Ian Garrett

Connecting culture and agriculture – The Artful Manager

November 14, 2010newsAdvisory Committee, Artist Residency, Connect The Dots, Farmers, Full Disclosure, Governor Jim Doyle, Governors, Jim Doyle, Organic Farm, Public Space, Reedsburg Wisconsin, Roadside Culture, Smithsonian Exhibit, Sponsoring Organization, Sustainable Agriculture, Sustainable Future, Wisconsin Foundation, Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle, Woolen Mill, Wormfarm

Recently Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle celebrated the 2010 recipients of the Governors Awards in Support of the Arts. It was another great batch of recipients full disclosure, Im on the Advisory Committee for the sponsoring organization, the Wisconsin Foundation for the Arts. Links to videos about each recipient are included below.

A particular favorite, for a while now, is The Wormfarm Institute, a combination of organic farm, artist residency, and cultural connector in rural Reedsburg, Wisconsin, working to build a sustainable future for agriculture and the arts by fostering vital links between people and the land. Artists in residency work 15 hours a week tending to the farm, and helping things grow. Artists also enhance the life and work of local farmers through the very cool Roadside Culture Stands project. The Woolen Mill Gallery provides a public space to connect the dots, as well as in the current Smithsonian exhibit there.

via Connecting culture and agriculture – The Artful Manager.

ashdenizen: is “junk” a celebration or a critique of waste?

November 12, 2010Ashden Directory, newsAffirmation, Attitude, Celebration, Consumerism, Critique, Jellyfish, Parades, Props, Puppets, Recycled Materials, recycling, Salvage, Symbolic Shape, Theatre Space, Trash, Valorisation

â€˜Junkitectureâ€™ is a clever term, combining design and â€˜wasteâ€™. But what if the materials used for buildings, for sets, for props, for puppets, for the vehicles and floats of parades, were thought of simply as â€˜materialsâ€™? Of course, they would have a special value orÂ feel if they had been used for something else. But to call them â€˜junkâ€™ is toÂ share the attitude that separates the ‘new’ from what we think of asÂ ‘waste’. What is happening with the use of materials in the arts that have aÂ history can often be more of Â a valorisation of consumerism and excess, aÂ celebration of trash as â€˜trashâ€™ or salvage, than a critique of waste or anÂ affirmation of recycling.

What if no special claims could be made for using reclaimed or recycledÂ materials because it was commonplace? Then, what would be remarked on wouldÂ be the design, the space or object itself, and the qualities that theÂ materials brought to it.

The Jellyfish Theatre building was enchanting for its design and for itsÂ transiency, a theatre space in a symbolic shape, assembled fromÂ what was to hand, played in, and then dispersed, the theatre becoming againÂ the material that it was, maybe to be used again, having acquired anotherÂ layer of history.

via ashdenizen: is “junk” a celebration or a critique of waste?.

SPACE, LAND, AND TIME: UNDERGROUND ADVENTURES WITH ANT FARM

November 9, 2010Announcements1970s, Ant Farm, Ant Farmers, Architects, Architecture, Billy Wilder, Cadillac, Cadillac Ranch, Chip Lord, Commentators, Federici, First Come First Served Basis, Hammer, Pioneers, Priority Seating, Theater Box Office, Time Limit, Underground Adventures, Video Animation, Video Funny

SPACE, LAND, AND TIME: UNDERGROUND ADVENTURES WITH ANT FARM

Space, Land, and Time is the first film to consider the work of the 1970s architecture collectiveÂ Ant Farm, best known forCadillac Ranch. Radical architects, video pioneers, and mordantly funny cultural commentators, the Ant Farmers created a body of deeply subversive multidisciplinary work predicted much of the technology we take for granted today. Incorporating archival video, new footage, and animation based on zany period sketches, this film is about the joy of creation in a time when there were no limits. (2010, 78 min. Dirs:Â Laura Harrison andÂ Beth Federici)

A discussion with Ant Farmâ€™sÂ Chip Lord will follow the screening.

