Ian Garrett

Going Green the Wong Way going to Edinburgh

April 25, 2012Announcements6th Grade Science, 6th Grade Science Project, Admission Seats, Car Repairs, Cooking Oil, Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Edinburgh Fringe, Fringe Festival, General Admission, Going Green, Grade Science Project, Kickstarter, Lifelong Quest, Miami New Times, Monthly Budget, Premiere Production, Sustainable Living, Trials And Tribulations, True Life Adventures, Vegetable Oil

[iframe http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1886729744/bring-going-green-the-wong-way-to-the-edinburgh-fr/widget/video.html 500 380]

CLICK HERE TO VIEW KICKSTARTER

Going Green the Wong WayÂ is being presented by CalArts Festival Theater this August 2012 at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in Scotland– the worldâ€™s largest fringe festival.Â This show looks at the hilarious trials and tribulations of sustainable living, most notably, creator Kristina Wong’s experiences of running a car on vegetable oil, and subsequently, living in Los Angeles without a car.

â€œGoing Green the Wong WayÂ might be one of the most ridiculous shows we’ve ever seen, and we mean that in the best of waysâ€¦. Wong took a seemingly overworked topic like sustainable living and turned it into a surrealist, hilarious ride.â€Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â — Miami New Times

See the show in Los Angeles before it goes to Edinburgh!

This Kickstarter campaign is also a way for us to get the word out about the Los Angeles run of GGTWW at the Bootleg Theater June 28- July 22.Â A donation of $35 or more will secure general admission seats for the run of the show and help us get to Edinburgh!Â (See details on your right!)

More About Going Green the Wong Way: Â

In her lifelong quest for sustainable living, Kristina Wong purchased a 1981 pink Mercedes that ran on vegetable oil, and endured a nightmare of never-ending car repairs and near death pursuits for the used cooking oil to fuel it. When the car finally burst into flames on an L.A. freeway, Wong lost the largest line item in her monthly budget, and gained the inspiration for this premiere production. Â GOING GREEN THE WONG WAY brings our contemporary urban environment to life, revealing just how tricky it is to “do the right thing.” Â Based on Wong’s true-life adventures, but elevated to surrealist heights, the production takes us from Kristina’s confrontational 6th grade science project, to her wandering years as a missionary of recycling, to her true calling as Los Angeles’ patron martyr of carbon-free living.

Going Green the Wong WayÂ was originally produced by Mad Cat Theatre Company in November 2010Â and premiered at the Arsht Center for the Performing Arts in Miami, FL as an ensemble piece.Â It premiered as a full length solo work in San Francisco last summer (produced by Mad Cat Theatre Company and Circuit Network).Â It’s also played at the Comedy Central Stage, Upright Citizens Brigade, South Coast Rep, and the Contemporary Art Center’s “The Off The Strip” Festival in Las Vegas.

â€œKristina Wong is a funny — no, make that an extremely funny — performer with a wildly imaginative, sometimes raunchy sensibility.”Â — Miami Herald

â€œKristina Wong is a terrific physical comedienne whose love of dry humping, scrambled TV porn, reusable female necessities, scatology and vegetable oil make her highly qualified to be an ecological martyr.â€Â Â — Miami Art ZineÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â

â€œWhen things go wrong for performance artist Kristina Wong, you know itâ€™s going to be a spectacular messâ€¦ There are hundreds of ways to go wrong when attempting to go green, but goingÂ Wong can only ever be right.â€
— San Francisco Bay Guardian

â€œWhile her hilarious tales of being a “missionary of recycling” might make her audience laugh, the sustainable schtick isn’t just an act. Wong is serious about practicing what she preaches.â€Â — Good Magazine

Walker Art Center to present Super Nature

April 24, 2012newsActions And Reactions, American Composers Forum, Assistant Curator, Bessie Award, Bryant Lake Bowl, Emily Johnson, Impulstanz, Justin Jones, Lily Springs, Mcknight Foundation, Metropolitan Regional Arts Council, National Performance Network, Nature Installation, Network Creation, Performance Space 122, Ramstad, Regional Arts Council, Shogren, Social Interaction, Verbal Interaction, Visceral Response, Walker Art Center

Full of artifice and animal appetites, Super Nature will engage the wild, the domestic, and the civilized aspects of human nature to create a radical ecological melodrama. ItÂ will premiere at the Walker Art Center October 25-27th 2012.

