Ian Garrett

Intersection for the Arts Presents: By–­product Becomes Product

By-product Becomes Product Press Release FinalIMAGE: Christine Lee, A Product’s By-­‐product, a By-­‐product’s Product (detail of installation), scrap wood and adhesive-­‐free sawdust composite boards, 2011

An innovative cross-­‐disciplinary project using excess wood waste to explore safer alternatives to working with toxic material. Featuring work by Russell Baldon, Julia Goodman, Barbara Holmes, Christine Lee, Scott Oliver, and Imin Yeh.

Opening Reception: Wednesday February 6, 2013, 7–9pm, FREE

Members VIP Reception: Wednesday February 6, 2013, 6–7pm, RSVP ryan@theintersection.org

Gallery & Community Hours: Tuesdays – Saturdays, 12–6pm, FREE

Intersection for  the  Arts

925 Mission Street (5th)

San Francisco, CA 94103      

www.theintersection.org  |  (415)626-­2787    

Intersection for the Arts presents By-­‐product Becomes Product, an innovative cross-­‐disciplinary project involving lead artist Christine    Lee (sculpture, furniture), U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Products Laboratory (FPL, the country’s leading wood research institute) Research EngineerJohn  F.    Hunt, and five artists who use wood as their main material: Russell  Baldon (sculpture, furniture), Julia  Goodman (paper, sculpture), Barbara  Holmes (sculpture, furniture), Scott  Oliver    (sculpture, public art), and Imin  Yeh (printmaker). Christine Lee’s practice is characterized by an objective to reveal the latent potential of disregarded material.  Influenced by the prevalent theories and practices of materials reclamation, resource conservation, and recycling in contemporary art, Lee is proposing an innovative solution to working with composite wood boards that are free of toxic adhesives and binders, effectively utilizing excess waste, offering a safer alternative to readily available plywood and medium-­‐density fiberboard (commonly called MDF), and creating value to a common, abundant by-­‐product for use by a range of artistic and industrial disciplines.  The exhibition will showcase a broad range of conceptual and aesthetic styles, demonstrating diversity of construction techniques, and blurring boundaries between fine art, craft, industrial design, and interactive installation. By-­‐product Becomes Product embodies Intersection’s commitment to supporting innovative thought that facilitates positive change by working with an artist who has proactively developed material that is sustainable, non-­‐toxic, and highly usable in artistic, craft, and industrial fields by manifesting scientific and engineering expertise into real-­‐world applications.

The genesis for this project came when Lee was a Resident Artist at the University of Wisconsin–Madison  Art Department’s Wood Program in 2010.  Already concerned about the health effects of working with commonly available composite wood panels such as MDF, particle board, and certain plywoods, she wanted to explore alternative approaches to material use and investigate material choices that could establish a healthier creative practice during her residency. Formaldehyde resins and glues are commonly used to bind together both plywood and MDF, and testing has consistently revealed that these wood boards emit urea-­‐formaldehyde and other volatile organic compounds (VOCs) for months after manufacture, let alone the harmful, residual particles created from cutting the boards. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency classified urea-­‐ formaldehyde as a “probable human carcinogen” as early as 1987.  During her residency, Lee worked with a supply of excess, post-­‐industrial wood donated from a local millwork company.  Being accountable for even more waste, Lee collected the sawdust she generated and worked with FPL Research Engineer John F. Hunt to create test panels with the sawdust supply, in essence producing usable material out of typically discarded by-­‐product. Working at the FPL since 1979, Hunt has been committed to discovering innovative ways to utilize wood waste with cutting-­‐edge technology and manufacturing methods. Building upon Hunt’s extensive research knowledge on molded fiber products and recycling paper into structural products, Lee and Hunt used various forming processes to create sawdust composite boards exhibiting properties similar to current manufactured wood boards such as MDF. These new boards, however, do not contain formaldehyde-­‐based resins or other toxic adhesives, and are entirely biodegradable and recyclable. Given that The Formaldehyde Standards for Composite Wood Products Act was passed by Congress and signed into law by President Obama in 2010 to regulate formaldehyde omissions, this project is both timely and relevant to larger social concerns. By-­‐product Becomes Product is supported in part by the San Francisco Arts Commission Cultural Equity Grants program.