ALL HAMMER PUBLIC PROGRAMS ARE FREE. Tickets are required, and are available at the Billy Wilder Theater Box Office one hour prior to start time. Limit one ticket per person on a first come, first served basis. Hammer members receive priority seating, subject to availability. Reservations not accepted, RSVPs not required.

Parking is available under the museum for $3 after 6:00pm.

Virtual Public Art Project

November 2, 2010news3gs, Android, Art Experience, Close Observation, Computer Generated Imagery, Iphone, Outdoor Art, Physical Environment, Public Art Project, Public Reception, Public Spaces, Real World, Reality Platform, Smart Phone, Virtual Computer, Virtual Sculptures, Vpap, Works Of Art, World Environment, World Location

The Virtual Public Art Project is an Augmented Reality platform for the public display of digital works of art. VPAP is the first mobile AR outdoor art experience ever, and maximizes public reception of AR art through compatibility with both iPhone 3GS and Android phones!

Unlike current AR smart phone utilities that enable users to view a location with an additional layer of information about that location â€“ i.e. information about a restaurant, VPAP creates site-specific sculptures at a location that invite viewers in for close observation from all sides and from multiple perspectives.

Augmented Reality and Public Art

Augmented reality is a view of the physical real-world environment merged with virtual computer-generated imagery in real-time. VPAP merges the real-world physical environment of public spaces around the world with site-specific virtual sculptures that can only be viewed in-the-round using the iPhone 3GS and Android phones when one is at the sculpture’s real-world location.

Virtual Public Art Project.

Geologic City

November 1, 2010newsArts Architecture, Cultural Awareness, Deep Time, Extractions, Geologic Materials, Geologic Time, Human Capacities, Imaginations, Manhattan Bridge, Materiality, Millennia, Million Years, Mississippian Period, New York State Council On The Arts, New Yorkers, Pre Cambrian, Rockefeller Center, Sandstone, Visual Space

New Yorkers co-exist intimately with the traces of powerful geo forces. Apartments made of red sandstone from the Triassic (245-208 million years ago) both shelter us and populate our visual space. Rockefeller Center elevates and displays limestone from the Mississippian Period. The iron of the Manhattan Bridge stands as a message from Pre-Cambrian times.

Geologic City: a field guide to the GeoArchitecture of New York will visualize the reality that modern life and geologic time are deeply intertwined. With the field guide in hand, residents and visitors will be able to interact with familiar, even iconic New York architecture and infrastructure in an unexpected way: by sensing for themselves the forces of deep time that give form and materiality to the built environment of the City.

During 2010-11, we will research geologic materials of New Yorkâ€™s architecture and infrastructure and design the printed field guide and a supporting website. The project will illustrate several themes: geologic time is neither inert nor inaccessible; geologic time has composedâ€”and continues to composeâ€”the materials that make New York City; through design, humans enculturate those materials as the cityâ€™s architecture and infrastructure.

The Cityâ€™s architecture and infrastructure depends upon extractions of geologic materials that took millennia to form. Yet, we have virtually no cultural awareness of this reality. Some people argue that this is because humans are cognitively incapable of imagining deep time. We disagree. With this field guide to New Yorkâ€™s geoarchitecture, we offer a speculative tool that humans can use to project their imaginations into deep time as they move through the City. We believe that as works made in response to geologic time become more common, human capacities to design, imagine, and live in relation to deep time will expand.

Geologic City is funded in part by a grant from the New York State Council on the Arts, Architecture Planning & Design Program, 2011.
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Geologic City: a field guide to the GeoArchitecture of New York is a project ofÂ Friends of the Pleistocene (FOP). An illustrated project description can be viewedÂ here.

