Ian Garrett

The greenest theatre in Montreal? Check out Repercussion Theatres Shakespeare in the Park – Green Life

The Repercussion Theatre company has been offering productions that are inherently green in Montreals parks for 20 years now. Since its shows, always the works of William Shakespeare, are presented outdoors in 15 different city parks they dont relay on climate control and heavy lighting like traditional indoor productions do. The company provides composting and recycling facilities if they dont already exist at their sites. Now Repercussion Theatre is using “Enviro100” recycled paper for its publications. The paper is certified by the Forest Stewardship Council as forest friendly, is chlorine-free and manufactured using biogas energy.

via The greenest theatre in Montreal? Check out Repercussion Theatres Shakespeare in the Park – Green Life.

APInews: Porta Hedge in D.C. + Cross-country Tour

This summer, artist Justin Shull has been touring the U.S. in his Porta Hedge, a mobile artificial hedge with an exterior of recycled artificial Christmas trees. The interior conceals a remote observation system and satellite Internet uplink, mobile solar electric power, observation/escape hatch, bird camera, swings, chalkboards and Porta-Potti. Smudge Studio describes it as a “critical vehicle” that “seems to question icons of environmentalism. The design mobilizes, after all, a number elements that are popularly associated with ‘sustainability’ or ‘green design.’ But it does so in ways that don’t quite add up.” See a cross-country tour map and blog on the project Web site. There’s a second Porta Hedge “Backyard Naturalist Study” installed at the U.S. Botanic Garden in Washington, D.C., part “Flora: Growing Inspirations.”

via APInews: Porta Hedge in D.C. + Cross-country Tour .

A Rebel Without A Car Productions Green Production | StubDog // Events

A nice nod to friends of the the CSPA Enci and Stephen Box on their sustainable film making!

“I would like to believe that because I’m starting it out right I will have it better and easier.” says Enci Box, actress, co-founder of Rebel Without A Car Productions and the green-minded first-time director of a short film “At What Price?” The project is one of the very first film productions that apply the rules of the Code of Best Practices in Sustainable Filmmaking in the production process. “I don’t believe in purchasing offsets because I think that is bull!”,” says Enci. “Everybody who has money can pretend to be green by paying other people off and that, to me, is bribery. It doesn’t do the community or the planet any good.”

via A Rebel Without A Car Productions Green Production | StubDog // Events.

Greenwala – First generation “Greensters” are making a statement that Hollywood can be green.

Some friends of the CSPA, Stephen and Enci Box, are leading this fantastic project to produce a film sustainably. Here is an excerpt from the article on Greenwala:

On the set of “At What Price” made possible by Rebel Without A Car Productions, you wont see any cars parked around but you will see bikes galore! All ranging from beach crusiers, to Xtracycles to homemade bicycles with trailers.On the first day, everyone showed up on their bike, introductions where made, speeches said then it was off to get the equipment. I was given an Xtracycle to ride across town since it was capable of holding A LOT more then my little basket could and we needed to pick up some heavy equipment. Most of the cast and crew got to and from set using a bike or by taking the bus I must admit, living over 30 miles away made me the black sheep on this crew, as I drove to set everyday but everyone put in the effort not to make a huge carbon footprint.

After venturing through the back streets of Hollywood, we showed up to Castex Rentals to very surprised looks from the Castex employees. At first they didnt really believe we where going to haul all of this film equipment on just bicycles alone, they even started laughing as we started figuring out what could go where. We got to work on loading up the bikes, strapping down c-stands, piling up sand bags, finding room for apple boxes, etc. After the nice men at Castex finally realized we where the real deal, they jumped right in and started helping load stuff, then of course started taking pictures to share with everyone from their camera phones. I dont blame them; we ARE the first generation Greenseters after all.

via Greenwala – First generation “Greensters” are making a statement that Hollywood can be green..

AV Festival 10 Announcement and Call for Artists

Residency at NaREC
(New and Renewable Energy Centre)

AV Festival, in partnership with Inspire Northumberland, seek to appoint an artist in residence at NaREC, the centre of excellence for new and renewable energy technologies in North East England, based in Blyth, Northumberland.