Established in 1965, Intersection is widely considered to be one of the most vital cultural centers on the West Coast. Intersection recently forged a set of unique cross-­‐sector partnerships rooted in a shared belief that art and creativity realized through meaningful, inclusive, and collaborative places fuels vibrancy and facilitates positive change. The change the world needs now happens when we are outside of our silos – colliding with complex experiences, grappling with new metaphors, understanding people who are different than us, finding new ways to communicate and problem solve.  Through our unique partnership, we are collaborating on The 5M Project. Led by Forest City, The 5M Project is a 4-­‐acre multi-­‐phase, mixed-­‐use development project located at the intersection of several distinct neighborhoods in downtown San Francisco.  With 5M, we are prototyping the next generation of urban development that embraces diversity of thought, life experience, and culture as essential to positive economic and social change in our neighborhoods. 5M proposes that art – creative collaboration, placemaking, and problem solving – builds understanding and community, celebrates and mobilizes neighborhood assets, and drives inclusive change.

About the participating artists in By-­product Becomes Product:

Lead artist CHRISTINE  LEE (www.missleelee.com) is a sculptor, furniture maker, and installation artist whose creative practice is characterized by an objective to reveal the latent potential of disregarded material. She received her MFA from San Diego State University in 2007 and has exhibited her work in group exhibitions locally at the Museum of Craft and Design, Headlands Center for the Arts, Invisible Venue, Intersection for the Arts, Recology SF, and San Francisco State University, and in group exhibitions nationally at the Racine Art Museum (Racine, WI), The Museum of Arts and Design (New York, NY), Art Produce Gallery (San Diego, CA), and Fuller Craft Museum (Brockton, MA). She has been a visiting resident artist at the ASU Art Museum (Tempe, AZ), Anderson Ranch Arts Center (Snowmass Village, CO), and an Artist in Residence at the University of Wisconsin-­‐Madison, Stone Quarry Hill Art Park (Cazenovia, NY), Purchase College (Purchase, NY), and Recology SF.  She has taught at ASU, California College of the Arts, and San Diego State University and also worked as a studio assistant for new media artist Jim Campbell and woodworker Wendy Maruyama.  She has presented lectures and participated on panel discussions at the ASU Art Museum, Yale University, Stanford University, Maine College of Art, Rhode Island School of Design, and the University of Arkansas-­‐Little Rock.

RUSSELL  BALDON (www.russellbaldon.posterous.com) is a sculptor and furniture maker who was born and raised in California. He was a partner in his family’s wooden toy business before moving to San Francisco in 1984. After receiving his BFA in Wood/Furniture from the California College of Arts and Crafts in 1992 and his MFA in Wood/Furniture from San Diego State University in 1998, he studied and worked with some of the country’s leading studio furniture makers. In 1999, he helped to form a cooperative studio in Alameda, CA, where members pursue many commissioned and speculative furniture and sculptural works in a 5,000-­‐square-­‐foot wood and metal shop. Since 2002 Baldon has taught in the Furniture Program at CCA, and has served as chair of the program since 2009. He also has had the honor of teaching at Laney College’s Wood Technology Program (Oakland, CA), Haystack School of Craft (Deer Isle, ME), Penland School of Crafts (Spruce Pine, NC), San Diego State University, and the Oregon College of Arts and Crafts (Portland, OR).  His work has been included in group exhibitions locally at LIMN Gallery, Fort Mason, and Museum of Craft and Folk Art, and in group exhibitions nationally at Shoshana Wayne Gallery (Santa Monica, CA), Lexington Art League (Lexington, KY), and Society of Arts and Crafts (Boston, MA).    