Project updatese will be posted at fopnews.wordpress.com

For more information contact: Jamie Kruse and Elizabeth Ellsworth atÂ smudgestudio@gmail.com

Life is Living 2010 â€” A Success in the Making Â« Josh Healey â€“ Hammertime for your Mind

October 23, 2010newsBeautiful Day, Coup, Face Painting, Getback, Hammertime, Highlight, Hip Hop, Legends, Life Success, Los Rakas, People, Petting Zoo, Photos

Great post from Josh Healey on Life is Living 2010

So what sustains life in Oakland? In addition to live performances by local legends The Coup, Los Rakas, and The Getback, in addition to the face-painting and the hip-hop petting zoo (no lie), in addition to thousands of people from across the Bay Area diaspora enjoying a beautiful day at the park, hereâ€™s some photos I got that highlight some of the answers we find here in The Town.

Life is Living 2010 â€” A Success in the Making Â« Josh Healey â€“ Hammertime for your Mind.

MAS Summit for New York City

October 19, 2010newsCivic Activism, Civic Engagement, Civic Participation, Contradictory Roles, Design Awards, Diverse Communities, Evening Program, Eventbrite, Global Capital, Grassroots Level, Helaba Landesbank, Housing Preservation, Jane Jacobs, Landesbank Hessen ThÃ¼Ringen, Livability, Municipal Art Society, New York Summit, Panel Art, Private Investment, Sustainable Housing, Transportation Hubs

This October, the Municipal Art Society will convene its first conference devoted to New Yorkâ€™s livability, examining the challenges the city faces in its seemingly contradictory roles as a growing global capital and as a city of unique neighborhoods. Â More than 400 civic-minded New Yorkers and leaders in the fields of urban planning and design, housing, economics, and research and development will gather to discuss whether the many diverse corners of New York can retain a small town feel while facing significant increases in population.

Day One â€“ Thursday, October 21

The Summit will begin by examining who lives in New York, what New Yorkers feel makes our diverse communities livable and where they think New York falls short.Â Then, the focus will shift to learning how real change is created on a grassroots level with civic participation.Â Finally, we will explore new media and how its proliferation is transforming the cityâ€™s development and growth in surprising ways.

Keynote:Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â The Big Idea â€“ Livability
Panel:Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Release of and Reaction to the MAS Survey on Livability
Panel:Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Demographics in a Changing New York
Panel: Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Civic Activism in the Spirit of Jane Jacobs
Panel: Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Art Works
Panel:Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â People Behind the Screens: Social Media and New York City Bloggers
Presentation: Â New Tools for Civic Engagement: Betaville

Evening Program
MASterworks Design Awards, sponsored by Helaba Landesbank Hessen-ThÃ¼ringen â€“ 6:00 p.m.

Day Two â€“ Friday, October 22

Day Two of the Summit will examine new ideas on how leveraging private investment with public policy is driving the future of New York.Â Summit panels will address specific issues that are of vital importance to all New Yorkers including access to sustainable housing, preservation of manufacturing neighborhoods, recreation of transportation hubs, and access to public spaces and the arts.

Tours:Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Morning Walk or Bike to the Summit (guided)
Keynote: Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Public and Private Investment in a Livable City
Panel: Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Moynihan Station and the Far West Side
Panel: Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Garment District
Panel: Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Sustainable Housing
Tours: Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â James A. Farley Post Office and â€œUglyâ€ Streets
Presentation: Â Â Yolanda Garcia Community Planner Award
Keynote: Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Reclaiming the Public Realm
Panel:Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Vibrant Neighborhoods
Keynote:Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Closing Keynote

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Art, Justice & Global Aesthetics: The Equity and Diversity Lecture Series

October 18, 2010newsAssistant Provost, California Book, Chris Abani, Coffeehouse, Copper Canyon Press, Diversity Committee, Fsg, Graceland, Guggenheim, Lecture Series, Legacy Award, Poetry Collections, Prince Claus, Red Hen Press, Renowned Artists, Saqi, Shenoda, University Of California Riverside, University Of London, University Of Southern California, Usa Freedom

Sponsored by the Office of the Provost and the Diversity Committee at CalArts, this lecture series was established to bring renowned artists and speakers to campus to address issues of equity and diversity and their intersections with aesthetics and art making practices.

