More than 30 environmental, cultural and heritage organisations are coming together in regions across Scotland to inspire public engagement and positive action in the run-up to and beyond the COP26 UN Climate Change Conference, taking place in Glasgow this November.
Seven hubs known as ‘Climate Beacons’ were announced today and will take shape in Argyll, Caithness & East Sutherland, Fife, Inverclyde, Midlothian, the Outer Hebrides, and Tayside. Each Beacon is a partnership of two or more organisations from the cultural and climate sectors. The organisations, many of which have not previously worked together, range from museums, libraries and arts centres to environmental bodies, academic institutions and community trusts. They will bring together shared resources and knowledge to provide a welcoming physical and virtual space in their region for the public, artists and cultural sector professionals, environmental NGOs, scientists and policymakers.
Leading the initiative is Creative Carbon Scotland and Director, Ben Twist, said: “Tackling climate change requires us to find imaginative solutions to complex problems. Cultural buildings and events can provide an open and welcoming space for these challenging conversations, bringing people together to collectively think, imagine, feel and develop lasting connections that will strengthen future climate action.â€
The seven Climate Beacons will operate in the lead-up to, during, and after COP26, each utilising their own expertise and responding to the needs of their local area and communities with planned themes including Scotland’s temperate rainforests, industrial heritage, water, adaptation to climate change, land use, biodiversity, green jobs, and the recovery from COVID-19.
Climate Beacons for COP26 aims to strengthen engagement with COP26 beyond Glasgow to the whole country and support the recovery of Scotland’s cultural sector from the impacts of COVID-19. The initiative will seize the chance to bring about lasting change within the cultural sector, society and policy in Scotland and provide an internationally inspiring example of Scotland’s climate leadership.
Climate Beacons for COP26 is funded by the Scottish Government’s Climate Change and Culture Divisions, Creative Scotland and Museums Galleries Scotland.
Creative Carbon Scotland is a partnership of arts organisations working to put culture at the heart of a sustainable Scotland. We believe cultural and creative organisations have a significant influencing power to help shape a sustainable Scotland for the 21st century.
In 2011 we worked with partners Festivals Edinburgh, the Federation of Scottish Threatre and Scottish Contemporary Art Network to support over thirty arts organisations to operate more sustainably.
We are now building on these achievements and working with over 70 cultural organisations across Scotland in various key areas including carbon management, behavioural change and advocacy for sustainable practice in the arts.
Our work with cultural organisations is the first step towards a wider change. Cultural organisations can influence public behaviour and attitudes about climate change through:
Changing their own behaviour; Communicating with their audiences; Engaging the public’s emotions, values and ideas.
What’s your vision for the future of our seas in the Outer Hebrides?
The United Nations World Oceans Day (8th June) is a day for humanity to celebrate the ocean. To mark the day, MarPAMM – Seas of the Outer Hebrides project is launching their latest film ‘Seas Our Future’. Watch this fantastic wee film with local presenter Kate Macleod and share your views on how we can protect our marine environment in the Outer Hebrides for generations to come!
Creative Carbon Scotland has been collaborating with the MarPAMM – Seas of the Outer Hebrides project since 2019, using creative approaches to explore communities’ visions for the future of marine environment in the Outer Hebrides, and is thrilled to have worked with UistFilm to produce this short film.
The film shares the key concerns identified by communities in the Outer Hebrides about their marine environment including:
Their need to balance looking after their seas with sustaining marine jobs
Addressing undesired changes in the marine environment including climate change, marine litter and pollution and the loss of animal and plant species (biodiversity loss)
Sharing knowledge, resources and information of the benefits that Marine Protected Areas bring to communities and nature
We’ve also partnered with local artists and arts centres Taigh Chearsabhagh and An Lanntair to deliver a series of creative digital and outdoor activities for all ages, abilities and background. Keep an eye on partner websites for information about future activities or contact gemma.lawrence@creativecarbonscotland.com
From 7-16th June MarPAMM & NatureScot will be surveying seabed habitats in waters off the west coast of Harris. The team will use a drop-down video camera to improve understanding of the distribution of seagrass, maerl and kelp beds, and mud habitats in the area. The results of the work will be relayed via the MarPAMM – Seas of the Outer Hebrides webpage and be used to inform future discussions about marine nature conservation in the Outer Hebrides.
