Monthly Archives: October 2014

Edinburgh Green Tease Reflections: Social Sustainability with Out Of The Blue

This post comes from Creative Carbon Scotland

This month’s meeting examined more fully how the power of the arts sector can be harnessed to enable social good, improving the lives and environments of individuals and the communities they exist within. There has long been discussion about the positive benefits of cultural participation in the arts: increasing cultural and social capital and improving the communicative links within a society, as well as ensuring economic capital for the sustenance of various livelihoods. Although sustainability is often viewed as synonymous with environmental actions, the traditional three elements of sustainability comprise of environment, economy and society.

Out Of The Blue has been consistently affecting these three elements over its 20 year history, and despite a change in venue 11 years ago.  As a result, it was a particularly appropriate place to provoke a discussion on the role and responsibility of the arts to their surrounds. The event took place in the Cutting Room of the 1901-built, Rowand Anderson-designed Drill Hall: an ex-military building purchased from the Territorial Army and refurbished by the organisation with a strong environmental sustainability ethos.

To start the Green Tease, Rob gave us an overview of Out Of The Blue’s motivations for their community work. He explained how the multi-arts organisation is required to justify their social value to their range of stakeholders in order to secure operational funding and legitimacy. Charity status and activities, contribution to health and education, economic benefits and environmental impact are all considered and addressed by the organisation, and given precedence alongside their initial artistic purpose.

Rob went on to detail a few examples of their initiatives aimed at young people – one of the community groups for whom they aim to be a significant resource – including the Youth Arts Hive and their Community Cafe. ‘The Hive’ builds on Out Of The Blue’s history of engaging young people in participatory cultural activity, partnering with various arts and education organisations as part of Creative Scotland’s Youth Arts Hub/ Time to Shine initiative, whilst the cafe is an on-site skill-training programme for members of the local community.

As the group discussion developed, too did our understanding of what a more socially sustainable arts sector might look like: we explored the impact of permanence (in location and concept) as being distinctly affecting to the success of social projects, but commented on the frequent short term, project-based nature of the arts sector, and how these might be reconciled.  It was suggested that “dipping-in is damaging” when considering social value initiatives, both to the initiative and to the individual unable to witness the outcome of their efforts. We talked about changing the mindset of organisations working in arts sector: how they explain and justify themselves in their immediate area, and what timescales they theorise on when attempting to address inequality, social cohesion and cultural participation. Members of the group also drew from experience working in organisations and artistic venues where staff turnover could prevent successful efforts, suggesting that maintaining continuous knowledge transfer and establishing an educational platform for the transmission of sustainability are paramount to the longevity of ideas and actions.

The two hour discussion also expanded outwith the Edinburgh setting, with members of the group sharing their knowledge, involvement and problems they have encountered when attempting to address sustainability. We learnt of art accessibility projects in rural Finland, where emphasising the affordability of art promotes sustainable livelihoods and increased cultural appreciation and participation. Too, we discussed the repercussions of withdrawing musical support in prisons, and the involvement of cross-medium artists in the research gap surrounding social sustainability.

The evening left the group questioning how the arts can impact across their community and inspired by the work of Out Of The Blue so far!


Our next Edinburgh Green Tease will be announced shortly, be sure to check our News page, Facebook and Twitter for up-to-date information and our Instagram for more event photos. Feel free to post your own Green Tease reflections using #GreenTease.

Image: Alastair Cook: The Land and The Sea at Out Of The Blue Drill Hall, © Chris Donia

 

The post Edinburgh Green Tease Reflections: Social Sustainability with Out Of The Blue appeared first on Creative Carbon Scotland.

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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.

Go to Creative Carbon Scotland

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Water+/-

NPR and WWNO are proud to announce the world premiere of NPR Presents Water +/- on Saturday, October 25, 2014 at 8:00 p.m. ET at the Saenger Theatre. NPR Presents Water +/- combines national and local news coverage, music, poetry, storytelling and visual projections to explore how too much or too little water is shaping lives and affecting communities around the country and the world.