In Super Nature directors Olive Bieringa and Otto Ramstad will be joined by Bessie award winning composer Zeena Parkins and visual artist Emmett Ramstad. The core cast will include dancers Justin Jones, Timmy Wagner, Emily Johnson, Anna Shogren, Otto Ramstad and special guests. Additionally an ensemble of local performers will participate in the research installation and performance.

â€œIn an empty gallery, one member of the public will meet one performer and have a non-verbal interaction,â€ Bieringa says. â€œBoth performer and audience will have agency to transform the energy of the space through their behavior and social interaction, sometimes very subtle and sometimes extreme. InÂ Super Nature we seek to engage an audienceâ€™s visceral response over their need to immediately make cognitive meaning from what they see. In other words, we will endeavor to choreograph empathy.” Says Assistant Curator MichÃ¨le Steinwald, title, â€œIt will be very sweet. Your non-verbal actions and reactions will truly help the company formulate their show.â€

Super Nature will be co-commissioned by the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis; Performance Space 122, NYC; and PadlWest, San Diego.Â Super Nature is supported by the MAP Fund, American Composers Forum, National Performance Network Creation Fund, Metropolitan Regional Arts Council, Impulstanz Festival, Lily Springs, Studio 206 and the McKnight Foundation.

via Super Nature.

Dance Exchange looks at the impact of infrastructure and power in 500 Miles/500 Stories

April 23, 2012Announcements6pm, Charlottesville Va, Clarice Smith Performing Arts, Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center, Distances, Interactive Performance, Journey, Kennedy Center, Long Distance, Mcguffey, Millennium Stage, Mountains, Nature Center, Nbsp, Pearisburg Va, Performing Arts Center, Playing Cards, Postcards, S 500, Time Tbd, Virginia Tech

It’s April which means the Dance Exchange’s 500-Mile Walk is finally here! On April 10 a team from Dance Exchange will walk from DC to the mountains of West Virginia to trace the distances traveled by the resources that power her home. Along the way, they’ll connect with communities to tell, hear, and collect some 500 stories.

They want you to be part of the journey and are buildinga new website to collect and share stories from the trail (and far beyond!). It will launch at our How To Lose a Mountain interactive performance at the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center (for more information on this event, click here.

They’ve also teamed up with United States Artists to create a way for you to donate towards our long-distance journey. Receive exclusive, amazing perks like postcards and photos from the walk, even your very own deck of 500 Miles/500 Stories playing cards for making a contribution.

Where you can join the journey

April 3 @ 5:30pm, Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center, free
April 10 @ 6pm, Kennedy Center Millennium Stage, free
April 30, time TBD, McGuffey Arts Center, Charlottesville, VA
May 10 @ 8pm, Claytor Nature Center, Bedford, VA
May 19-20, time and details TBD, in partnership with Virginia Tech, Pearisburg, VA

Expressive Arts in Conflict Transformation & Peacebuilding, M.A. at the European Graduate School, Switzerland

April 23, 2012AnnouncementsArt Education, Art Practice, Conflict Analysis, Conflict Transformation, Creative Methods, Egs, European Graduate School, Exa, Expressive Arts, Facebook, Government Student Loans, Humanitarian Response, Interim Program, Peacebuilders, Peacebuilding, Public Sphere, Restorative Justice, Saas Fee Switzerland, Summer Session Dates, Summer Sessions, Trauma Awareness

Applications are currently being accepted for the M.A. program in Expressive Arts in Conflict Transformation & Peacebuilding (EXA-CT) at the European Graduate School in Saas Fee, Switzerland.Â EXA-CT is a low residencyÂ masterâ€™s program completed over three summer sessions of three weeks each in Switzerland.Â Â During non-residency periods, students complete an internship and write their masterâ€™s thesis.