Share your visionfor the future of Marine Protected Areas in the Outer Hebrides.
Creative Carbon Scotland is a partnership of arts organisations working to put culture at the heart of a sustainable Scotland. We believe cultural and creative organisations have a significant influencing power to help shape a sustainable Scotland for the 21st century.
In 2011 we worked with partners Festivals Edinburgh, the Federation of Scottish Threatre and Scottish Contemporary Art Network to support over thirty arts organisations to operate more sustainably.
We are now building on these achievements and working with over 70 cultural organisations across Scotland in various key areas including carbon management, behavioural change and advocacy for sustainable practice in the arts.
Our work with cultural organisations is the first step towards a wider change. Cultural organisations can influence public behaviour and attitudes about climate change through:
Changing their own behaviour; Communicating with their audiences; Engaging the public’s emotions, values and ideas.
Scottish Youth Homelessness Charity, Rock Trust, publishes their first Green Action Plan 2021-22 to demonstrate their commitment to sustainability and improving the health, wellbeing and prospects for young people affected by homelessness.
Rock Trust’s first Green Action Plan outlines the steps the charity is currently taking to reduce their carbon footprint, as well as highlighting the many steps they aim to take over the next year to help minimise environmental impact. The plan is proudly aligned to the UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, with the first year’s SMART objectives initially focusing on goal three and seven of the UN’s 2030 Agenda: Good Health and Wellbeing, and Affordable and Clean Energy.
Fuel costs continue to remain a critical issue in Scotland, with 25% of all households living in fuel poverty – defined by the Scottish Government as any household spending more than 10% of their income on energy – after housing costs have been taken out. Like the Scottish Government, Rock Trust recognises the four main drivers of fuel poverty: energy prices, income, energy efficiency of the home, and how energy is used in the home. The charity has already begun addressing these drivers in their Green Action Plan by creating resource booklets for the young people in their services and accommodation. These resources provide guidance on areas such as sustainability in the home, energy efficiency and condensation. You can view these booklets on Rock Trust’s Sustainability webpage here: www.rocktrust.org/sustainability
Rock Trust staff are also benefiting from the organisation’s commitment to the Green Action plan. Five employees have signed up to the charity’s Bike2Work scheme as part of their initiative to promote active travel. This number is expected to grow as COVID-19 restrictions ease and more employees come back to the workplace.
Rock Trust’s partners Home Energy Scotland and OVO Foundation have been influential to their Green Action Plan, both contributing to the plan and offering ongoing advice and support surrounding sustainability best practice.
Creative Carbon Scotland is a partnership of arts organisations working to put culture at the heart of a sustainable Scotland. We believe cultural and creative organisations have a significant influencing power to help shape a sustainable Scotland for the 21st century.
In 2011 we worked with partners Festivals Edinburgh, the Federation of Scottish Threatre and Scottish Contemporary Art Network to support over thirty arts organisations to operate more sustainably.
We are now building on these achievements and working with over 70 cultural organisations across Scotland in various key areas including carbon management, behavioural change and advocacy for sustainable practice in the arts.
Our work with cultural organisations is the first step towards a wider change. Cultural organisations can influence public behaviour and attitudes about climate change through:
Changing their own behaviour; Communicating with their audiences; Engaging the public’s emotions, values and ideas.