JULIA  GOODMAN (www.jagoodman.com) is a papermaker and sculptor who received her MFA from the California College of the Arts in 2009, after studying studio arts at Santa Monica College from 2004–2007 and earning her BA in International Relations  and Peace and Justice Stuides at Tufts University in 2001.  Her work has been included in exhibitions locally at Rena Bransten Gallery, Performance Art Institute, ProArts Gallery, Varnish Art Gallery, Intersection for the Arts, Richmond Art Center, Lincart, Triple Base, and the San Jose Institute of Contemporary Art, and in group exhibitions nationally at Project 4 (Washington, DC), Dieu Donne (New York, NY), Highways Performance Art Space (Santa Monica, CA), and Long Beach Arts (Long Beach, CA).  She was awarded a J.B. Blunk Artist Residency (Inverness, CA), completed a studio internship at Dieu Donné Papermill Inc. (New York, NY) and a residency in Kona, HI, and is a 2012 resident artist at Recology SF.  She not only casts paper in the traditional method, but pushes the medium into sculptural form.  In her recent body of work, she has been carving into MDF to create molds with which to cast paper pulp in a process residing between sculpture and printmaking.

BARBARA  HOLMES (www.barbaraholmes.com) is a sculptor and furniture maker who received her MFA from San Diego State University in 2002 and her BFA from Brigham Young University in 1993.  Her work has been included in group exhibitions locally at Headlands Center for the Arts, Museum of Craft and Design, Museum of Craft and Folk Art, Root Division, Catherine Clark Gallery, Compound Gallery, and LIMN Gallery, and in group exhibitions nationally at the Fuller Craft Museum (Brockton, MA), Oceanside Museum of Art (Oceanside, CA), Divan Gallery (La Jolla, CA), Kohler Arts Center (Sheboygan, WI), and Sushi Art Space (San Diego, CA).  She has been awarded Artist Residencies at Anderson Ranch Arts Center (Snowmass Village, CO), Recology SF, and Capital City Arts Initiative at St. Mary’s Art Center (Virginia City, NV), and has work in the permanent collection at SFMOMA. She has taught at the University of Wisconsin-­‐Madison, San Diego State University, Southwestern College, Mira Costa College, and currently at CCA. Her practice has focused on the reclamation and creative reuse of discarded construction material.

JOHN  F. HUNT (www.fpl.fs.fed.us)  is a Research Mechanical Engineer who has been working at the country’s leading wood research institute, the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Products Laboratory in Madison, WI, since 1979.  His research focuses on developing new ways to improve wood fiber products with cutting edge technology and production methods. Understanding the fundamental properties of wood fibers, he has extensive research background knowledge on molded fiber products and recycling paper into structural products, and is passionately committed to finding innovative ways to use wood waste. His research background knowledge includes molded fiber products, Spaceboard, Gridcore, wet-­‐formed fiberboard manufacturing, recycling paper into structural products, press drying paper, fiberglass in fiberboard, honeycomb paper cores and sandwich construction, veneer peeling, and laminated paper.  He also works on three-­‐dimensional modeling of paper laminates, composites, small diameter utilization through laminated structural lumber, and whole tree fiberization.

SCOTT  OLIVER’s (www.scottoliverworks.com) diverse practice explores our entangled relationship with objects and materiality through, what he calls, “poetic repurposing.” His work has taken many forms including in-­‐home sculptural interventions, a symbiotic restaurant, a collection of discarded LPs, an elaborate parlor game with students, and most recently, a multi-­‐faceted public project at Lake Merritt in Oakland. He is also a maker of objects, and while he does not claim any particular medium his background in design and woodworking are often evident in his work. He holds a BFA (1994) in Graphic Design and an MFA (2005) in Wood/Furniture from California College of the Arts. His work has been shown widely in the Bay Area at the deYoung Art Center, San Jose Institute for Contemporary Art, Triple Base, Oakland Museum, Johansson Projects, Southern Exposure, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, SF Arts Commission Gallery, Mission 17, and Rena Bransten Gallery; and nationally at Grounds for Sculpture (Hamilton, NJ), Pulliam Deffenbaugh Gallery (Portland, OR), and UCLA.  He has received awards and grants for his work from the East Bay Community Foundation, Center for Cultural Innovation, the City of Oakland, and Southern Exposure. He was an artist in residence at Headlands Center for the Arts in 2009 and at Recology SF in 2007. He has taught at the California College of the Arts and UC Berkeley. He currently lives and works in Fort Bragg, CA with his wife and their son.    