NPR Presents Water +/- brings together Tony-Award winning director Kenny Leon, award-winning NPR Science Correspondent Christopher Joyce, and award-winning theater writers Arthur Yorinks and Carl Hancock Rux with an original sound score by acclaimed violinist Daniel Bernard Roumain (DBR). The show starts its eight-city tour in New Orleans. It will be co-hosted by NPR’s Michele Norris and WWNO’s Eve Troeh and will feature Tony Award-winner Anika Noni Rose (Caroline, or Change); Tony Award-nominee, Michele Shay (August Wilson’s Seven Guitars); Jason Dirden (Tony Award-winning Production, A Raisin in the Sun); and Lucas Caleb Rooney (Boardwalk Empire).

“NPR Presents Water + brings together NPR’s journalistic rigor with the artistic and poetic nature of theatrical storytelling, amplifying local stories about water issues that are significant to each region and have a global resonance,” said Indira Etwaroo, executive producer and director of NPR Presents. “We are thrilled to partner with WWNO, who received the Edward R. Murrow Award for their coastal coverage, to create and present the premiere event and to hold it at the historic Saenger Theatre, which reopened after its own dramatic water story post-Hurricane Katrina.”

Tour Dates

  • October 25, 2014, New Orleans in partnership with WWNO
  • November 8, 2014, Weekend in Washington, NPR
  • November 10, 2014, New York, NY in partnership with WNYC
  • November 12, 2014, San Francisco, CA in partnership with KQED
  • November 13, 2014, Seattle, WA in partnership with KUOW
  • November 17, 2014, Atlanta, GA in partnership with WABE
  • November 18, 2014, Cleveland, OH in partnership with Ideastream
  • November 19, 2014, Detroit, MI in partnership with WUOM

“Water is such an important topic, not only for Louisiana, but also for the nation and the world. NPR Presents Water +/- will help to open conversations and the meaningful exchange of ideas in a new way,” said Paul Maassen, WWNO general manager. “We are honored to have the World Premiere here in New Orleans, and for WWNO to play a role in this local and national collaboration among NPR and public radio stations across the nation.”

“I am excited to work with NPR Presents on this meaningful and highly relevant undertaking,” said director Kenny Leon. “Theater has the ability to illuminate the human experience in a way that is unique, vital and authentic. Our goal is to allow Water + to showcase our shared humanity, our shared challenges across the US and the globe.”

Building on NPR and Member Stations’ news coverage, the NPR Presents Water +/- series will highlight each city’s unique, nuanced relationship with water. The scripts are created in partnership with the Member Station combining local sensibilities with national themes. No artistic licenses are taken with the news content; stories are adapted from on-air and online coverage, as well as oral histories, into monologues and dialogues.

MORE INFORMATION ON FACEBOOK

Glasgow Green Tease Reflections: Paper Kiln Making with Teena Gould

This post comes from Creative Carbon Scotland

Teena Gould, a ceramist with a strong background in public and community art, led discussion and action during the event, drawing from her practice of the use of earth, water, air and fire elements in her chosen medium. Teena explained how she often works with materials that would otherwise be discarded, having served their original purpose. She discussed the subjective concept of ‘rubbish’ in the context of creative materials, demonstrating how popularly perceived ‘waste products’ like sawdust have huge potential under alternative conditions: for energy and for creativity.

Teena also mentioned how these concepts fitted within her own work and how clay, as a material sourced from the earth, can very easily be returned to its initial state if not sealed through glazing. This in turn highlighted consideration of the creative life-cycle, and the longevity of found or ‘rubbish’ materials: their potential impermanence a feature, rather than a hindrance.

After this short discussion, the more practical aspect of the event began. The group was shown some images of the paper kiln making process, whilst Teena described how the structures form, and how this is an effective method of firing clay. Members of the group – which included a range of individual artists and those with an interest in sustainability – then chose between creating a small clay object, or creating the body of the paper kiln:

  • Old newspaper, brought along to the session by participants, was rolled into tight rounds, before being plaited successively to form large lattices of condensed paper.
  • Various clays, both traditional grey and terracotta forms, were available for the group to form a completely unspecified small object with inspiration and sculpting tools (in the form of leaves, shells and rocks collected by Teena).