Ben Twist at Creative Carbon Scotland talks about the transformation from a culture of consumerism to a culture of stewardship and we are the culture makers so isn’t that our job right now to make a new culture and it will take all of us as artists together to do that? … It’s not enough to do carbon neutral work. We want to do carbon positive work. We want our artwork to be involved with ecological restoration. What does that mean? I’ve been thinking a lot about that. What is theatre practice that actually gives back, that makes something more sustainable? That is carbon positive. I guess that’s a conversation that I’m hoping to have in the future with other theater makers who have that vision.
kendra fanconi, conscient podcast, April 19, 2021, British Columbia
I’ve known Kendra for many years, first through her work with Radix Theatre then as an arts and environment advocate in the community, notably through The Only Animal company, which she co-founded with Eric Rhys Miller in 2005 and which has created over 30 shows that ‘take theatre places it has never gone before’. I’ve always admired Kendra’s vision, her calm demeanour, her strategic mind, and deep commitment to environment issues, as you’ll hear on our conversation, which recorded remotely between Ottawa and her home on the Sunshine Coast.
As I did with all episodes this season, I have integrated excerpts from previous episodes in this case, from e19 reality in this episode.
I would like to thank Kendra for taking the time to speak with me, for sharing her deep knowledge of arts and environment practices, her generosity of spirit and her passion for the mobilization of artists in climate emergency.
The post e36 fanconi appeared first on conscient podcast / balado conscient. conscient is a bilingual blog and podcast (French or English) by audio artist Claude Schryer that explores how arts and culture contribute to environmental awareness and action.
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About the Concient Podcast from Claude Schryer
The conscient podcast / balado conscient is a series of conversations about art, conscience and the ecological crisis. This podcast is bilingual (in either English or French). The language of the guest determines the language of the podcast. Episode notes are translated but not individual interviews.
I started the conscient project in 2020 as a personal learning journey and knowledge sharing exercise. It has been rewarding, and sometimes surprising.
The term ‘conscient’ is defined as ‘being aware of one’s surroundings, thoughts and motivations’. My touchstone for the podcast is episode 1, e01 terrified, based on an essay I wrote in May 2019, where I share my anxiety about the climate crisis and my belief that arts and culture can play a critical role in raising public awareness about environmental issues. The conscient podcast / balado conscient follows up on my http://simplesoundscapes.ca (2016–2019) project: 175, 3-minute audio and video field recordings that explore mindful listening.
Season 1 (May to October 2020) explored how the arts contribute to environmental awareness and action. I produced 3 episodes in French and 15 in English. The episodes cover a wide range of content, including activism, impact measurement, gaming, arts funding, cross-sectoral collaborations, social justice, artistic practices, etc. Episodes 8 to 17 were recorded while I was at the Creative Climate Leadership USA course in Arizona in March 2020 (led by Julie’s Bicycle). Episode 18 is a compilation of highlights from these conversations.
Season 2 (March 2021 – ) explores the concept of reality and is about accepting reality, working through ecological grief and charting a path forward. The first episode of season 2 (e19 reality) mixes quotations from 28 authors with field recordings from simplesoundscapes and from my 1998 soundscape composition, Au dernier vivant les biens. One of my findings from this episode is that ‘I now see, and more importantly, I now feel in my bones, ‘the state of things as they actually exist’, without social filters or unsustainable stories blocking the way’. e19 reality touches upon 7 topics: our perception of reality, the possibility of human extinction, ecological anxiety and ecological grief, hope, arts, storytelling and the wisdom of indigenous cultures. The rest of season 2 features interviews with thought leaders about their responses and reactions to e19 reality.
my professional services
I’ve been retired from the Canada Council for the Arts since September 15, 2020 where I served as a senior strategic advisor in arts granting (2016-2020) and manager of the Inter-Arts Office (1999-2015). My focus in (quasi) retirement is environmental issues within my area of expertise in arts and culture, in particular in acoustic ecology. I’m open to become involved in projects that align with my values and that move forward environmental concerns. Feel free to email me for a conversation : claude@conscient.ca
acknowledgement of eco-responsibility
I acknowledge that the production of the conscient podcast / balado conscient produces carbon. I try to minimize this carbon footprint by being as efficient as possible, including using GreenGeeks as my web server and acquiring carbon offsets for my equipment and travel activities from BullFrog Power and Less.
a word about privilege and bias
While recording episode 19 ‘reality’, I heard elements of ‘privilege’ in my voice that I had not noticed before. It sounded a bit like ‘ecological mansplaining’. I realize that, in spite of good intentions, I need to work my way through issues of privilege (of all kinds) and unconscious bias the way I did through ecological anxiety and grief during the fall of 2020. My re-education is ongoing.
