Robe has some huge news for PLASA next month. They are keeping the product announcement under wraps right now, but they will be announcing 7 new products at PLASA.
What makes these seven new fixtures exciting is the commitment to going green that Robe just announced. Robe is launching a major new green initiative – “Think of the Future – Consider Nature†– at PLASA 2010
Read the rest from  Robe Going Green at PLASA | iSquint.net.
Theatres Trust will be profiling the Ecovenue project, and all its participants at PLASA 2010 in The Theatres Trust’s very own ‘Ecovenue’ on Stand 2-M28 at Earl’s Court, showcasing the environmental efficiency practices being implemented across the London venues involved with the project. In addition to profiling the venues, the Ecovenue area in Earls Court 2 will also feature technologies designed to rationalise the environmental footprint of theatres.
As part of this initiative, The Theatres Trust will launch its first ‘People’s Choice’ award for sustainable theatrical products to complement the existing PLASA Innovation Award for Environmentally-focused products.
All exhibiting manufacturers at PLASA 2010 are invited, as part of an open call for entries, to put forward products to be considered for this Theatres Trust award. The Theatres Trust will then select those that represent either a significant step forward in the resource efficiency of an existing product or a new product intended to contribute to the resource efficiency of a theatre to be featured in the area.
Visitors to PLASA 2010 will be able to vote on the product they feel best represents progression towards sustainability, while also learning about the advice that the Ecovenue participants are receiving and the experiences of the 24 already signed up to the project.
The PLASA Show runs from the 12th – 15th September. For a Theatres Trust ‘People’s Choice’ award application form, please email Tim Atkinson.
Southwark Bridge will be closed to traffic and transformed into a magical feasting environment as part of The Mayor’s Thames Festival, London’s largest free outdoor arts festival.
Curated by artist Clare Patey, Feast on the Bridge is a spectacular communal ‘harvest supper’ that aims to reconnect an urban public with the growing cycle and invite people to reclaim a public space in the heart of their city, share a meal and a conversation, dance and make merry.
This year’s Feast on the Bridge is designed by a team of artists lead by theatre designer Cathy Wren, who has created a chorus of scarecrows to line each side of the bridge. Rows of banqueting tables will run the entire length of the bridge which is covered by specially commissioned tablecloths with illustrations and food-related stories collected from Londoners by artist Sophie Herxheimer.
At LDI in 2009 and at USITT 2010, there was a lot of discussion about sustainability. Hundreds of your current and potential customers attended sessions with “green†in the title and participated in events where sustainability was a topic of discussion. This was an edifying exercise in talking about environmental responsibility, but it is time for our industry to take the next step.
We are writing to ask you to help us support our clients in their efforts in sustainability, which may, at the same time, help you promote your products. While much of our equipment is exempt from ASHRE standards and is not considered directly in LEED building certification, the point is not the certification; it is behaving responsibly.
Read the full letter at Live Design’s Website here:Â An Open Letter To Entertainment Industry Manufacturers.
Curtis Kasefang is trained as a lighting designer and embarking on his 20th year as a theatre consultant. He is a principal with Theatre Consultants Collaborative, LLC. Prior to his consulting work, he was a production manager for a four-theatre complex. He also chairs his local Historic Districts Commission. He will participate in the Green Day Think Tank at LDI2010.
Grayson County College’s Art and Communications Center in Denison, Texas has purchased 10 Prism Projection Reveal Color Wash Reveal CW fixtures for the newly-renovated, 1,000-seat Cruce Stark Auditorium and the new, more intimate 50-foot-by-50-foot Black Box Theater. The latter space features a fully-flexible seating system by Staging Concepts that can accommodate up to 150 people depending on the configuration. The Cruce Stark Auditorium and Black Box Theater are used as classrooms and for theatre and music performances; they are also available for community events and outside rentals.
Read the full article at Stage Directions.
Theatre Without Borders, presented by La MaMa ETCand in affiliation with Brandeis University, announces ACTING TOGETHER ON THE WORLD STAGE: A CONFERENCE ON THEATRE AND PEACE BUILDING IN CONFLICT ZONES, September 23-26, 2010 in New York City. This conference brings together theatre and performance practitioners from around the world to share their experiences with artists, activists, educators, policy makers, and the general public.
ACTING TOGETHER ON THE WORLD STAGE grows out of a five-year initiative of Theatre Without Borders and Brandeis University. During this time, Theatre Without Borders members have attended gatherings and explored, with the guidance of peace-building scholar/practitioners, a range of questions about the relationship between the arts and conflict transformation. ACTING TOGETHER ON THE WORLD STAGE will begin a year of programming to disseminate the documentation of artists working in conflict-zones worldwide in contexts of direct and structural violence and in the aftermath of mass violations of human rights. At the conference, TWB and Brandeis will launch a documentary film and a website and plans for an upcoming anthology.