The residency will provide an opportunity for an artist to carry out new research and share ideas in response to one or more areas of sustainable energy technology undertaken by NaREC, which are: Marine Renewables, Offshore Wind, Advanced Photovoltaics, Low Carbon/Distributed energy and Electrical Networks. The fee for the residency is £10,000.

The residency is open to any professional artist working within or outside the UK, and can be worked flexibly between September – February 2010 as part of AV Festival 10. The artist will be invited to give a public presentation about the residency as part of AV Festival 10 which has the theme of energy. The festival dates are 5 – 14 March 2010, and it will take place across Newcastle, Gateshead, Middlesbrough and Sunderland.

Deadline for proposals: 9am, 22 July 2009
Shortlisting: 24 July 2009
Interviews: 5 August 2009

The residency brief can be downloaded here

AV Festival | AV Festival 10 Announcement and Call for Artists.

Pittsburgh Opera joins citys green renaissance with renovated building – Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

Pittsburgh has had a lot of attention turn its way as it has been transitioning from the heart of the steel industry and industrial epicenter to a green industry powerhouse. This is from an Article in today’s Tribune Review. Thanks to Thomas Rhodes for brining it to our attention!

Original By Thomas Olson and Kim Leonard Tuesday, July 21, 2009

The Pittsburgh Opera uses the three-story brick building at Liberty Avenue and 25th Street as a headquarters with rehearsal and performance space. The opera expects to obtain Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification by years end from the U.S. Green Building Council, which already has designated seven other pre-World War II buildings in Pittsburgh.”Pittsburgh is serious about being part of the green revolution,” opera General Director Christopher Hahn said. “And we wanted to be part of that.”The citys burgeoning “green” reputation is one reason why the Obama administration chose Pittsburgh to host the Group of 20 summit for two days starting Sept. 24. The David L. Lawrence Convention Center, the worlds largest green convention building, will host the meeting of the worlds finance ministers and top government leaders.

via Pittsburgh Opera joins citys green renaissance with renovated building – Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.

The Power of Words Conference, Sept. 3-7, Goddard College, Plainfield, VT

tlan_logo_100 www.TLANetwork.org The Power of Words Conference, Sept. 3-7, Goddard College, Plainfield, VT. – Explore how we can use our words — written,  spoken or sung — to make community, deepen healing, witness one another, wake ourselves up, and foster empowerment and transformation. Organized by the Transformative Language Network, and founded by Goddard College, this conference features experiential workshops with over 20 presenters, including John Fox, Lewis Mehl Medrona, Dovie Thomason, Kyahan Irani; performances, open readings, and celebrations, plus special tracks in Narrative Medicine, Right Livelihood and Social Change.Beautiful setting, reasonable conference fees, room and board available on campus, work-study positions and scholarships available, including the Roxanne-Florence Scholarship for people of color. coordinator@TLANetwork.org

APInews: Land Art Initiative Emerges in United Arab Emirates

Land Art Initiative Emerges in United Arab EmiratesA new initiative in the United Arab Emirates aims to embed land/ecological art installations across the region, continuously distributing clean energy into the electrical grid. The intent of the Land Art Generator Initiative LAGI is that each land art sculpture will have the potential to provide power to up to 50,000 homes in the UAE. Directed by artist Elizabeth Monoian and architect Robert Ferry and sponsored by the Society for Cultural Exchange, a nonprofit in Pittsburgh, Pa., LAGI is in a research phase, seeking further sponsorship. At the conclusion of 2010, the initiative plans to have pragmatic and comprehensive site/art proposals that will arise from an open competition to which artists, scientists, engineers and architects will be encouraged to submit ideas. See the blog section of the site bLAGI for related arts examples. There is a video about the project on the Web site of the Tavis Smiley Show: http://www.pbs.org/kcet/tavissmiley/voices/656.html. Thanks, Land Arts listserv.

via APInews: Land Art Initiative Emerges in United Arab Emirates .