Artichoke Dance Company presents Just Gowanus: An Interactive Performance Tour that intersects performance and environmental education to bring awareness to the neighborhood of Gowanus, Brooklyn.
Both the Gowanus Canal and neighborhood have historically faced environmental challenges due to decades of industrial pollution. The Gowanus Canal was named New York City’s first superfund site because of the extreme toxicity in the canal. Remediation is finally underway, and the largest scale rezoning in New York City in 20 years is being proposed for the area. Just Gowanus is an experiential walking tour of the neighborhood that brings audiences to location that are significant to the remediation of the canal, rezoning, and other sustainability initiatives in the area. Interactive experiences engage tour goers in activism and visioning, and performances reflect on the areas complex history and contentious future.
This project will be Artichoke Dance Company’s third event in Gowanus and aims to illuminate the area’s history from an environmental justice perspective.
This program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.
Through ‘Visualizing Climate Change: An Open Call for Photography’, TED Countdown is partnering with Climate Visuals to build a new robust, accessible collection of evidence-based photos that document the reality of climate change around the world.
We’re seeking submissions that communicate positive climate solutions in five key areas:
The visual narratives in circulation must move from illustrating climate causes and impacts to climate justice, solutions and positive change. The online submission and licensing process will consider a broad range of diversity, equity and inclusion factors to ensure that the opportunity is global, accessible, fair, representative, illustrative and impactful. The goal is to provide both a platform, voice and visual tools to people and communities not yet represented in the mainstream climate change narrative.
The photographic and wider creative sector has been significantly impacted by Covid-19. Selected photographers will be both fairly remunerated and have the opportunity to be profiled, exhibit their work virtually and physically at Countdown events and COP26 in Glasgow, and featured in a global media campaign. This will be a deliberately inclusive space for photographers who may lack the opportunity to showcase their work and ideas in such a global project with a meaningful route to impact.
‘Visualizing Climate Change: An Open Call for Photography’ aims to ultimately support climate change photographers, educators, communicators and campaigners by the creation of a new free-to-access collection of the world’s most impactful photography.
Read the full photography brief and image examples – all based on our research into people’s response to climate change imagery as well as insights developed across our practical partnerships and projects.
The open-call will source, license and promote 100 powerful images of climate change taken by both professional and amateur photographers from around the world. This initiative will distribute a total licensing fund of US $100,000 directly to the chosen photographers – with the final 100 images all selected by an independent jury:
Include a minority of images depicting causes and impacts
Provide a global sense of people, place, geographic and cultural context
Show solutions and narratives across all sizes, scale and reach
Document realistic well-known solutions, but also reveal new, innovative ideas
Show a human connection to technology, infrastructure or geography
Consider related or inter-related topics such as environmental justice and the role of business
Consider the people, places, communities, sectors and areas of society that are not normally featured in the media or climate change conversations
Illustrate a broader story, rather than focus on a small individual detail of it
Images will be judged on their inherent visual, not technical, quality but must meet our requirements:
Be accompanied by a detailed caption of what, where, when and why
Be accompanied by a short bio and social media links from registration form
NOT be manipulated to change the visual content of the image, beyond basic editorial photo industry standards such as balancing of brightness, contrast and colour *
Be of sufficient photographic quality for clear digital communication
Be at least 2,000 pixels longest length in resolution – no upper pixel limit
Be below 25MB file size- but using jpg compression only if required
Be in a .jpg file format
Submissions between 1 and 20 images maximum
For more information on what constitutes acceptable and unacceptable image manipulation in professional photography please refer to the guidelines as published and defined by the expertise of World Press Photo Foundation.
Accessible Terms and Conditions:
Photographers must own the images submitted and be prepared to show ownership if required
Climate Visuals is a project of Climate Outreach. Countdown is an initiative by TED Conferences, LLC
Climate Outreach and TED can use submitted images to promote this open call
Our diverse jury will select the 100 images that best match our brief. Photographers will each receive a $1000 fee per selected image
In exchange for the $1000 fee, the photographer grants to Climate Visuals Countdown and TED an irrevocable Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) worldwide and in perpetuity license for that image
Climate Outreach and TED will not sell or modify the images.
