploded all over the streets of Prague, a very grounding discourse took place at DAMU. Like every conversation about sustainability, it leads to more questions, more conversations, and a grab-bag of actionable items. Regardless, it’s refreshing to be in a room with sharp minds that are focused on this issue, and there is potential for a wider impact at the next PQ.

The campaign lives here:

http://www.indiegogo.com/CSPA-Prague-Convergence-Reduce-Waste-at-the-Prague-Quadrennial

We are looking for $4,000 in additional funding to supplement travel for our team, and to provide resources and tools for distributing materials and documenting this project.

We promise to give you what we get: INFORMATION! We’ll be documenting this project, and will gladly share our findings with you. Other perks include copies of the CSPA Quarterly, a publication dedicated to sustainable practices in all creative areas, CSPA membership, and special tokens from the PQ!

CSPA Prague Convergence: Reduce Waste at the Prague Quadrennial

Our Goal

To create a design-based performance piece in response to the 2011 Prague Quadrennial that examines materials, and then organizes and redistribute (would be wasted) materials to the local arts community.

CSPA Prague Convergence: Reduce Waste at the Prague Quadrennial

Our Story

The Center for Sustainable Practice in the Arts is a hybrid organization dedicated to gathering and redistributing information about sustainable practices in art making.  This project marks our first initiative to solve one of the major dilemmas of creating art on the ground:  Wasted Materials!  We will travel to Prague this summer to focus on the environmental impact of production at the 2011 Prague Quadrennial and will creatively repurpose the waste generated from this 10-day design conference of over seventy exhibiting countries.

Organizing team members include Ian Garrett and Miranda Wright (co-founders of the Center for Sustainable Practice in the Arts), Sarah Peterson (Production Manager, Theater Artist, New York CSPA Associate), Moe Beitiks (artist, cultural volunteer, and writer for inhabitat, CBOT, and the CSPA), Misa Rygrova (leading researcher on this topic in the Czech Republic), and James McKernan (faculty at York University and Technical Director for the PQ’s Scenofest).

CSPA Prague Convergence: Reduce Waste at the Prague Quadrennial

The PQ

The Prague Quadrennial of Performance Design and Space is a leading world artistic event – a presentation of contemporary work in a variety of performance design disciplines and genres including costume, stage, lighting, sound design, and theatre architecture for dance, opera, drama, site-specific, multi-media performances, and performance art.

Founded in 1967, the Prague Quadrennial has presented work from more than 70 countries on 5 continents. The exhibition draws thousands of performance and theatre professionals, students, and spectators from all over the world. At the most recent Quadrennial in 2007, 35,000 visitors came to enjoy installations, photos, videos, and live performances of work ranging between theatre and visual arts, as well as more than 500 events, workshops, performances, presentations, lectures, and discussions.

CSPA Prague Convergence: Reduce Waste at the Prague Quadrennial

The Impact

This project will be a significant catalyst for the advancement of sustainability in theater and design.  It is an opportunity to develop a comprehensive case study on community engagement in creative resource management.  As a performance, it will examine the relationship of production communities from around the world to their use of materials practically and dramaturgically.  It will create new methods for distributing large amounts of previously used materials quickly, test the limits of a community’s ability to absorb the material, and develop a mode of a working network of materials exchange.

CSPA Prague Convergence: Reduce Waste at the Prague Quadrennial

What We Need & What You Get

We are looking for $4,000 in additional funding to supplement travel for our team, and to provide resources and tools for distributing materials and documenting this project.

We promise to give you what we get:  INFORMATION!  We’ll be documenting this project, and will gladly share our findings with you.  Other perks include copies of the CSPA Quarterly, a publication dedicated to sustainable practices in all creative areas, CSPA membership, and special tokens from the PQ!

Other Ways You Can Help

Spread the word!  Share this project with your friends and colleagues.

To support the greater effort of the CSPA, become a member by visiting www.sustainablepractice.org/join-the-cspa

Campaign CSPA Prague Convergence: Reduce Waste at the Prague Quadrennial — IndieGoGo.

Public Office for Architecture (POA) is a collaborative project situated at MoKS, Center for Arts and Social Practice in Mooste, Estonia.  POA is an artistic practice conceived as a a nomadic architecture office.  POA involves and engages the public with the built environment through architectural and artistic dialogue and intervention.

POA is conceived as an instigator and mediator between private and public engagement with the built environment.  POA as a process driven art practice will link and support a community based dialogue on issues of social and ecological sustainability, tied into processes of a changing built environment.

The pilot project for POA will be realized in August 2011 at MoKS.  POA is a critical practice with a long term trajectory with future installations in Bratislava, Berlin, New York and Bucharest.  POA will engage in an open process, inviting active participation from residents in Mooste as an integral part of the project.  Invited by MoKS, the project will be publicized in the Baltic region within the arts and architecture communities, including Tallinn, cultural capital of Euripe, and the Kauna Biennial this fall.