IMIN  YEH (www.iminyeh.info)  attended the University of Wisconsin-­‐Madison receiving a Bachelors of Art and Art History with Asian Option and an MFA at California College of the Arts in 2009. She creates sculptures, installations, downloadable crafts, and participatory artist-­‐led projects. Recent projects include a 2012 commission from the San Jose Museum of Art and a year-­‐long parasitic contemporary art space called SpaceBi that takes place in the Asian Art Museum. She has exhibited locally at the 01 Biennial, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, Meridian Gallery, Kearny Street Workshop, San Francisco Arts Commission Gallery, 18 Reasons, Pro Arts Gallery, Mission Cultural Center, and Southern Exposure and has received awards and fellowships from the San Francisco Arts Commission, Barclay Simpson Award, Murphy and Cadogan Fellowship.  She has completed residencies at Blue Mountain Center in New York, Mission Grafica in San Francisco, and Montalvo Art Center in Saratoga, CA.

Aviva Rahmani, January Events

Water, part 2 of Oil & Water diptych, encaustic on archival digital print by Aviva Rahmani 2011.

Water, part 2 of Oil & Water diptych, encaustic on archival digital print by Aviva Rahmani 2011.

One of a Kind III

Curated by Heidi Hatry

January 11 – February 24, 2013

Owens Art Gallery, Mount Allison University

61 York Street, Sackville, New Brunswick, Canada

Galley hours M-F 10-5 PM, Sat & Sun 1-5 PM

http://www.mta.ca/owens/index.php

 

Trigger Points After the Storm  

An evening event/discussion

Hosted by Aviva Rahmani with Wendy Osserman in the

Philosoprops & Onotological Apparatus Dialectic Revival Series Exhibition

by Alyce Santoro

Monday January 21st @ 7 PM

“In a post-Sandy environment can we layer bioregionalism,

environmental justice and intuition for coastal resilience?

We will explore how aesthetic tools can trigger healing.” -Aviva Rahmani

Gasser Grunert Gallery

523 W 19th St. New York, NY

http://gassergrunert.net

http://alycesantoro.blogspot.com/2013/01/dialectic-revival-series.html

http://www.wendyossermandance.org/dancers.htm

 

It’s the End of the World as We Know it (and I Feel Fine)

January 30th @ 6 PM Rahmani will give an Artists Talk at the opening reception

Feb 28th @ 3:30 PM Rahmani will participate in the Panel Discussion

January 30th Opening Reception 5-7 PM

Curated by Amy Lipton

January 30 – March 6, 2013

Ramapo College Art Galleries

Jersey 505 Ramapo Valley Rd., Mahwah, NJ

Gallery Hours Tue, Thu, Fri: 1-5 PM, Wed: 1-7 PM

http://www.ramapo.edu/berriecenter/galleries/index.html

http://ecoartspace.blogspot.com/

Green Choreographers-in-Residence

ecocityIn December, Dance Exchange hosted Amara Tabor-Smith, our first Green Choreographer-in-Residence. Amara and her collaborator Sherwood Chen spent a week with Dance Exchange artists exploring sustainable food practices and food justice. Amara’s residency, which took place in our studios, as well as at sites like Eco City Farms in Edmonston, MD, culminated in a Thursday night HOME event featuring a potluck dinner and reflections on food and family. Visit Dance Exchange’s Facebook page to view more pictures from the residency.

Jill Sigman, of New York City, is our second Green Choreographer-in-Residence and will be in residence from January 28-February 1, 2013. Sigman will explore principles of permaculture and engage in hands-on work with small living systems, and this research will inform the development of movement scores and improvisational systems for use in her work The Hut Project, a series of site-specific structures built from trash. Sigman will share her methods and research in her HOME event on Thursday, January 30th from 7:00-9:00pm, and teach FRIDAY CLASS on Friday, February 1st from 9:30-11:15am.

The Azolla Cooking and Cultivation Project Book and EBook now Available.

The Azolla Cooking and Cultivation Project at Salo Art Museum / Halikonlahti Green Art. Erik Sjödin 2011. More information at www.eriksjodin.net

The Azolla Cooking and Cultivation Project at Salo Art Museum / Halikonlahti Green Art. Erik Sjödin 2011. More information at www.eriksjodin.net

The Azolla Cooking and Cultivation Project (2012) is now available as free pdf, as paperback at Amazon US / UK and as e-book at Kindle Store.