EXA-CTâ€™s unique emphasis on art practice, human rights, and peacebuilding in international settings provides students with the skills and experience to use art in the public sphere for social change.Â Artists, humanitarians, therapists, conflict transformation professionals, peacebuilders and policymakers are encouraged to apply.

2012 Summer Session Dates in Saas-Fee, Switzerland

June 12 to July 4: Expressive arts, digital arts, and media
July 10 to August 1: Expressive arts in conflict transformation and peacebuilding

US Federal Government student loans, and limited scholarships from the European Graduate School, are available for eligible EXA-CT students.

Applications are due byÂ April 30, 2012

Late applications will be accepted on a case-by case-basis.Â For more information, please contact the Interim Program Director, Prof. Ellen Levine (ellen.levine@egs.edu), follow us on Facebook, or visit the European Graduate Schoolâ€™s website:expressivearts.egs.edu

Program Description

The EXA-CT M.A. is a three-year low residency summer program concentrating on the use of creative methods through the arts to address conflicts within teams, in communities, and across cultures. The EXA-CT program provides students with frameworks for merging the arts with conflict analysis interventions, restorative justice, trauma awareness and healing, mediation, humanitarian response, and research. EXA-CTâ€™s emphasis on art practice, human rights, and peacebuilding in international settings provides students with the skills and experience to use art in public settings for social change.

Distinguished faculty in the fields of the expressive arts and conflict transformation provide instruction during three summer school sessions, with continued support and supervision throughout the year as students complete their internship, thesis, and community of practice.

Summer residency in Switzerland

Students spend three summer sessions in residence in the beautiful Alpine resort town Saas-Fee, Switzerland. Students needing additional prerequisites may complete the coursework over five summer sessions.Â Each residential session is 21 days long.Â During the first two summer residency periods, students follow courses on the principles and practice of both expressive arts and conflict transformation and peacebuilding. Within each course, students are challenged to experiment with the application of the arts in conflict transformation and peacebuilding paradigms, along with group discussions and reflective exercises. During the third summer session, students complete oral and written exams, and defend their masterâ€™s theses.

Sample courses include:

Principles and Practice of Expressive Arts: Aesthetic Responsibility in Action
Conflict Transformation and Arts-based Approaches to Peacebuilding
Community Arts: A Collective Response to Conflict and Crisis
Project Design and Implementation in the Field: A Multi-System Approach
Conflict and Crisis Intervention: Human-Rights Perspectives
Building Resilience in Refugee and Displaced Communities
Trauma and Resilience: Expressive Arts Perspectives
Biography as a Resource in Humanitarian Interventions
Professional Ethics In Community Based Interventions

Non-residency requirements

In between the summer residencies, EXA-CT students are expected to complete a prescribed self-study plan, an internship, and a masterâ€™s thesis supervised by an EXA-CT faculty member. Students also participate in the design and creation of the EXA-CT in an ACTION group project and meet in a virtual classroom to discuss assigned readings and videos.

To receive a full description of the EXA-CT program, please visit:Â expressivearts.egs.edu/academic-programs/masters-programs/master-of-arts-in-expressive-arts-conflict-transformation-and-peacebuilding

For additional information, please contact Prof. Ellen Levine, EXA-CT Interim Program Director: ellen.levine@egs.edu

European Graduate School
Arts, Health & Society Division
Alter Kehr 20
CH-3953 Leuk-Stadt
Switzerland
T + 41 27 474 99 17
F + 41 27 474 99 18
expressivearts.egs.edu

via Expressive Arts in Conflict Transformation & Peacebuilding, M.A. at the European Graduate School, Switzerland | Art & Education.

