Textile artist Cybele Moon: "I wanted to share my love of color with others."

Artist Cybele Moon partnered with The Trailer Trash Project to offer her Earth Day art installation to the community of Santa Clarita, CA.

Cybele models clothes fashioned from pre-owned T-shirts

Some artists choose paint as their medium. Others choose stone or metal. Cybele Moon chose fabric–or perhaps it chose her.

“My mother used to weave and make her own clothes. One of my grandmothers worked in a bobbin factory, and she sewed at home. My other grandmother would crochet and do cross-stitch,” explained the Cal Arts grad student who was a professional costume designer before deciding to go back to school to get an MFA.

Textiles are intertwined with her family tree. “Even my grandfather had a connection to fabric. He came to this country at the turn of the century from Slovakia. He made looms and wove rag rugs in the 1930’s and ‘40’s.”

Cybele spends most of her time at Cal Arts working behind the scenes, designing costumes for dance and theatrical productions. Before graduating she wanted to create some of her own textile art and share it with the Santa Clarita community on Earth Day.

Sam Breen's 1951 Spartan trailer provided a backdrop for Cybele's installation.

The result: a textile installation resembling dripping vines, dyed in the soft blue and green colors of spring. The work was fashioned from recycled T-shirts donated by CalArts students, faculty and staff.

“Fabric is my medium. I can dye it, paint it and manipulate it,” she said. She is particularly fond of the challenges presented by recycled fabrics. “I can take a piece of clothing, cut open the seams and make something else.”

Cybele’s Earth Day offering demonstrates her dual passion for ecology and art. “We waste and throw away so many things. I wanted to show that you can take a common T-shirt and transform it into something completely different – like a piece of art.”

Drawing on her skills as a costume designer Cybele, along with Jessica Ramsey and Emily Moran,  two Cal Arts BFA students in costume design, conducted a workshop for kids demonstrating how to transform used T-shirts into trendy scarves, vests, tank tops and other items of clothing.

With graduation coming up, Cybele’s thoughts have turned to the future. Her dream? To live some place where she can have a huge garden and chickens. Her career goal is to be costume design professor and to continue working professionally as a costume designer.  She will also continue to explore her own textile art.

Cal Arts students Cybele Moon (r) and Jessica Ramsey (l) conducted a workshop for kids to show how to turn a used T-shirt into something unexpected.

The experience on Earth Day in Santa Clarita has inspired her to try to take on more collaborative community projects in the future, especially those geared for children.

Her off-campus art project comes at a time when she and other Cal Arts students are working at a hectic pace, trying to finish up the school year.

Emily Moran (l) helps a youngster work magic with recycled clothing.

“I didn’t know what I was getting into or how it would turn out,” she explained on evening before the event,  her hands covered with thick rubber gloves while she prepped another batch of T-shirts for dying. “It was a challenge to see if I could do it, to get all those people to donate T-shirts. But I just kept on trying.”

Sam’s vintage trailer provided a framework for Cybele’s piece, giving the trailer’s metal exterior a soft, whimsical look. It could be the beginning of a colorful, art-inspired and Earth-friendly spring.

For more on Cybele Moon, click here for her 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.

The vision of climate change provided by the arts complements the analytical information given by the science. The landscape of numbers can be populated by dreams in the form of images, dance or music, leading to a more complete understanding of how our planet works. Join The Earth Institute, Columbia University; the Segal Center; and artists, scientists, and communication experts working across multiple disciplines in an inspirational, informative program to explore present and future connections between the arts and climate change science. In honor of Earth Day. Co-curated by Lisa Phillips.

3 p.m. & 6:30 p.m., Thursday, April 22, 2010
Martin E. Segal Theatre. Free!

Afternoon session at 3:00 p.m. will feature:

• Gavin Schmidt, climatologist, NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies
• Stephen Pekar, geologist, School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Queens College, City University of New York
• Britta Riley, artist, entrepreneur
• Jeremy Pickard, theatre artist
• Moderated by Sabine Marx, Center for Research on Environmental Decisions, Columbia University.