Erik Sjödin is an artist and researcher based in Stockholm and Bergen. His practice explores interdependencies and interrelationships between humans and non-humans as well as questions of being and becoming.

Erik’s work is primarily constituted of transdisciplinary research and interventions in the public realm. His projects are often of an exploratory nature and take shape over several years. He frequently collaborates with and consults experts such as scientists, farmers, chefs and craftspeople.

 

The Celebrated Trees of Nashville: Ecological Performance Action

On November 1st, Plantable (made up Meghan Moe Beitiks, Bronwyn Preece and Lisa Woynarski) performed an ecological action on the streets and state capitol of Nashville, Tennessee. As part of the American Society of Theatre Research (ASTR) conference, the performance began with a procession through the streets of downtown Nashville. Carrying large red buckets full of red wiggler worms, the performance proceeded to the grounds of the State Capitol where we surrounded a tree and “planted” the worms at the base. Red wiggler worms are prized for their fertilisation qualities and their ability to enrich the soil, providing nourishment for the tree. In conversation with State Capitol maintenance staff, we learned of previous, but not current, usage of RoundUp on these trees – necessitating further remediation, and equally not jeopardizing the life of the worms. Amidst curious looks and questions from onlookers, the performance sought to bring the research questions of the ASTR Ecology and Performance Working Session to a form of praxis, asking what the intersection of an ecologically positive action, performance and intervention would look like.

See video of the performance action here:

Out Now – CSPA Q9: Science/Art

followOur issue on Science/Art features a preview of the CSPA Fusebox Festival study, writing from Sarah Moon and Alyce Santoro, a report from Moe Beitiks on the first annual Moscow Science Art Conference, and an excerpt from Lina Weintraub’s new book. Through this issue, we explore the connection and complex relationship that exists between science and art.

Includes: Alyce Santoro, Amanda Gartman, Fusebox Festival, Linda Weintraub, Meghan Moe Beitiks,Moscow Science Art Conference, Sarah Moon

AHRC Collaborative Doctoral Award Opportunity

For a PhD on “New Visual Economies: Art, GIS and the Geographic Imagination,” supervised by Prof. Deborah Dixon in partnership with Environment Systems.

Project Summary:

This is one of three interlinked PhD studentships that, in collaboration with three organisations in different sectors — a scientific site (UNESCO’s Dyfi Biosphere, Wales), a geovisualisation business (Environment Systems, Wales and Scotland), and a leading cultural producer (The Arts Catalyst, London) — explore the production and audience engagement of art/science projects.

The “New Visual Economies” Studentship will explore the creation and experience of immersive, engaging visualisations that communicate the nature of landscapes to a diverse array of audiences, including state agencies, creative industry businesses and the lay public. Analysing the place of aesthetics in developing the geographical imaginary of these visualisations, research will explore how high-fidelity, high-resolution, data-driven, 3-D scientific visualizations are developed by artists, computer specialists and earth scientists working collaboratively. Research questions can include:

  • What recent developments in creative geovisualization software have taken place, and how have these been applied to visualisations of people, place and landscapes?
  • How, where and in what form have past and present art/GIS collaborative ventures emerged?
  • How do audiences respond, conceptually but also viscerally, to such geovisualisations?

The studentship will be animated by ethnographic work, as well as by practice-based research during which the student will create, explore and work with a prototype landscape geovisualisation. Following an investigation of the aesthetic dimensions of geo-visualisation, as well as art/GIS collaborations specifically, the project will focus on ethnographic analysis and participant observation of three selected, current art/GIS projects. This will be supported by in-depth interviews with key participants, as well as academic and industry experts within the emerging field of ‘creative GIS.’