Climate Outreach will then supply the 100 selected images under Creative Commons license (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) to other non-profit organizations, educators and editorial media communicating about climate change.
Climate Outreach and TED may make additional promotional use of the 100 selected images by their own respective organizations.
Selected photographers may be asked to provide additional information, so they can be promoted and showcased them
A full survey will be circulated to members in late 2021. This will include an opportunity to tell us how you got on with your planned action (as reported in the mini survey) this year.
The results of both surveys will inform the Green Arts Initiative 2021 Annual Report.
Thank you for helping us tailor the support we offer to cultural organisations, to best enable you to to reduce your environmental impact and position our sector at the forefront of creating a sustainable future for Scotland and beyond.
Creative Carbon Scotland is a partnership of arts organisations working to put culture at the heart of a sustainable Scotland. We believe cultural and creative organisations have a significant influencing power to help shape a sustainable Scotland for the 21st century.
In 2011 we worked with partners Festivals Edinburgh, the Federation of Scottish Threatre and Scottish Contemporary Art Network to support over thirty arts organisations to operate more sustainably.
We are now building on these achievements and working with over 70 cultural organisations across Scotland in various key areas including carbon management, behavioural change and advocacy for sustainable practice in the arts.
Our work with cultural organisations is the first step towards a wider change. Cultural organisations can influence public behaviour and attitudes about climate change through:
Changing their own behaviour; Communicating with their audiences; Engaging the public’s emotions, values and ideas.
Synopsis: A forest is growing in Norway, planted to provide paper for a set of texts that will be printed in the year 2114. Each year between 2014-2114, an author is selected to write a text for this Future Library which will be preserved, unread, until the printing. The play tells two intertwining stories of one family: a novelist in 2022 who puts his mother’s life story into words, his great-granddaughter and her son in 2114 who journey from a California farm to a Norwegian forest for the opening of the Library, and a secret that has waited a century to come to light. Examining the voices we choose to preserve and those that are lost forever, A LONG TIME COMING looks toward a future that holds both disaster and hope.
Inspired by The Future Library Project, an artwork conceived by Katie Paterson in 2014 and commissioned by the City of Oslo’s Slow Space public art program.
The Vagrancy annually selects six playwrights with diverse perspectives to join their playwrights’ group. Beginning each fall, the writers meet regularly as they craft their plays. The Vagrancy hosts two development workshops wherein the plays are explored with the playwright, actors, and a director in a rehearsal setting. This year’s theme is “History Repeats Itself.”
BLOSSOMING is the first public reading of these six original plays which have been rehearsed, recorded and edited into a virtual staged reading presentation. Be inspired, have a glass of wine, and help the plays’ development along with post-reading audience and artist talkbacks via Youtube Live’s chat option.
After reserving a ticket, you will receive a link to the pre-recorded play 15 minutes before the performance time. The link to the play will expire after 7 days.
*The Actor appears through the courtesy of Actors’ Equity Association. This production is presented under the auspices of the Actors Equity Los Angeles Membership Company Rule
These readings were made possible in part by a grant from the City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs & is supported, in part, by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors through the Los Angeles County Arts Commission.
Hawai’i-based fiber artist Mary Babcock uses discarded fishing nets and lines as well as household wax paper to create tapestries and installations about sea level rise, “our proclivity towards destruction or entanglement,†and our perceptions of and relationship to water. The process of self-laminating wax paper for installations and of cleaning, sorting, and unravelling abandoned, tangled fishing nets and lines and then weaving them into something completely new, is the manifestation of her refusal to see anything as unworkable or unrepairable, including the climate crisis.