Evening session at 6:30 p.m. will feature:

• Klaus Lackner, geophysicist, Earth and Environmental Engineering, Columbia University
• Katie Holten, visual artist
• Ajit Subramaniam, biological oceanographer, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia University
• Cynthia Hopkins, performing artist
• Jon Braman, rapper-songwriter
• Moderated by Lisa Phillips, Lenfest Center for Sustainable Energy, The Earth Institute, Columbia University

Illuminating the Science: Art and Climate Change

Lisa Phillips

is the Assistant Director for the Lenfest Center for Sustainable Energy at the Earth Institute, Columbia University, where she manages programs and funding initiatives for cutting-edge scientific research in alternative energy. She enjoys bringing together artists and scientists to maximize the impact of, and appreciation for, their work. She comes from the nonprofit performing arts sector, where she held roles as a producer, booking agent, general manager, and consultant. She served as the Director of Booking for MAPP International Productions, representing inter/national contemporary dance, theater, and multi-disciplinary artists. www.energy.columbia.edu

Earth is at a critical crossroads. While revolutionary advances in science and technology have lifted humanity to new heights of prosperity and longevity in many parts of the world, hundreds of millions of people are vulnerable to the impacts of hazards and natural disasters, extreme poverty, infectious disease and a host of other challenges. At the same time, human activity, especially in the last 100 years, is threatening the health of the environment and potentially posing risks of unprecedented magnitude to our shared future.

The Earth Institute, Columbia University is the world’s leading academic center addressing the challenges of sustainable development. Our mission is to mobilize the sciences, education and public policy to achieve a sustainable Earth. The Earth Institute’s overarching goal is to help achieve sustainable development primarily by expanding the world’s understanding of Earth as one integrated system. We work toward this goal through scientific research, education and the practical application of research for solving real-world challenges. With 850 scientists, postdoctoral fellows, staff and students working in and across more than 30 Columbia University research centers, the Earth Institute is helping to advance nine interconnected global issues: climate and society, water, energy, poverty, ecosystems, public health, food and nutrition, hazards and urbanization. With Columbia University as its foundation, the Earth Institute draws upon the scientific rigor, technological innovation and academic leadership for which the University is known.

3 p.m. & 6:30 p.m., Thursday, April 22, 2010
Martin E. Segal Theatre. Free!

40 Drummers Ceremony Led By Hisham Akira Bharoocha (SOFT CIRCLE)
Kid Millions (ONEIDA)
Butchy Fuego (PIT ER PAT / ASKA)
Benjamin Vida (SOFT CIRCLE)
Robert AA Lowe (LICHENS)
DJ Chris Taylor (Grizzly Bear)
Psychic Readings
Face Painting

Wednesday, April 14th
7-10pm

GOOD UNITS AT HUDSON
356 West 58th St (Between 8th + 9th Ave)

RSVP@LOOMSTATE.ORG

Free Bus Pick Up On The Bowery Every 30 Minutes From 6:30PM-9:00PM
From: ROGAN STORE, 330 Bowery ST (Corner Of Bond)
To: GOOD UNITS AT HUDSON, 356 W 58th ST

FRIENDS OF LOOMSTATE: PAMELA LOVE, GOOD UNITS AT HUDSON, KEDS, PERRIER, VITA COCO, FASHION LOVES, TRACKSTAR, SPOKE VISUALS, and THE SMILE.

Do the arts understate their potential role in generating a more holistic understanding of contemporary life? And what are our expectations of art? What kind of insights do artists bring about in relation to social change and environmental change…? (The most talked about art book on this is Bradley and Esche’s ‘Art and Social Change’, which is worth reading in conjunction with Mute magazine’s in-depth discussion).

The idea that people’s decisions are governed more by their subconscious emotional responses than by an impartial rationality is well argued by behavioural economics (and the RSA projects, Social Brain and Design & Behaviour). And that the social sciences grew from analysising how and why people behave they way they do, prompted Ho to reiterate the ol’ ecological adage: “The only way to get anything done is a holistic approach,” but then he emphasises the need for productive argument “We’re all speaking different languages, and that leads to conflicts. But that has to be the way forward.”

