Monthly Archives: November 2013

Could artists do this?

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This post comes to you from EcoArtScotland

The question of what artists do is a subject of interest for ecoartscotland and we’d like to highlight two pieces of evidence.

The first is the submission to the Environmental Audit Committee Inquiry on Energy Subsidies in the UK.  This submission has been made by PLATFORM who’s strap line is arts, activism, education and research.  PLATFORM understand these aspects of their practice as a collective to be integral to each other, and that artists should engage with public policy and politics.  The public hearing was broadcast by the UK Parliament and you can watch it here.  PLATFORM understand this to be part of the programme of a social and environmental arts organisations.

The second is the essay on biodiversity by Helen Mayer Harrison and Newton Harrison, which although it includes a number of their texts/poems and references their images, is a strategic argument about biodiversity and land management.  It offers a set of conceptual tools that they have used for conceiving of ways to build stability in biodiversity, using economic, cultural and conceptual arguments.  The Harrisons also believe that it is the role of artists to engage with public policy and politics.

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.
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Common Ground | Manifesto for Fields

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Kilmartin Glen Photo Chris Fremantle

Kilmartin Glen Photo Chris Fremantle

This post comes to you from EcoArtScotland

What is a field?  It is the most basic unit of the inhabited countryside in England, perhaps.  A field is certainly iconic, resonant and getting bigger every year.  Common Ground, who have been working on local distinctiveness, parish scale thinking and food for more than 30 years now, have focused on fields.  Sad to hear that Sue Clifford and Angela King have retired, but happy to receive news of more innovative and inspiring work – just read the Common Ground Manifesto for Fields.

I wonder what this project would look like in a different cultural context – in Italy for instance, or in Canada?  This articulation is English.  I wonder what a Scottish version would be?  The principles are general, but the character and the emotion are in the specifics.  Each country also has its own poetry (cf To A Mouse, R. Burns).

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.
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UK: Certificate improves arts institutions’ environmental performance

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This post comes to you from Culture|Futures

“Understand, commit and improve.” That is what is requred from the increasing amount of British arts organisations and institutions which undertake the so-called ‘Industry Green’ certification.

industry-green

The Industry Green certification was developed for the music, theatre and the wider creative industries to recognise commitment and achievement in managing and reducing carbon. It was developed by Julie’s Bicycle, a not-for-profit organisation working with the arts and creative industries to cut carbon emissions and make environmental sustainability a core component of their work. Established in 2007 by the music industry, Julie’s Bicycle has since extended its remit to the performing arts, visual arts and fashion.

With an audit report of the organisation’s environmental performance – covering energy, waste, water and travel – the Industry Green certification process is providing ever more organisations in the UK with the evidence to shout about their environmental successes. A certification of one, two or tree stars show staff, suppliers, artists and audiences that here is an organisation which is committed to going green.

Three stars to three organisations
In 2013, the outstanding three stars have been awarded to the opera institution Glyndebourne and the theatre production company Lyric Hammersmith both for the second year in a row – and they have been joined for the first time by Battersea Arts Centre.

Lyric Hammersmith is committed to becoming more environmentally friendly by reducing our carbon emissions by 10 percent each year

Nine British arts companies were successfully awarded the two star rating: Live Theatre, Northern Stage, The Sage Gateshead, Tyneside Cinema, Seven Stories, Greenwich Theatre, Hampstead Theatre, Soho Theatre, Young Vic.

And a one star certification goes to twelve organisations across the UK: Centre for Life, Dance City, Theatre Royal, Tyne and Wear Archives and Museums, Glasgow Film Theatre, Almedia, Bush Theatre, Donmar Warehouse, Royal Court, Theatre Royal Stratford East, Tricycle, Norwich Theatre Royal.

The Industry Green certification is compatible with, and complimentary to other environmental certification schemes including BS8901, ISO20121, ISO14001 and the Carbon Trust Standard.

“UNDERSTAND your environmental impactsPREPARE for compliancyREDUCE carbon emissions SAVE money SHARE the story BUILD your brand JOIN a community of companies working together to green the industry”

» See who is currently certified

» Download the Industry Green brochure (PDF) for more information.