Teena Gould GT 2

A range of clay objects were produced during the two-hour session: everything from egg cups and plates, to free-form shapes and some of the most detailed nature. Throughout the activities, Teena’s ‘Coastal Ceramics’ film was shown to provide context and ideas.

The whole group worked collectively on the paper kiln to create a single shared product – and although there were around 20 people creating and plaiting the paper shapes, the kiln was only partially complete by the end of the time: evidencing to the group how intensive a process it is, and how the social aspect of making was also necessary in this case.

In discussing this community creation, Teena also highlighted how the eventual firing (and thus, destruction) of the kiln acts as a collective reward and an intensely social gathering at the end of the process. Creative Carbon Scotland hopes to help realise this in a few weeks time for the November Glasgow Green Tease: reuniting people, made objects and a completed kiln for a fun and seasonal revisiting of the theme. Keep an eye on our events page in the coming weeks!


Information about our next Glasgow Green Tease will be published soon. Follow us on Twitter or ‘Like’ us on Facebook to hear about the event!

The post Glasgow Green Tease Reflections: Paper Kiln Making with Teena Gould appeared first on Creative Carbon Scotland.

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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.

Go to Creative Carbon Scotland

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Fertile Ground in Dunbar 25 and 26 October

This post comes to you from EcoArtScotland

 

Fertile Ground takes place on Saturday 25 and Sunday 26 October in Dunbar, East Lothian.  The event will nurture a conversation exploring creative ways to engage communities in the potential for change through public art with an environmental agenda.

PROGRAMME

Saturday 25Oct

Morning 9am: conference speakers; with refreshments and lunch

Afternoon: Sustaining Dunbar’s ‘Gathering In’ community event followed by artists presentations till 6pm

Evening 7pm: ‘Celebration of the Sea Performance’ with a starter by a foraging expert, this locally sourced starter is the opener to our seasonal supper by The Ridge. The performance will include music, poetry and readings and conversation with local marine specialists. Buy your tickets early for this event please £12.

Sunday 26Oct

Morning 10am: collective journey to the Belhaven Hospital Community Garden & Polly Tunnelfor a sensory walk; Guided Geology walk on the fossilised walk at Whitesands

Afternoon till 4pm: buffet lunch at Dunbar Town House followed by an open discussion on how environmental public arts can work for us in our location, led by Chris Freemantle.

To book follow this link  http://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/north-light-arts-7266976227

Free creche and children’s workshop for delegates to the Saturday morning talks: please book early. Discount for EH42 postcode

For further information email: infonorthlightarts@gmail.com

Contents of Fertile Ground event leaflet including programme Fertile ground A5 leaflet inside2

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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Launch: “If the city were a commons” series

This post comes from Creative Carbon Scotland

creative_carbon_scotlandThis series from On Site Projects involves artists talks, workshops, field trips, residencies and reading groups. The programme is inspired by the following provocations-

“If the city were a commons what would it look like, taste like, sound like, feel like, and smell like? How would artists and other creative individuals develop their skills and hone their practice?”

The year-long programme begins on 30 September 2014, with events held fortnightly. Creative Carbon Scotland’s very own Gemma Lawrence will be speaking 11 November 2014 about the relationship between participatory art practices and sustainable development.

For more information, please visit the If the city were a commons page on OSP’s website.


Image: Dundee Live, Scottish Dance Theatre, 2011. Courtesy OSP.

The post Launch: “If the city were a commons” series appeared first on Creative Carbon Scotland.

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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.

Go to Creative Carbon Scotland

Powered by WPeMatico

Press Release: Green Crafts Initiative Announced

This post comes from Creative Carbon Scotland

Craft Scotland will use their annual conference today to announce the launch The Green Craft Initiative, a new project run with Creative Carbon Scotland to celebrate and encourage more environmentally sustainable practices in Scotland’s craft sector.

The Green Crafts Initiative is a sister project to the Green Arts Initiative – a nationwide accreditation scheme designed to provide Scotland-based artists and arts organisations with the advice, support and tools they need to become greener and let audiences and the public know what they are doing.