The Roanoke College Performing Arts Series Presents the Artichoke Dance Company with “The Plastic People of the Universe”

April 18, 2012newsBase Element, College Web, Costume Design, Dance Company, Dance Film, Earth Day, Exponential Growth, Film Text, Future Show, Human Body, Mesh, Movement Vocabulary, Plastic People Of The Universe, Plastics, Polyethylene, Repercussions, Roanoke College, Satire, Six Pack, Web Calendar

The Roanoke College Performing Arts Series Presents the Artichoke Dance Company with “The Plastic People of the Universe” ~Earth Day 2012~ April 22, 2012~ 3:00pm Individualistic movement vocabulary, poignant dialogue, whimsical video, innovative set and costume design, and satire mesh to address the nature, exponential growth of, and effects associated with polyethylene, the most common plastic in use today. Investigating the exponential growth of single use plastics, and the repercussions that plastics are being discovered to have on the environment and in the human body, Plastic People of the Universe features dance, film, text and design to create a world propelled by cycles of creation and destruction. Upcycled plastic six-pack holders collected from New York pizzarias serve as the base element for the costumes and set. To be added to our mailing list for future show announcements, please visit www.roanoke.edu/fineartslist.

via Roanoke College – Roanoke College Web Calendar.

“Water Lives” animation on biodiversity in river and lakes.

April 4, 2012AnnouncementsArtistic Inspiration, Artistic Merits, Bafta Award, Eye Water, Freshwater Biodiversity, Freshwater Organisms, Freshwater Scientists, Freshwaters, Invisible Life, John Barlow, Paul Jepson, Poet John, Rivers And Lakes, Science Communication, Scottish Artist, University College London, University Of Barcelona, University Of Oxford, Vimeo, Zoology Department

Released March 20th, “Water Lives…” is a science communication animation designed to draw attention to the important (yet largely invisible) life that underpins and sustains our rivers and lakes. Produced by Paul Jepson and Rob St.John at the School of Geography and the Environment for BioFresh – a European Union project on freshwater biodiversity – the animation brings artists and scientists together to collaborate and communicate the concept that freshwater is more than an inert resource: instead a living, dynamic system inhabited by beautiful, important organisms largely unseen by the naked eye. “Water Lives…” invites viewers to view our freshwaters in new ways, value the range of services they provide and discuss how they should be managed.

The curious and otherworldly physical forms of freshwater organisms such as diatoms provides abundant artistic inspiration. “Water Lives…” is a six minute piece animated by Scottish artist Adam Proctor. It is sound-tracked by a specially composed piece of music by Tommy Perman from Scottish, BAFTA award winning arts collective FOUND which samples a series of haiku about freshwater ecosystems written by environmental poet John Barlow. The content of both the animation and haiku was informed by collaborations between the artists and BioFresh freshwater scientists Rick Battarbee from University College London and Ana Filipa Filipe from the University of Barcelona, alongside Alistair Seddon from the University of Oxford Zoology department.

This novel, cross-disciplinary team have produced a nuanced, multi-layered piece that not only contains sound, robust scientific information, but that is also beautiful, engaging and playful. It is a work that can be viewed entirely on its artistic merits, from which the viewer could take away a range of different information – from something as simple as “Freshwaters are more interesting than I thought” to something as intricate as “How can policy makers manage this complex entanglement of life?” – and a whole spectrum in between.Â “Water Lives…” is a valuable education and communication tool: it invites viewers to value the importance and beauty of freshwater ecosystems and engage with how they should be managed. It also suggests the productive possibilities created by collaborations between scientists and creative artists for opening up new, creative spaces for how we contemplate, value and plan to manage our environment. We hope that you enjoy it.