Chris Abani: Art as Witness

October 20th, 2010, 6pm in the Coffeehouse Theatre

Chris Abani’s prose includes Song For Night (Akashic, 2007), The Virgin of Flames (Penguin, 2007), Becoming AbigailÂ (Akashic, 2006)Â GraceLandÂ (FSG, 2004), and Masters of the Board (Delta, 1985). His poetry collections are Sanctificum (Copper Canyon Press, 2010), There Are No Names for Red (Red Hen Press, 2010),Â Feed Me The Sun: Collected Long Poems (Peepal Tree Press, 2010) Hands Washing Water (Copper Canyon, 2006), Dog Woman (Red Hen, 2004), Daphne’s Lot (Red Hen, 2003), and Kalakuta Republic (Saqi, 2001). He holds a BA in English (Nigeria), an MA in Gender and Culture (Birkbeck College, University of London), an MA in English and a PhD in Literature and Creative Writing (University of Southern California). He is a Professor at the University of California, Riverside and the recipient of the PEN USAâ€¨Freedom-to-Write Award, the Prince Claus Award, a Lannan Literary Fellowship, a California Book Award, a Hurston/Wright Legacy Award, a PEN Beyond the Margins Award, the PEN Hemingway Book Prize & a Guggenheim Award.

For more information, contact:Â Matthew Shenoda, Assistant Provost for Equity and Diversity/Â shenoda@calarts.edu/661.222.2785Â http://calarts.edu/about/diversity/lecture-series

via Art, Justice & Global Aesthetics: The Equity and Diversity Lecture Series | School of Theater.

Reverend Billy and the Life After Shopping Gospel Choir at REDCAT

October 17, 2010AnnouncementsAdded Performance, Biblical Narratives, Billy Talen, Calarts, Dance Film, Fellowship Program, Generous Support, Gnostic, Gospel Choir, Herb Alpert, Infectious Passion, Music Theater, New York Times, Obie Award, Reverend Billy, Starbucks, Supreme Power, Tenets, Video Music, Wal Marts

ADDED PERFORMANCE DUE TO DEMAND

Highlighting the Alpert Award in the Arts

â€œItâ€™s an Art. Itâ€™s an Act. Itâ€™s almost a Religion.â€ â€“The New York Times

In the spirit of a Gospel Revival, Alpert Award-winning artist Billy Talen takes to the pulpit as Reverend Billy, a â€œpop-gnostic Jimmy Swaggart,â€ to deliver an electrifying and poignant Obie Award-winning performance. Directed by Savitri D., Reverend Billy and the joyous 25-voice Life After Shopping Gospel Choir draw upon their â€œretail interventions,â€ staged inside Wal-Marts and Starbucks, to transform consumer nightmares and biblical narratives into an inspirational showdown. Appropriating the style of some of Americaâ€™s most reactionary icons, Reverend Billy proselytizes with supreme power and delivers the tenets of his Church of Stop Shopping with such infectious passion that your experience of shopping may never be the same.

Funded in part with generous support from The Herb Alpert Foundation. The Alpert Award in the Arts, a fellowship program that supports innovative practitioners in the fields of dance, film/video, music, theater and visual arts, is administered by CalArts on behalf of The Herb Alpert Foundation.

MORE:Â Reverend Billy and the Life After Shopping Gospel Choir | REDCAT.

Tate Modern closes sunflower seed exhibit to the public – Telegraph

October 17, 2010news100 Million, Asthma, Chinese Artist, Health And Safety, Health Safety, People, Porcelain, Prolonged Exposure, Safety Experts, Seeds, Sunflower Seed, Tate Modern, Telegraph, Turbine Hall, Unveiling

Chinese artist Ai Weiwei carpeted the floor of the Turbine Hall with 100 million porcelain seeds and invited the public to walk across them.

But within days of the work’s grand unveiling, staff reported a fine dust rising from the seeds as people crunched them underfoot. According to health and safety experts, prolonged exposure to the dust could exacerbate conditions such as as asthma.