The Green Arts Initiative currently works with over 60 arts organisations of all shapes and sizes to keep track of and reduce resource use including energy, water, waste and travel. This year has seen new and returning members including the twelve major Edinburgh Festivals, Craft Scotland, Spring Fling and Fife Contemporary Arts and Crafts all participating and finding innovative ways of putting sustainability at the heart of their operations without any detriment to artistic quality or audience satisfaction. The initiative actively encourages members to share their green work with audiences and harness their creativity, imagination and influence to help build a more environmentally sustainable Scotland.

Creative Carbon Scotland Director Ben Twist sees the imagination of the Scotland’s arts and crafts as an essential ingredient in our shift towards a more sustainable society, celebrating its “unique ability to imagine and experiment with alternative futures, question the status quo, see the world differently and explore the future with audiences”.

Fiona Logue, Director of Craft Scotland said:  “It is not enough for Craft Scotland just to monitor and manage our own environmental impact. While many makers already work to reduce their carbon footprint we have a responsibility to engage fully the craft sector and provide guidance and support. This new partnership with Creative Carbon Scotland will allow us to do that.”

Over the coming months Creative Carbon Scotland and Craft Scotland will be inviting crafts practitioners and organisations to sign up to the initiative and make the most of the support to hand including training workshops and seminars tailored to the crafts sector, one to one advice and extensive online resources available through the Green Arts Portal.

To find out more about the initiative and to sign up please click here. 

Notes to Editors:
More information on Creative Carbon Scotland can be found at www.creativecarbonscotland.com or alternatively by contacting Gemma Lawrence at gemma.lawrence@creativecarbonscotland or on 0131 529 7909.

Creative Carbon Scotland is a Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisation (Reg Charity No. SCO24687) initiated by the Edinburgh Festivals, the Federation of Scottish Theatre and the Scottish Contemporary Art Network and supported by Creative Scotland and the City of Edinburgh Council.

Creative Carbon Scotland was formed in 2011 to work across the arts and culture in Scotland, aiming to get the sector thinking about climate change and environmental sustainability, harnessing its influence with its large audiences to change public attitudes and opinion and running itself as sustainably as possible. CCS provides training, advice and practical support to arts and cultural organisations throughout Scotland.

Craft Scotland is the national agency for craft. It works to unite, inspire and champion craft through creating opportunities for makers in Scotland to practice, exhibit, sell and promote their craft and for audiences to see, purchase and learn about craft. It lobbies for craft as an essential and integral part of our cultural, economic and social life and works in partnership with other like-minded agencies. It is a central point of information about craft in Scotland and identifies and creates new activities to build awareness and understanding of craft. It is a charity (SC039491) supported by Creative Scotland.

Image credit: Craft Scotland

The post Press Release: Green Crafts Initiative Announced appeared first on Creative Carbon Scotland.

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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.

Go to Creative Carbon Scotland

Powered by WPeMatico

“Gulf to Gulf” – talk online

This post comes to you from Cultura21

How might mankind survive the disruptions of the Anthropocene based on trigger point theory? The “Gulf to Gulf” discussion between Dr. Eugene Turner and Aviva Rahmani is online. Please listen and comment at:

A “Gulf to Gulf” performance “What does resilience look like in the Anthropocene?” September 3rd, 2014. Ecological artist Aviva Rahmani: (ghostnets.com), with Dr. Eugene Turner, Distinguished Research Master and Professor, Department of Oceanography and Coastal Sciences, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA: (oceanography.lsu.edu/index.php/people/faculty/eugene-turner/)

Please consider making a tax deductible donation to the “Gulf to Gulf” project. Click the link below and choose the amount you would like to donate. Contributions to “Gulf to Gulf” will be made through NYFA. NYFA is a 501©3, tax exempt organization founded in 1971 to work with the arts community throughout New York State to develop and facilitate programs in all disciplines. NYFA will receive grants on behalf of Gulf to Gulf, ensure the use of grant funds in accordance with the grant agreements, and will provide program or financial reports as required. nyfa.org/ArtistDirectory/ShowProject/1446ef3a-0a9d-4449-96be-74023eb9c376

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Cultura21 is a transversal, translocal network, constituted of an international level grounded in several Cultura21 organizations around the world.

Cultura21′s international network, launched in April 2007, offers the online and offline platform for exchanges and mutual learning among its members.