Babcock found her chosen materials 16 years ago while she was living on the coast of Oregon. There, she met a member of the Columbia River Fisherman’s Protective Union, which conducts a recycling program for used fishing gear. He had recently removed large quantities of fishing nets from the Columbia River because they were clogging up the estuary. When Babcock saw the nets, she was attracted to their intrinsic beauty, their cost (free!), and the fact that they were about to be burned anyway. Taking a considerable stockpile of nets and lines, she began to experiment in making what she now refers to as her large-scale, “messy, non-traditional†tapestries.
Unraveled fishing nets and lines.
After she moved to Hawai’i in 2006 to assume a professorship in Fiber Arts and Extended Studies at the University of Hawai’i at Manoa, Babcock had access to a plentiful source of new materials washing up on the beaches from the Pacific Ocean. She immersed herself in the local culture, which is centered around water, and by 2006, began an ongoing series of tapestries that she calls “Hydrophilia,†meaning “water-loving.†While the earlier works in the series refer to qualities of water such as turbulence, intensity, and fluidity, more recent pieces focus on water’s vulnerabilities and are titled after latitude lines. The latitude indicators identify the location of the environmentally vulnerable areas she is highlighting, and suggest that issues occurring anywhere along these global geographic connectors impact us all.
1° 55’ 30†N (Self Portrait as Atoll), 68†x 96†x 3â€. Salvaged fishing nets and lines collected across the Pacific Ocean, deep sea leader line and terrestrial, celestial, and aquatic maps, 2015. On loan to the U.S. Embassy in Nicosia, Cyprus. Photo by Chris Rohrer.1° 55’ 30†N (Self Portrait as Atoll), detail. 68†x 96†x 3â€. Salvaged fishing nets and lines collected across the Pacific Ocean, deep sea leader line and terrestrial, celestial, and aquatic maps, 2015. On loan to the U.S. Embassy in Nicosia, Cyprus. Photo by Chris Rohrer.
All of Babcock’s tapestries have back stories that provide narrative context to the pieces. 1° 55’ 30†(Self Portrait as Atoll) references the Republic of Maldives, an archipelago of 1,190 coral islands in the Indian Ocean, most of which stand at only 1 meter or 3.3 feet above sea level. With the flattest topography on Earth, the Republic of Maldives faces an uncertain future. Scientists predict it stands to lose 77% of its land area to sea level rise by 2100. Babcock used an image of herself immersed in the ocean and memories of her newborn’s swimming lessons as inspiration for the design of the tapestry. The rich turquoise color of the netting, which happens to be the same color as the water in Hawai’i, and the lush weaving are in direct contrast to the darkness of the subject matter.
10° 20′ 32†N, Babcock’s most recent tapestry(see image at the top of the article) was inspired by a December 17, 2020 BBC News article about an abandoned “ghost boat†filled with $80 million’s worth of cocaine that washed ashore on Ailuk Atoll in the Republic of the Marshall Islands. The weaving pattern of the tapestry is based on a map developed by the University of Hawai’i at Manoa, which indicates the likely drift currents flowing from South America, where the boat originated, to the Marshall Islands. Scientists developing the map needed to take into consideration changing sea currents resulting from global warming. When Babcock designed the tapestry, she was thinking about how the increasing power of the ocean had determined the fate of the boat and its missing passenger(s?). She was also thinking about the vast economic disparity evident between the enormous worth of the cargo and the very modest income of Marshall Island residents – only one example of the global economic reality.
Oh Columbia, 24’ x 24’ x 12’. Installation with hand-laminated and stitched household wax paper, sea salt. Installed at the Oxygen Art Center, Nelson, British Columbia, Canada, 2019. Photo by Randi Fjeldseth.
Oh Columbia, detail, 24’ x 24’ x 12’. Installation with hand-laminated and stitched household wax paper, sea salt. Installed at the Oxygen Art Center, Nelson, British Columbia, Canada, 2019. Photo by Randi Fjeldseth.