The recipient of Round One of CSPA Supports has been selected by a small panel of adjudicators including Moe Beitiks, Ian Garrett, Sarah Peterson, and Miranda Wright, based on the CSPA’s articulated grant guidelines.  We are now welcoming applications for Round Two!

Round Two: Application and Deadlines

Application deadline for Round Two:  September 1, 2011

Notification: October 2011

Round One is intended to support projects being realized between December 1, 2011 and May 30, 2012.

To apply, visit www.sustainablepractice.org/cspasupports

You’ll be able to find and link back to her writing here as part of the CSPA knowledge network. Her first post is already up here:

http://www.sustainablepractice.org/2011/03/09/identity-exhibition-eco-installation-begins/

You can also find a record, as it builds, at this category archive page:

http://www.sustainablepractice.org/category/ecomuseum/

Stay tuned for more!

Axle Contemporary's gallery on wheels. Photo credit: Matthew Chase-Daniel, published in the NYTimes Feb. 3, 2011.

CalArts alum Jerry Wellman and Matthew Chase-Daniel transformed a Hostess delivery truck  into a mobile art gallery of contemporary art in Santa Fe, NM. Check out the story in the NY Times.  See also Axel Contemporary’s web site. 

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.

Musicians James Brandon Lewis and Erinn Horton play on the Spartan's outdoor stage while multimedia artist Kenyatta A.C. HinkleHinkle works on a current piece.(Not pictured: musician Kevin Robinson)

Dancers Ariana Daub (right) and Erin McCarthy (left)

Events at Sam’s trailer kept on coming throughout the Arts In the One World Conference, January 27-29. Some artists were so happy with the space they retruned

Graffiti artist Jose Estrada

for repeat performances. Acts included  jazz, salsa, multimedia presentations involving old time movies and country hip.  Graffiti and mixed media artists were in residence along with filmmakers and videographers who screened their productions at night inside and outside the trailers.  Two playwrights presented reading with actors.

Students, teachers, working artists and others gathered on the lawn by the entrance to the main building at CalArts.  Arts In the One World is a gathering of artist-activists interested in using their art can help bring about social change.

First convened in January 2006 by Erik Ehn, AOW at CalArts is linked to it’s sister Arts in the One World conference at Brown University.

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.

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.

Late night set-up in preparation for Arts In The One World Conference, Jan. 27-29

Last night, Sam and fellow students towed the Spartan trailer to the entrance of Cal Arts where it was used as a performance space during the  Arts In the One World Conference, January 27-29. Sam kicked off the conference with a presentation of the Trailer Trash Project tomorrow morning.  Over the course of the event, participating artists will also perform inside and around the trailer. A stage is being constructed around the trailer today.  The stage was designed and construction under the direction of Ben Womick, MFA student at Cal Arts in technical direction.

Participating artists include: Kenyatta A.C. Hinkle, choreographer Lindsey Lollie, dancer Andrew Wojtal and playwright Isabel Salazar (No Comas Tomates antes de Dormir porque Tendrás Pesadillas).

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.

Check out  Ben Womick’s design for the Spartan’s outdoor performance space.  The stage was launched at the Arts In the One World Conference! Ben is an MFA student in Technical Direction at Cal Arts.

CLICK HERE FOR FULL DESIGN in PDF format:   AT 1000.ben

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 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.

International Action

Please share with us any work that creatively addresses global issues in sustainability.  We are particularly interested in projects happening outside of the United States that pay attention to global dilemmas including global warming, rising sea levels, disappearing cultures, and economic divides.  A special section will be dedicated to work at the UN’s Conference of the Parties, summit on climate change in Cancun in December.

International Action Deadline for Submission:  January 10, 2011

Invisible Visibility

For this issue, we are interested in art projects, installations, and performances that visualize invisible threats to our environmental, economic, or cultural sustainability.  How can our creative industries call public attention to major issues that are easy to ignore because they are ‘out of sight, out of mind?’

Invisible Visibility Deadline for Submission:  February 1, 2011.

The CSPA Quarterly explores sustainable arts practices in all genres, and views sustainability in the arts through environmentalism, economic stability, and cultural infrastructure.  The periodical provides a formal terrain for discussion, and seeks to elevate diverse points of view.

Please send your opinion articles, project case studies, researched essays, and photos to: Miranda@SustainablePractice.org.

To view past issues, along with our current issue on digital work, please visit:  http://www.magcloud.com/browse/Magazine/38626

Friends of the CSPA, Linh Do and Tim Hall interview Bill McKibben on the 28th of November in Cancún, Mexico before COP16, the UN climate change negotiations.

Bill talks about his work at 350.org and as a writer, before discussing the future of the environment movement, the virtues of young people and his expectations of COP16.

via YouTube – C&S with Bill McKibben in Cancún.