TWB is a grassroots, volunteer, virtual community of individual theatre artists around the world who are committed to international exchange. This conference has no formal funding and guests are being sponsored by hosting organizations, including universities, Cultural Affairs divisions of embassies, foundations, and theatres. All are welcome!
Thursday, September 23 – Sunday, September 26, 2010
Ellen Stewart Theatre, La MaMa ETC, 66 East Fourth Street, NYC 10003
http://www.lamama.org
Conference official hotel is Club Quarters, Wall Street. Please call 212-575-0006 and use code NYU001 when making reservations. Other hotel options available.
A suggested donation of $25 may be made in advance at www.lamama.org (click “Support Us†tab and enter put TWB in the “On Behalf Of†section) or at the door. Volunteer workers graciously accepted.
To reserve your place at the Conference and for all information, please call +1-212-620-0703, emailConference@theatrewithoutborders.com, or refer to the website, www.theatrewithoutborders.com
OR CHECK OUT OUR FACEBOOK PAGE:
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=123901834322754
*PLEASE NOTE: This is NOT an international performance festival and we are not seeking submissions for performances. We are curating an event entirely focused on artists working specifically on “THEATRE AND PEACE BUILDING IN CONFLICT ZONES.”
Photo from Arts In the One World
During the harsh winter of 2010 Toby Smith spent three months in the Scottish Highlands beginning an ongoing project to document the renewable energy industry.
Above ground Smith captured dramatic panoramas, vast arctic-like scenery and alluring night images lit by the moon and stars. Below ground he explored hidden underground tunnels, engineering marvels and colossal turbine halls.
Now, for the first time, Smith exhibits a selection of his images from the initial phase of ‘The Renewables Project’ which celebrates the union of striking landscapes and sustainable energy structures.
An excellent article on ARTPULSE By Christiane Paul
Sustainability has become the new “social networkingâ€-at least it seems to have superseded the latter as the catchword du jour. An increasing number of conferences, think tanks, art exhibitions and publications have been devoted to the subject over the past few years and have reached critical mass. Sustainability has moved from its original, mostly ecological context to a larger cultural one. One might argue that a focus on sustainability is the next logical step after the rise of social networking enabled by the user-generated content of Web 2.0 sites-such as blogs, Wikis, MySpace, YouTube, and Flickr: networking itself is intrinsic to digital technologies, which allow for multiple forms of connectivity, while sustaining networks (of culture, productivity etc.) presents more of a challenge.
READ ONE: ARTPULSE MAGAZINE » Editorials » Sustainable Art Practices / Producing Art in the 21st Century.
Transformer Framework Panel #13 – BUILT TO LAST? truths & myths of sustainable cultural production from Transformer on Vimeo.
June 3, 2010, 6:30 – 8pm at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
**Please note: the duration of this panel was 2 hours, but video cuts out at 1 hour and 45 minutes. Apologies!**
Presented in tandem with Sustainability Lab & Cornfield, this panel will look back and look ahead at the ever-evolving Do-It-Yourself ethic and inherent aesthetics as it relates to cultural production. Timed with the 30th anniversary of Washington DC’s Dischord Records – an internationally recognized independent record label supporting punk rock music that has been artist run since its inception – this panel will examine the DIY organizing model that grew out of punk rock subculture and is tied to punk ideology and anti-consumerism. How is DIY being redefined as aspects of that culture shift from being an underground mantra to a cable TV station slogan and Urban Outfitters commodity? What can cultural producers learn from sustainable food producers? How can a volunteer-run operation be sustainable?
Panelists: Nancy Bannon, artist, DC & NYC; Bryce Dwyer, InCUBATE, Chicago; Ian MacKaye, co-founder of Dischord Records, DC; Eve Mosher, Seeding the City, NYC; Abigail Satinsky, InCUBATE, Chicago
Moderator: Jeff Hnilicka, cultural worker, Member of Hit Factorie and organizer of FEAST, Brooklyn
This year, we’re taking the convergence to the road.  We’ll be converging in two cities, and in between, on an all-inclusive weekend getaway!  Exploring human impact on the Earth, and Art’s impact on human impact, we’ll discuss environmental justice, urban nature, and what it means to be an artist who brings environmental issues to the public.
Join us for our Sunday afternoon session in San Francisco, featuring Amy Balkin, Patricia Watts, Laura Parker, and Nik Bertulis.  Curated by Moe Beitiks.  You can also check out our “a la carte†events.  Book your own ticket and meet us there!
Held at the Hyatt at Fisherman’s Wharf:
555 North Point Street
San Francisco, California 94133
Sunday, September 5th. Â 1pm-5pm.
Seating is limited. Â Reserve your space at
http://cspaconvergence.eventbrite.com/