The activities of Cultura21 at the international level are coordinated by a team representing the different Cultura21 organizations worldwide, and currently constituted of:

– Sacha Kagan (based in Lüneburg, Germany) and Rana Öztürk (based in Berlin, Germany)
– Oleg Koefoed and Kajsa Paludan (both based in Copenhagen, Denmark)
– Hans Dieleman (based in Mexico-City, Mexico)
– Francesca Cozzolino and David Knaute (both based in Paris, France)

Cultura21 is not only an informal network. Its strength and vitality relies upon the activities of several organizations around the world which are sharing the vision and mission of Cultura21

Go to Cultura21

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Artist as Activist: Robert Rauschenberg Foundation announces new grant opportunity for artists.

This post comes to you from Cultura21

Application deadline:October 13, 2014

www.rauschenbergfoundation.org

The Robert Rauschenberg Foundation announced that it will build on its recent grant-making pilots and for the first time in its history roll out a series of open calls for proposals. Over the next six months, the foundation will announce new grant opportunities related to arts and culture as well as efforts to address climate change. The first open call launches since September 8.

Letters of interest are invited for the Artist as Activist program, which will support a wide range of creative professionals to tackle pressing issues around the globe. Current grant opportunities include a two-year fellowship for artists, designers, and other creative thinkers working to address problems facing societies in the U.S. and beyond, as well as ongoing travel and research grants for similar artists.

For specific program details, applicants should visitwww.rauschenbergfoundation.org/grants. Fellowship letters of interest will be accepted from September 8 to October 13, while Artist as Activist travel and research grant applications will be accepted on a rolling basis between September 8, 2014 and March15, 2015. Fellows will receive up to 100,000 USD in project support while Artist as Activist travel and research grants will range from 2,500 to 10,000 USD.

The Artist as Activist program is designed in response to a growing body of artists working in service of a larger social purpose. The central goal of the Artist as Activist program is to ensure such artists have the kind of flexible support required to execute ambitious creative projects intended to move the needle on the critical issues of our times. The next call for proposals, which will support innovative efforts to address climate change, will be announced on November 10.

About the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation:
The Robert Rauschenberg Foundation fosters the legacy of the artist’s life, work, and philosophy that art can change the world. The foundation supports initiatives at the intersection of arts and issues that embody the fearlessness, innovation, and multidisciplinary approach that Robert Rauschenberg exemplified in both his art and philanthropic endeavors. In the last year alone, the foundation has broadened its philanthropic efforts from seven legacy grantees to 95 across the USA; loaned over 100 Rauschenberg artworks to 20 exhibitions globally; and converted Rauschenberg’s home and studio in Florida into a dynamic residency program for emerging and recognized artists.

Media contact Taylor Maxwell, BerlinRosen Public Affairs
T +1 646 200 5330 / taylor [dot] maxwell [at] berlinrosen [dot] com

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Cultura21 is a transversal, translocal network, constituted of an international level grounded in several Cultura21 organizations around the world.

Cultura21′s international network, launched in April 2007, offers the online and offline platform for exchanges and mutual learning among its members.

The activities of Cultura21 at the international level are coordinated by a team representing the different Cultura21 organizations worldwide, and currently constituted of:

– Sacha Kagan (based in Lüneburg, Germany) and Rana Öztürk (based in Berlin, Germany)
– Oleg Koefoed and Kajsa Paludan (both based in Copenhagen, Denmark)
– Hans Dieleman (based in Mexico-City, Mexico)
– Francesca Cozzolino and David Knaute (both based in Paris, France)

Cultura21 is not only an informal network. Its strength and vitality relies upon the activities of several organizations around the world which are sharing the vision and mission of Cultura21

Go to Cultura21

Powered by WPeMatico

ArtCop21: COAL and Cape Farewell organise for COP21, November – December 2015

A cultural programme for the 21st United Nations Conference on climate change. Paris, from the 30th of November to the 10th of December 2015.

COAL and CAPE FAREWELL,
 the two European partners behind ArtCop21 willmobilise artists and the wider cultural sector to create a festival and cultural symposium during the Cop21 conference. From 30th November until 10th December 2015 they will create and exceptional cultural-climate festival in the city of Paris.