In 2019, Babcock was invited to attend an artist residency at the Oxygen Art Center in Nelson, British Columbia, Canada. During her residency, she created an installation based on the catastrophic history of Vanport, Oregon. Located on the Columbia River outside Portland, Vanport was hastily built on a flood plain in 1942 as a temporary wartime public housing project for Portland’s shipyard workers. When the war ended, many of the thousands who stayed on in the slip-shod houses were African Americans, prevented by discriminatory housing practices from living in Portland itself. Predictably, a major flood in 1948 destroyed all of the structures in Vanport and displaced 18,500 residents who had received no warning that the dikes on the river had been breached upstream. Babcock created Oh Columbia as a cautionary tale about the impact of reckless, corporate greed, drawing parallels to current practices of placing corporate profit over the wellbeing of the planet and its residents.
Oh Columbia is made out of household wax paper that has been stitched, pierced, layered, and hand-laminated with an iron. The suspended portion of the installation is comprised of a map of Vanport, Oregon; the floor section references glacial melts and an outline of Greenland. As a whole, Oh Columbia is a ghostly reflection of what is no longer there – a town washed away as a result of negligent corporate policies, and whole portions of glaciers melting as a result of the man-made climate crisis.
Lotic Sea, 14’ x 14’ x 14’. Hand-laminated and stitched household wax paper, sea salt, 2019. Installed at the University of Hawai’i at Manoa Art Gallery, Honolulu, HI. Photo by Kelly Ciurej.Lotic Sea, 14’ x 14’ x 14’, detail. Hand-laminated and stitched household wax paper, sea salt, 2019. Installed at the University of Hawai’i at Manoa Art Gallery, Honolulu, HI. Photo by Kelly Ciurej.
The term “lotic water†is defined as “rapidly moving fresh water.†Babcock’s installation, Lotic Sea, both references the melting glaciers that are adding volumes of fresh water to the oceans and questions the nature of borders during a time when sea level rise is literally claiming the coastal lands of island nations. Lotic Sea also refers to the Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs) that were designed to confer full sovereignty to island nations over the waters for 200 miles off their coastlines. The EEZ’s were created to potentially protect the islands from industrial exploitation of natural resources in the ocean but have become vulnerable as island governments succumb to attractive financial offers by corporate entities.
On the surface of the layered, wax paper installation, hand-stitched lines represent the EEZ borders of several Pacific Island nations, while the islands themselves, outlined with simple holes pricked into the surface of the paper and off to the right of the EEZ lines, appear to have slipped or flowed outside of the geopolitical boundaries. The luminous light in the gallery activated the installation so that it seemed as if the ocean itself had entered the space.
Hand-laminating wax paper with an iron, or changing the wax in the paper to liquid and fusing additional pieces to it, is a slow, meticulous process. So is untangling and unraveling fishing nets and lines and reweaving them into complex tapestries. Babcock considers all of these processes themselves to be significant components of her work, enabling her to slow down and become a witness to what is happening around her. At heart, she is a storyteller. Her woven stories and laminated wax paper installations demonstrate how we can repair the remnants of our world and live in a way that is more meaningful and environmentally just.
(Top image: 10° 20′ 32†N, 44†x 96†x 3â€, detail. Salvaged fishing nets and lines collected from across the Pacific Ocean with deep-sea leader line, 2021 (in process).)
This article is part of Imagining Water, a series on artists of all genres who are making the topic of water and climate disruption a focus of their work and on the growing number of exhibitions, performances, projects and publications that are appearing in museums, galleries and public spaces around the world with water as a theme.
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Susan Hoffman Fishman is a painter, public artist and writer whose work has been exhibited widely in museums and galleries throughout the U.S. Since 2011, all of her paintings, installations and photographs have addressed water and climate change. She co-created a national, participatory public art project, The Wave, which addresses our mutual need for and interdependence on water and which has inspired thousands of adults and children of all ages, abilities and backgrounds to protect this vital resource. Her most recent body of work calls attention to the growing number of rampikes along our shores – trees that have been exposed to salt water and died as a result of rising tides.
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Artists and Climate Change is a blog that tracks artistic responses from all disciplines to the problem of climate change. It is both a study about what is being done, and a resource for anyone interested in the subject. Art has the power to reframe the conversation about our environmental crisis so it is inclusive, constructive, and conducive to action. Art can, and should, shape our values and behavior so we are better equipped to face the formidable challenge in front of us.