You may remember Artport from last year’s COP15 and their (Re-) Cycles of Paradise, which has been remounted in Mexico City concurrent to COP16: Through video installations, photography, drawings, sculptures, and interactive interventions, artists such as Kim Abeles (USA), Subhankar Benerjee (Indien/USA), and Charley Case (Belgien) explore links between the destruction of nature and the suffering of women, revealing hidden or unknown aspects of the interrelation of gender and climate change. They will retell the story of a “lost paradise” and the role of women. Gender issues will be scrutinized as part of a process to reverse climate change. “Paradise” is no longer a long-lost ideal world but can be recreated as a contemporary, more sustainable place on earth.

This year, ARTPORT_making waves and partner Cinema Planeta are presenting 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. It is 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.

Moe will have more on that soon, as the information is digested.

The Climate Change Village, like Hopenhagen, was a mixture of public stage, exhibitions on green technologies and cultural showcases. Aboce is a picture of masked dancers in the food stalls. Additionally, there was a temporary structure which held a photo and video installation by photographer Willy Sousa on the the culture of Mexico called Mexico en tus Sentidos which had previously toured to international cities and been a part of the Mexican Pavilion at the recent Shanghai Expo. It was capped with a lovely piece of Mexican Pride/Propoganda focusing on the diverse populations of Mexico interacting with the flag.

We immeadiately scurried over to the main expo hall to catch a screening of Cool Stories I, Artport’s short form, curator film series. It was unfortunately shown on a lo-res led video panel, but the films are worth check out in all of their glory on the Artport website.

Here is an excerpt from one of the included films, Rob Carter‘s Metropolis:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGF0hauSu34

Later on in the week, the Artport Public performance of La Isla Hundida (The Drowned Island), their collaboration with Spanish artist Javier Velasco, will involve hundreds of school children from Cancun, who will produce an island from a cutout model with a newspaper page during a live performance in a public space in each city. The children will then drown the islands in a large container filled with water. The performances will be videotaped and streamed live.

I may be gone by the time the first one happens, on the 4th, but if you would like to attend, check out their website or our calendar. And, to make your own drowning island, here are a couple informational vidoes:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JB2s53vq6dw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rzbPwD8Kzzs

After the screening, we grabbed some tacos and climbed into a collectivo van to get back into downtown. One thing I will say is that there is plentiful and convenient transportation for getting around Cancun itself. Many buses, shuttles and collectivos, all really low cost. However, getting to the various sites related to the conferences–which are all fairly remote compared to downtown OR the hotel zone– is a real annoying venture. Official shuttles only go to official places like associated hotels, but not things like the bus station or transit hubs. And then you’re let with taxis, which aren’t expensive per se, but aren’t the lowest cost option.

Once we made it back, we took a dip in the pool and called it a night.

If you’re in New York city, you have a month left to view it at the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum. That exhibition closes in early January.

If you are in Washington DC, please visit the temporary exhibit on the the First Floor of the Sant Ocean Hall, OCean Focus Gallery at the National Museum of Natural History. It is on display through April 24th of next year 2011.

Margaret Wetheim’s TED Talk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zGEDHMF4rLI

At The Science Gallery in Dublin

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RsKhi0x4Ni4

A recent interview with Margaret Wertheim

View the video at Smithsonian.com

More information

Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef
The Institute for Figuring

View CSPA at COP16 in a larger map

Fragile Spring: found cardboard box, India ink, 6

A nice mention of the CSPA and partners in Filter….

Revealing the value of the intangible has long been the domain of shamans, homeopaths, permaculturists and conceptual artists – and is perhaps one of the best hopes we have for rapidly shifting our culture towards one of increased efficiency and sustainability. Many contemporary artists are finding themselves inadvertently part of a new of movement that includes a sense of responsibility for defending the environment. Frustrated by a system based on mindless overconsumption of limited resources, they are choosing to develop creative, alternative ways to live, work, and communicate. Organisations such as Ecoartspace, The Center for Sustainable Practice in the Arts , theSheila T. Johnson Design Center at Parsons/The New School for Social Research and Art & Science Collaborations, Inc are assisting in the emergence of this new interdisciplinary field.

via Filter Magazine – filter.anat.org.au.

The Nomads take a good look at their own back yard in a drawing lab taught by artist and Cal Arts instructor Evelyn Serrano.  (See Sam’s post #3 for more on the Nomads also this link. )  The kids are told to take their time, to observe closely before starting to draw.

Click to view slideshow.

“Don’t compare your work to anyone else,” Evelyn tells them. “You are all different so your art will be different, too.”  She points out the details in a tree and the colors and squiggly lines of a nearby play set.   At the end of the session, the children seem eager to show their work to the rest of the class.  Evelyn says she is proud of them for being fearless, unafraid to take risks with their art.  Then Evelyn and Sam look over the spot where the Spartan trailer will be on display for the Nomads on November 6th.

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.

Link here for PDF

spartan wish list 10.11.10

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.