ArtCOP21ART AND COP21

The 21st Conference of the United Nations climate is an important step in the negotiations for a future international agreement to fight against climate change.

The agenda of Cop21 is primarily scientific and political. ArtCop21 provides an alternative agenda, recognising that for a real cultural shift, we need to encourage a diverse range of citizens to engage with the topic. Arts and culture have always played a critical role in responding to political, environmental and social issues.

The United Nations have officially recognised the direct link between culture and the three pillars of sustainable development – economic, social and environmental – confirming that culture is both a catalyst and an engine of sustainable development.

In the autumn of 2015, thousands of civilian actors, foundations and NGOs will show their commitment to change the world at the Paris-Le Bourget site that will host COP21. ArtCop21 wants to share this energy to the public through art and creative engagement.

ArtCop21 will open the doors to the wider public and show the political players that there are alternatives to comprehend the complexity of the climate chal- lenge; a cultural shift inspired by creativity and innovation.

ARTISTS EMBRASE THE CLIMATE CHALLENGE AND IMAGINE THE WORLD OF TOMORROW

ArtCop21 is a cultural event that will take place in Paris during the COP21. Mission of Artcop21 is to engage the wider public in creating a positive vision for a sustainable future.

ArtCop21 is an unprecedented collaboration of cultural actors who are keen to instigate an ecological transition towards a healthier environment- through arts and culture.

ArtCop21 will mobilize artists to develop projects of cultural expression that will engage and inspire public participation.

ArtCop21 will mount a forum to articulate the power of inspiring a cultural shift that embraces a sustainable future for all.

With ArtCop21, knowledge and action around the climate challenge will make the topic accessible and fun for the wider public.

SYSTEM

ArtCop21 irrigates the city through artistic, collaborative and innovative proposals.

It will include:

1 - The Conference of Creative Parties bringing together twenty one international artists, creatives and intellectuals to invent a creative vision for tomorrow’s world. A three-day public facing symposium at La Sorbonne.

2 - Five monumental and participatory art installations in public space, co-created by five invited international artists and the citizens of Paris.

3 - An artistic journey through the Ile-de-France in multiple locations that are united for ArtCop21 artists’ studios, museums, art associations, institutions, theatres, galleries and shopping centers.

4 - A major exhibition in a significant cultural institution presenting the work of leading international artists engaged in the field of ecology.

5 – A special edition of the Coal Prize Art and environment, which by an international open call, brings hundreds of artistics proposals for climate.

See you in the fall of 2014 for the ArtCop21′s launching!

PARTNERS

On the Move, Julie’s Bicycle, University of the Arts, London, Studio Orta – les Moulins, Zone sensible, la Réserve des arts.

CONTACT

Lauranne Germond

COAL
2 rue Caffarelli
75003 Paris
+33 (0)1 75 57 87 63
contact@projetcoal.fr
www.projetcoal.fr

David Buckland
CAPE FAREWELL
University of the Arts Chelsea
16 John Islip Street
London SW1P 4JU
+44 (0)207 514 8079
yasmineostendorf@capefarewell.com
www.capefarewell.com

Crédit image : Lucy + Jorge Orta, Antarctica – Métisse flag, 2010, Banksy, Global Warming, 2009, Gideon Mendel, drowning world, Ackroyd & Harvey, Testament, 2011

Content of Nothing :: Part 8 :: ….it moves, actually, in a Reticulum

This post comes to you from EcoArtScotland

Judy Spark, Untitled, digital print (300 x 140mm approximately) 2013

Judy Spark: You remarked earlier that you feel that for you it’s “important to keep a lightness to creative work” and I would certainly agree with you on this and I think that this does bear even more import for visual than for written work. Other than the ‘academic’ aspect of some written work, I’m not sure that I can articulate exactly why I think this just yet, but it is something I think about. You also quoted Rebecca Solnit – that “the ‘results’ or ‘outcomes’ of creative work are nonlinear and unpredictable” and I would certainly agree with that, but again, this for me, seems to stand particularly for visual over written work. Perhaps is just the way that I go about a piece of writing: I know roughly what I am setting out to say, but probably not, at the beginning, how I will say it. Whereas with visual work, I think that I almost deliberately set to one side what I think I want to say, in order to allow the work to ‘make itself’, to borrow Carol Becker’s term. Then, I work out through a sort of retrospective process exactly what it is I’ve been doing. The whole process is a little bit more under my control than that might make it sound, but it is a process that I have had to learn, and in fact am still learning, to trust.