Submit proposals for an art installation that amplifies the environmental ethics of the Edinburgh Climate Festival.
Context
We intend to host the Edinburgh Climate Festival on Saturday 14th August 2021 at Leith Links, Edinburgh (please note the date might be subject to change due to current circumstances). We will include a visual art display that will highlight the festival’s aim and vision, as highlighted below.
Our aim: inspiring and celebrating climate action and sustainability through community involvement.
Our vision: hosting an event that is inclusive, focused on climate justice, and empowering communities towards climate action.
The brief
We are looking for an art installation that amplifies the environmental ethics of the festival and gets people involved in a creative way. There are some fixed criteria, and some general guidelines below. Beyond these, we’re open to artists’ ideas and suggestions.
Criteria
The art installation will be exposed outdoors so the piece needs to be weatherproof.
We will need to remove the installation after the event, so the art piece needs to be mobile or re-mountable.
The art installation needs to be as environmentally friendly as possible (e.g. use upcycled/repurposed material or responsible sources, no use of chemicals).
The artist/artists will need to include transport costs to and from the location, as well as installation and dismantle costs on the day in their budget proposal.
It is preferable for the artist/artists to be Edinburgh based but we would consider applications from all Scotland-based artists.
We don’t want to claim intellectual property of the piece. We would love the art piece to have a life beyond the climate festival. At the same time, we do not have adequate storage facilities. We would be excited to discuss options for a new home or other festivals/exhibitions after the event and we would ask you to give credit to the Edinburgh Climate Festival by adding our logo. Alternatively, please consider what will happen to the material used, considering the whole life cycle of the piece.
Guidelines
We would love the piece to:
Tell a story of climate change.
Include awareness of the intersectionality of climate change with other social inequalities and marginalisation, including the fact that climate change affects those who are least responsible for it, such as indigenous people and those in the Global South.
Be interactive and give participants a way to contribute.
Be child-friendly.
Payment
We envision the whole commission to cost between £500 and £2500. Please include a full breakdown of the costings in your proposal.
Selection process
We will accept proposals from both individual artists or groups, who have an environmental art piece that they want to display, or who are interested in preparing a piece for a commission.
Proposals will be assessed by the Edinburgh Climate Steering Group, taking into consideration a number of factors, including:
Quality of artists’ previous work.
Appropriateness of the proposal to the event.
Environmental sustainability (think about the entire life cycle of the piece).
Ability to meet the project timescale.
Applicants should also be able to demonstrate how their design concept fits with the ethos and values of the Edinburgh Climate Festival and how their proposed work will be relevant to the local community.
Submissions
The closing date is 20th June 2021 9pm.
Applications should include:
Cover letter stating name of the artist/artists applying and artist statement in response to the brief. This could be either in written format (max 500 words) or a video (max 3 minutes).
CV or artist group background (max 2 x A4 pages).
Example of previous work, in the format of links to visuals (e.g. online portfolio, google drive folder etc.).
Design plan, including materials.
Example of risk assessment and/or health and safety statement (including COVID-19 prevention measures).
Project budget.
If you are interested, please email your proposal with the subject line “your name – ART INSTALLATION PROPOSALâ€. Please make sure all the attachments are clearly identified (e.g. your name – cover letter)
The successful applicant will be notified by the end of June 2021.
Creative Carbon Scotland is a partnership of arts organisations working to put culture at the heart of a sustainable Scotland. We believe cultural and creative organisations have a significant influencing power to help shape a sustainable Scotland for the 21st century.
In 2011 we worked with partners Festivals Edinburgh, the Federation of Scottish Threatre and Scottish Contemporary Art Network to support over thirty arts organisations to operate more sustainably.
We are now building on these achievements and working with over 70 cultural organisations across Scotland in various key areas including carbon management, behavioural change and advocacy for sustainable practice in the arts.
Our work with cultural organisations is the first step towards a wider change. Cultural organisations can influence public behaviour and attitudes about climate change through:
Changing their own behaviour; Communicating with their audiences; Engaging the public’s emotions, values and ideas.