More information and artist statements

BioFresh project

The BioFresh project â€“ funded by the European Unionâ€™s Framework 7 programme â€“ is currently assembling dispersed information on freshwater biodiversity into a network accessible through an online portal to allow better analysis of the distribution, status and trends of global freshwater ecosystems.Â This work will support more effective environmental policy formation and raise awareness of the importance and value of freshwaters ecosystems.

freshwaterbiodiversity.eu

TENTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON NEW DIRECTIONS IN THE HUMANITIES

March 25, 2012Conferences, Open CallsCanada Research Chair, Centre Mont Royal, Diana Brydon, Digital Humanities, Donna Palmateer Pennee, Fatih University, Humanities Centre, Humanities Conference, Mcgill University Montreal, Mcgill University Montreal Canada, Monash University Centre, Mont Royal Montreal, Montreal Montreal, Prato Italy, Stefan Sinclair, Tenth International Conference, Universidad De Granada, University Of Manitoba Winnipeg Canada, University Of The Aegean, University Of Western Ontario

Centre-Mont Royal, Montreal, Canada

14-16 June 2012

http://www.TheHumanities.com/Conference/

We are pleased to announce the Call-for-Papers for the Tenth International Conference on New Directions in the Humanities. The conference and its companion journal provide vibrant, intellectually stimulating spaces for scholars from all geographic and disciplinary areas to learn, converse, and create. The aim is to generate new knowledge about the nature of the humanities, building strongly on the past traditions of the humanities while setting a renewed agenda for the future.

Plenary speakers, who will address our special theme ‘Looking Forward: Humanities for the Future’, include:

* Diana Brydon – Canada Research Chair in Globalization and Cultural Studies; Director of the Research Centre for Globalization and Cultural Studies, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada
* Jean-Claude Guedon, Department of Comparative Literature, University of Montreal, Montreal, Canada
* Donna Palmateer Pennee – Dean, Faculty of Arts and Humanities, University of Western Ontario (Western University), London, Canada
* Stefan Sinclair, Digital Humanities, McGill University, Montreal, Canada

The Humanities Conference is held annually in different locations around the world. Over the past nine years, the Humanities Conference has established a reputation as a focal point for new ideas and new practices in humanities research and teaching. The conference was held at the Universidad de Granada, Spain in 2011; at the University of California, Los Angeles, USA in 2010; in Beijing, China in 2009; at the Fatih University, Istanbul, Turkey in 2008; at the American University of Paris in 2007; at the University of Carthage in Tunis in 2006; at Cambridge University in the UK in 2005; at the Monash University Centre in Prato, Italy in 2004; and at the University of the Aegean in Rhodes, Greece in 2003.

In addition to plenary speakers, the conference will also include numerous paper, workshop and colloquium presentations by practitioners, teachers and researchers. We invite you to respond to the conference Call-for-Papers. Presenters may choose to submit written papers for publication in The International Journal of the Humanities. If you are unable to attend the conference in person, virtual registrations are also available, which allow you to submit a paper for refereeing and possible publication in the journal.

Whether you are a virtual or in-person presenter at this conference, we also encourage you to present on the Humanities YouTube playlist. Please select the Online Sessions link on the conference website for further details. Additionally, please join our online conversation by subscribing to our monthly email newsletter and subscribing to our Facebook, RSS, or Twitter feeds at http://www.TheHumanities.com/ .

The deadline for the next round in the call for papers (a title and short abstract) is 5 April 2012. Future deadlines will be announced on the conference website after this date. Proposals are reviewed within two weeks of submission. Full details of the conference, including an online proposal submission form, may be found on the conference website at http://www.TheHumanities.com/Conference/ . Submissions are also open for Spanish language proposals and presentations.

We look forward to receiving your proposal and hope you will be able to join us in Montreal this June.

Yours Sincerely,

Tom Nairn

Globalism Institute, RMIT University

Melbourne, Australia

For the Advisory Board, International Conference on New Directions in the Humanities and International Journal of the Humanities

MARS (a play about mining) a work-in-progress performance 3/24

March 16, 2012AnnouncementsAdam Miller, Allegory, Appalachian Coal, Btw, Coal Mining, Distinctive Series, Dixon Place, Excerpt From, Felix, Fight Choreography, Hashimoto, Live Percussion, Mike Mcnulty, Mythologies, Red Planet, Rivington, Run Time, Weinert, William Cook, Work In Progress

Sat, March 24 @ Dixon Place*

9pm: have a drink with us in DP’s superb lobby bar

10:30pm: PERFORMANCE (run time approx. 30min)