Samantha Clark: Yes, the retrospective view is when we get to figure out what was actually going on. It’s intrinsic to the reflective process, and here we might get bogged down in definitions of ‘practice-led’ or ‘practice-based’ – ‘practice-following’ research feels most apt sometimes – we do it and then figure it out later. I had a conversation with a colleague who is a social scientist recently. She seemed very surprised that we don’t figure it all out first, assemble all the theory, work out the method, and then just carry out the process we planned. The practice follows a hunch, or launches from a familiar point of departure and sees where it ends up. As you say, it can be quite instinctual. You make a leap, take a bit of a chance (it might not work), and then the research fleshes it out. I think we can become too apologetic about this. I take heart when I read about scientists and the so-called scientific method and find that it’s not so very different sometimes. Kekule saw the structure of benzene in a dream. CTR Wilson built the first cloud chamber on a bit of a whim, to recreate some of the mists and coronas he’d seen walking on the hills – he had no idea his apparatus would reveal the tracks of subatomic particles. According to Nobel laureate Barbara McClintock, ‘you work with so-called scientific methods to put it into their frame after you know’. (Rosen, 1994: 486) Agnes Arber recognised this thought process not as a linear progression but as a reticulated network of associations, analogies and resonances, which were translated into words and equations only with a struggle, after the original, nonverbal and empathic insight. ‘The experience of one’s own thinking suggests that it moves, actually, in a reticulum (possibly of several dimensions) rather than along a single line…A reticulum.… cannot be symbolized adequately in a linear succession of words.’ (Arber, 1854: 18) And here’s the mathematician Poincaré: ‘It is by logic that we prove, but by intuition that we discover…logic teaches us that on such and such a road we are sure of not meeting an obstacle; it does not tell us which is the road that leads to the desired end. For this it is necessary to see the end from afar, and the faculty that teaches us to see is intuition.’ (Poincaré,1914: 130)

JS: Yes, for a while I think the notion of ‘intuition’ in art making was very unpopular, was regarded as something that only happened in ‘women’s art’! The next time I hear anyone slight the part of intuition in making art, I’ll most certainly produce that Poincaré quote, it’s perfect! I sometimes wade into the practice ‘led’ / ‘based’ / ‘following’ debate by stating that I have a ‘research led practice’; the argument behind this will be stronger once I’ve worked out exactly what I mean. In any case, it has something to do with listening and with trust. I’m really interested in this notion of waiting, of listening / active listening or attentiveness in making – you touched on this earlier when we were talking about drawing. Heidegger talks about the poet’s primary role as one of listening before anything is made of that experience. This waiting is as much a part of the process of making as gathering and focus are; all play a part in solving what arises, until the thing is re-solved. But the waiting/listening is difficult; I’ve used the notion of tuning a radio in relation to this, the idea of being on the best frequency and the act of deliberately re-tuning attention – back to Buddhist contemplative practice, or it’s western equivalent, mindfulness. But what about the consequences of not listening, pouncing before things are ready; that desire to fill gaps or absences, to have the art work, poem, writing take a familiar shape….and by a deadline?!

References:

Becker, C. (2004) “Intimate, Immediate, Spontaneous, Obvious: Educating the Unknowing Mind” in Baas, J. and Jacob, M.J. (eds) Buddha Mind in Contemporary Art, Berkley, Los Angeles, London: University of California Press

Rosner, M. (1994) Journal of Advanced Composition Vol 14:2 Values in Doing and Writing Science: The Case of Barbara McClintock http://www.jaconlinejournal.com/archives/vol14.2/rosner-values.pdf [Available online. Accessed 4.12.13]

Arber, A. (1954) The Mind and the Eye: A Study of the Biologist’s Standpoint, Cambridge Science Classics

Poincaré, H. (1914) Science and Method, London and New York: Thomas Nelson and Sons

Heidegger, M. (1971) On the Way to Language, New York: Harper & Row

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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