» More info: juliesbicycle.com/industry-green

Culture|Futures is an international collaboration of organizations and individuals who are concerned with shaping and delivering a proactive cultural agenda to support the necessary transition towards an Ecological Age by 2050.

The Cultural sector that we refer to is an interdisciplinary, inter-sectoral, inter-genre collaboration, which encompasses policy-making, intercultural dialogue/cultural relations, creative cities/cultural planning, creative industries and research and development. It is those decision-makers and practitioners who can reach people in a direct way, through diverse messages and mediums.

Affecting the thinking and behaviour of people and communities is about the dissemination of stories which will profoundly impact cultural values, beliefs and thereby actions. The stories can open people’s eyes to a way of thinking that has not been considered before, challenge a preconceived notion of the past, or a vision of the future that had not been envisioned as possible. As a sector which is viewed as imbued with creativity and cultural values, rather than purely financial motivations, the cultural sector’s stories maintain the trust of people and society.
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Canada: ‘Carbon 14: Climate is Culture’ exhibition

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This post comes to you from Culture|Futures

ROM_exhibition

Collision of science and art. On 19 October 2013, Toronto’s Royal Ontario Museum, one of the largest museums in North America, opened ‘Carbon 14’ — an art exhibition and four-month programme of theatre plays, talks and seminars about climate change.

Collaborating with scientists and cultural informers in confronting the facts of global climate change, the artists participating in the ‘Carbon 14: Climate is Culture’ exhibition respond to various aspects of the climate challenge in poignant, nuanced, subversive, often humorous, and always passionately human ways.

Subjects include explorations of a changing Arctic, the health of oceans, biodiversity and extinction, sustainability and new, clean technologies; and central questions of politics, economics, and ethics.

Imaginative, experimental and eclectic in its approach, ROM Contemporary Culture explores new ideas and new technologies to raise provocative questions about the natural world, living cultures and the creative mind. This season ROM Contemporary Culture explores the issue of environment and climate change asking: how does landscape change a culture and how does culture change a landscape?

Curated by David Buckland and Claire Sykes, and produced by Cape Farewell in partnership withROM Contemporary Culture, ‘Carbon 14: Climate is Culture’ explores the growing global issue of climate change through the eyes of scientists, artists and cultural informers.

Art and science come together like never before in this engaging and provocative exhibition, two years in the making. The exhibition features 13 art installations.

» Experience the collision of science and art with the Carbon 14: Climate is Culture exhibition at the Royal Ontario Museum in Canada.

 

Carbon 14: Climate is Culture Festival

October 2013 – February 2014

In addition to the Carbon 14: Climate is Culture exhibition, Cape Farewell have developed a rich series of public programs, satellite projects and events that are set to unfold throughout the four-month exhibition run.

‘Climate is Culture’ will be four months of cultural engagement visioning the challenge and the possible future, a unique and powerful narrative engagement with what is one of the most pressing issues of our time, climate change.

Highlights include:

• A performance series produced in partnership with Toronto’s The Theatre Centre, featuring the world premiere of Sea Sick – performed by Alanna Mitchell and adapted from her award-winning book; the Canadian premier of Cynthia Hopkins‘ multi-media musical performance piece This Clement World; and special musical performances. The series runs January 26 – February 9, 2014 at The Theatre Centre, Toronto.

• The Trial of David Suzuki – a powerful live theatre and public engagement project conceived and produced by Laurie Brown, in partnership with Donnelly Law. The Trial of David Suzuki will be held on November 6, 2013 at the Royal Ontario Museum. (More information below)

• Public screen-based art projects in partnership with Pattison Onestop, as part of their Art in Transit program, set to unfold on the Toronto Transit System (TTC) subway platform screens, on the Pattison Onestop network of shopping centre screens nation-wide, and on various digital billboards in the city. The first installment of art work in November 2012, featured Ship of Fools: Artist and Climate Change, with work by James Balog, Heather O’Neill, and Shad.