Tickets $12 in advance, $15 at the door, $10 students/seniors

*Dixon Place, 161 Crystie St. btw. Rivington & Delancey

Featuring an all-male cast, a fusion of dance/fight choreography and a soundtrack of live percussion, MARS examines the complex issue of mining via a fictional allegory set on the volatile red planet. Based on the history of Appalachian coal mining and mythologies of war, MARS marks the sixth in our distinctive series of ecology-inspired Planet Plays.

conceived and directed byÂ Jeremy Pickard

assisted byÂ Stephanie Pistello

created & performed byÂ Brian Belcinski, Tom Coiner,Â William Cook, Jon Erdman,Â Bill Felix, Brian Hashimoto,Daniel Kublick, Mike McNulty,Â Peter Waluk & Adam H. WeinertÂ

with original percussion byÂ Adam Miller

Join us on March 24 for an exclusive excerpt from MARS, give us your feedback and chat with us about the transition from research to eco-play.Â Your presence and response will be integral in the journey toward our first full draft production of MARS, set to premiere in December 2012. Â

Call for Submissions – The Sustainability Review’s Final Issue of the School Year (March 27)

March 15, 2012Open CallsArizona State University, Call For Submissions, Dialogue, economy, Graduate Students, School Year, Short Pieces, sustainability, Tsr, Word Limits

The Sustainability ReviewÂ (TSR) [http://www.thesustainabilityreview.org/], an online sustainability journal, is seeking submissions for its last issue of year, Spring 2012. TSRÂ facilitates sustainability dialogue through four sections: art, opinion, features, and research.Â We are an online journal edited and published by graduate students at Arizona State University and hosted by the universityâ€™s School of Sustainability.

Our publication welcomes short pieces that integrate environment, society, and economy to explore a better way forward for humankind. Please review the guidelines for word limits: http://www.thesustainabilityreview.org/submit/.

Submissions for this issue will be accepted until March 27, 2012Â and will be published starting April 16, 2012. We look forward to hearing from you over the coming weeks.

Just released! Energy Conservation Audits for Six Performing Arts Facilities

March 15, 2012newsAnthony Marshall, Audit Results, Buddies In Bad Times, Building Envelope, Canada, Catalyst, Companies In Toronto, Detailed Energy, Energy Audits, Energy Conservation, Energy Efficiency, Energy Efficiency Office, Energy Savings, Independent Energy Auditor, Lighting Retrofits, Nbsp, Nook And Cranny, Participating Companies, Public Environments, Pv Array, Renovation, Renovation Plans, Rooftop Ventilation, Sector Initiative, Six Companies, Stdt, Success, Theatre Passe Muraille, Theatre Spaces, Toronto Dance Theatre, Toronto Theatres, Upkeep

Between May and October 2011, Buddies in Bad Times Theatre, Factory Theatre, Tafelmusik, Tarragon Theatre, Theatre Passe Muraille, and Toronto Dance Theatre/STDT provided a yearâ€™s worth of utilities bills for analysis. TheÂ Energy Conservation Audits reportÂ is the first step inÂ Torontoâ€™s Green Theatres,Â Â a concerted approach to greening performing facilities in Toronto.

Measures taken to green Toronto theatres will result in improved working and public environments â€“ along with significant energy savings over time. Each of the participating companies received detailed, practical recommendations that will help them integrate greening into their facility upkeep and repair and renovation plans.

Â Torontoâ€™s Green TheatresÂ is the first arts sector initiative of its kind in Canada and a possible model for other communities. Like all Creative Trustâ€™s work, it was developed collaboratively and will rely on our collective muscle for its success. We thank both Torontoâ€™s Cultural Services and Energy Efficiency Offices, which have been wonderfully supportive of our plans to work across our sector to reduce theatresâ€™ carbon footprints. We hope that our results will act as a catalyst for changing awareness and behavior around one of the most compelling issues of our day.

FULL ARTICLE