The awards are funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council, and the studentship pays post-graduate fees and an annual maintenance grant.Please note that the usual AHRC eligibility rules apply to these studentships. UK residency is normally required. EU citizens may also be eligible for fees-only awards. Further details on basic eligibility requirements are available from the AHRC web-site see:

http://www.ahrc.ac.uk/FundingOpportunities/Documents/GuidetoStudentFunding.pdf

Further enquiries can be sent to the lead supervisor: Deborah Dixon: dxd@aber.ac.uk

Applications should be made by following the link: http://www.gla.ac.uk/colleges/scienceengineering/graduateschool/prospectivestudents/essentialinformation/

ANTENNAE CFP: Art, Environment, Sustainability

ANTENNAE CFP

Art, Environment, Sustainability

Submission Deadline: 1st of September 2013

At the forefront of today’s social issues are questions related to the human relationship to nature and the environment, the meaning of a sustainable future and the relationship of environmentalism to modernity and today’s economic structures. While the sciences have, until recently, dominated the debate, the arts are making an increasingly important contribution. Antennae is seeking submissions to an issue focused on Art, Environment, Sustainability. We are seeking contributions that go further than being a mere rehashing of the narrative of environmental activism (the human as destroyer of nature; the dangers of climate change; extinction of species; etc, etc.) to address more fundamental meanings, explore ambiguities and engage with the complex societal questions that arise from the environmental and sustainability debate – and the role of the arts in that debate. We encourage potential contributors to be bold and creative in generating and exploring perspectives that move beyond the apocalyptic and often “preachy” culture of modern environmentalism.

Academic essays = length 6000-10000 words

Artists’ portfolio = 5/6 images along with 500 words max statement/commentary

Interviews = maximum length 8000 words

Fiction = maximum length 8000 words

www.antennae.org.uk

antennaeproject@gmail.com

Call for submissions: Focus on Sustainability Film Festival

The second annual Focus on Sustainability Film Festival will return to York University in the winter semester of 2013 with a spotlight on the increasingly vital and complex topic of food.

In addition to feature films, panel discussions and prizes centred on food, the upcoming festival also gives local filmmakers in the York University community an opportunity to have their food-related film featured. Following the submission deadline, festival presenters will choose one prize-winning film to be highlighted and up to three runner-up films to be exhibited.

Submission Requirements:

  • York University enrolled (or previously enrolled) student in any department
  • Run time for films must not exceed 60 minutes
  • Films must be focused on any food related issue
  • Suggestions include: animal rights, agriculture, veganism/vegetarianism, local/global

The deadline is Jan. 10, 2013. E-mail submissions to Jessica Reeve, IRIS junior fellow, at jreeve@yorku.ca or bring it to 395 York Lanes, the office of the Institute for Research and Innovation in Sustainability.

Submissions must be in digital formats accompanied by a 250-word abstract, title and contact information.

This call for submission is brought to you by the Osgoode Environmental Law Society, the Institute for Research and Innovation in Sustainability and the Climate Consortium for Research Action Integration.

For more information, contact Jessica Reeve at jreeve@yorku.ca.

Competition To Design A Sustainable Theatre Now Open

Could You Design a Sustainable Theatre?

World Stage Design 2013 is a celebration of International performance design from the world of theatre, opera and dance. The event will take place in Cardiff, UK  in September 2013, hosted by the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama and includes an exhibition as well as public performances and installations in non theatre spaces

The Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama is seeking proposals for a competition to design a sustainable temporal theatre, to be built in Cardiff, as part of the World Stage Design 2013 festival.

This competition is open to students and emerging practitioners from across all related disciplines; theatre architects, technicians and scenographers should all see this as an opportunity to develop and apply their practice.   Collaborative proposals are also welcome.

The theatre will be built in the courtyard of the Anthony Hopkins Centre (adjacent to Cardiff castle) and must seat between 100 and 150 people. The structure must be weather and sound-proof and be designed using either existing and readily available building components or alternative sustainable elements. Full entry details available from the website http://www.wsd2013.com/competition/

All design entries will be exhibited on the WSD2013 online gallery, the best ten designs will be exhibited in Cardiff and the winning design will be built and performed in for the duration of the festival.

Deadlines:
Digital submissions must be received by 1 March 2013

Contact details:
Registering interest is available through http://www.wsd2013.com/competition/
Email: WSD2013@oistat.org

WSD2013 is hosted by the Royal College of Music & Drama and is supported by the Welsh Government, OISTAT, the Ministry of Culture Taiwan, & the Society of British Theatre Designers.