• Public lectures, talks and discussions, including the Carbon 14 Dialogues on topics ranging from the changing Arctic landscape, to the theme “climate is culture” developed in partnership with ROM and the Munk-Gordon Arctic Security Program.

• Satellite exhibition and related programming focused on water at THEMUSEUM in Kitchener, Ontario, featuring work by Eamon Mac Mahon in conjunction with Surface Tension: The Future of Water. This exhibition runs September 20, 2013 through January 5, 2014.

» Download your copy of the Carbon 14: Climate is Culture Festival and Exhibition Guide. (PDF)

 

Theatre: ‘The Trial of David Suzuki’

Suzuki stands accused!
Imagine a time when we might find our most trusted and respected scientists tried in a court of law for speaking out against environmental practices. We’re not there yet, but the “Trial” does take the views about climate change of one well-known and controversial scientist, and give his supporters, and those that disagree with him, equal time to challenge each others ideas about our changing environment and how the way we live impacts it.

‘The Trial of David Suzuki’ — a powerful live theatre and public engagement project conceived and produced by Laurie Brown, is presented by Cape Farewell in partnership with Donnelly Law and ROM Contemporary Culture as part of the Carbon 14: Climate is Culture exhibition.

» Click here to book tickets or for more information on ‘The Trial of David Suzuki’.

Related articles

CultureFutures – 27 August 2013:
Art about climate change: a new trend

Culture|Futures is an international collaboration of organizations and individuals who are concerned with shaping and delivering a proactive cultural agenda to support the necessary transition towards an Ecological Age by 2050.

The Cultural sector that we refer to is an interdisciplinary, inter-sectoral, inter-genre collaboration, which encompasses policy-making, intercultural dialogue/cultural relations, creative cities/cultural planning, creative industries and research and development. It is those decision-makers and practitioners who can reach people in a direct way, through diverse messages and mediums.

Affecting the thinking and behaviour of people and communities is about the dissemination of stories which will profoundly impact cultural values, beliefs and thereby actions. The stories can open people’s eyes to a way of thinking that has not been considered before, challenge a preconceived notion of the past, or a vision of the future that had not been envisioned as possible. As a sector which is viewed as imbued with creativity and cultural values, rather than purely financial motivations, the cultural sector’s stories maintain the trust of people and society.
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Nil by Mouth: Food, Farming, Science and Sustainability

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Photo Chris Fremantle

Photo Chris Fremantle

This post comes to you from EcoArtScotland

The question of food is central to the issue of sustainability – it is literally what sustains us on a day to day basis, but food production contributes 30% of the greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change. 30% of the world’s population is malnourished and another 30% is obese. Food production uses 70% of the world’s fresh water and 40% of the world’s land. Developed countries waste 30%-40% of food.

The Nil by Mouth: Food, Farming, Science and Sustainability project kicks off Friday with a workshop between the four selected artists/collectives and scientists involved in the Scottish Government’s Strategic Research Programme Environmental Change; Food, Land and People.  Nil by Mouth is an initiative of the Crichton Carbon Centre in partnership with Wide Open.

Over the past few days we’ve seen, thanks to a variety of supporters, a number of interesting articles:

Suzanne Benton highlighted an article, Now This Is Natural Food, from the New York Times on farming, soil and perennial polycultures.

We just highlighted Common Ground’s new programme of work on Fields, including this outstanding manifesto, but it’s worth flagging it again.

And finally the obituary of Joan Thirsk, historian of agriculture was published in the Guardian.  The latter two are very much English, and the former is Kansas.  We wonder what Nil by Mouth can contribute from a Scottish perspective?

ecoartscotland is a resource focused on art and ecology for artists, curators, critics, commissioners as well as scientists and policy makers. It includes ecoartscotland papers, a mix of discussions of works by artists and critical theoretical texts, and serves as a curatorial platform.
It has been established by Chris Fremantle, producer and research associate with On The Edge Research, Gray’s School of Art, The Robert Gordon University. Fremantle is a member of a number of international networks of artists, curators and others focused on art and ecology.
Go to EcoArtScotland

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