And this is surely the way forward for the arts too – art benefits hugely from engaging with other disciplines and there is real need for productive honest progressive debate about the ‘use’ of the art in relation to contemporary environmental change, without returning to the entrenched positions of instrumentalism v art for arts sake. Isn’t it the case that speaking provocatively about personal ethics and politics enhances our understanding of artists’ work?

And if emotional appeal is now regarded, by the natural sciences, as a highly persuasive human resource, why has visual art appeared to move so far away from ‘emotional expression’? And if it hasn’t really moved away from emotional expression – but has transposed it into provocative gestures , such as Jeremy Deller’s work (see Michaela’s blog) – should artists feel any responsibility to make their own position explicit as part of a public debate? Art should still infuriate and delight us – so isn’t it time for the arts, and the discussion that surrounds it, to get more overtly passionate, excitable and intellectually promiscuous again? Wink, wink …

“Human beings’ decision-making processes, as individuals and collectively, are probably at least as complicated as the climate system itself,” Anthony Leiserowitz, director of the Yale Project on Climate Change. From  Seed.com

Go to RSA Arts & Ecology

Wanted to submit a quick post to let our blog followers know that we have updated our projects page on the ecoartspace website! We realize that the more active we are with the blog, that our website becomes less relevant. So, it is now up to speed. This is an ongoing issue and why we really enjoyed having the blog (as we rely on someone else to update the website).

O’yes NEWSFLASH: our ecoartspace Facebook group reached 1,000 today!!! And, we have added a fan page as well and are posting links daily, like a Twitter feed. Plus, we are also on Twitter. So, if you want quick byte size morsels of information/links, sign up to follow ecoartspace through our fan page on Facebook or follow us on Twitter!

Amy will be posting soon on a recent panel she participated on in upstate New York with Jason Middlebrook and I plan to write up a summary of the Rising Tides conference I attend last week here in the Bay Area next.

See our new projects page on the ecoartspace website at http://www.ecoartspace.org/projectsinline.html

There really is an overwhelming amount of activity right now in the world of art and ecology. It has been an exciting Earth Day week.

Go to EcoArtSpace

This past week, marine mural artist Wyland updated his Long Beach Convention Center mural and painted a globe on the roof of the circular building. The artist, who worked for free with donated paint, said the mural is “a gift to the world.”

I’m not sure where the art ends and marketing of Wyland’s brand begins. (He’s got a hotel, record company, studio, DVD business, etc.)

Um, am I just a hater? Anyway, so glad Earth Day is over for this year.

> Another good article on the Wyland mural here.

Go to Eco Art Blog

Join us on the evening after Earth Day to explore what theatre artists and production staff are doing to meet the extraordinary challenges of climate change. At a time when local, state and federal governments are setting goals for reductions in carbon emissions, holding public meetings to solicit public recommendations for adapting to rising sea levels; when businesses are beginning to talk about renewable energy, closed-loop waste streams, and innovative mobility systems; what are we doing in the theatre?

This event will explore theatre and the environment from two perspectives: the process of making theatre, and the theatre we make.  On the process side, we will explore building performance and renewable energy, facilities management, closed loop set design and construction and intelligent recycling. On the content side we will see an excerpt of a new play by Shelia Callaghan. Directed by Daniella Topol, we will learn from her how this multimedia theatre piece about water has been shaped through her consultations with scientists at the Department of Environmental Conservation. We will also reflect on Bill McKibben’s lament that the theatre lags behind other art forms in grasping – and mining – the full artistic potential of this issue

via Theatre and the Environment « Mo`olelo Blog.

Fancy yourself an eco-inspired photographer? Then send in your best shots to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as your good Earth Day deed. The now-hopefully-less-deadbeat-since-Obama’s-president agency’s looking for inspirational photos for its EPA Earth Day Photo project.
 

All you have to do is upload your photo onto one of those 3 Flickr groups — people and the environment, the beauty of nature, and wildlife — by April 30. The winner gets whatever fame comes from being featured on the EPA Earth Day site — and the happy knowledge that the photograph could inspire eco-activism in others.

via Enter the EPA’s Earth Day photo contest | green LA girl.