Conversations

Join the CSPA in discussing the Future of The Dance World at DanceUSA (un)Conference June 15th

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Conference-Logo-for-Home-PageDance/USA’s vision is to lead the professional dance industry by providing value to a strong, diverse membership base and encouraging the membership to be responsive to current economic, demographic and participation realities. But, with limited time at the Annual Conference, sometimes we are unable to have all the conversations we’d like. So, this year we’re adding something new: a UN-Conference! This special block of time is dedicated to discussing the topics which are important to you, proposed by you, and not offered in other Conference programming. We welcome you and your voice at the professional dance table!

Click here to make and vote on suggestions for topics and/or questions you’d like to see discussed in our mini UN-Conference. Your suggestions will determine the conversation during this engaging afternoon!

Click here to see the full conference program.

An Ecology of Ideas Conference – July 9-13, 2012 (USA)

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This post comes to you from Cultura21

The American Society for Cybernetics (ASC) and the Bateson Idea Group (BIG), a new organization exploring Gregory Bateson’s “pattern that connects,” have joined to hold a conference on the relations among ideas as seen from multiple perspectives. In organizing this conference they seek to find a balance between the spontaneous and the planned. They intend to seed conversations with various forms of presentation, ranging from keynote speakers to workshops and performances; all of which can be considered works of art in the domain of ideas. They will provide many spaces for conversation and innovation.

The three themes of this conference are:

Paradigm

What do our current paradigms determine or enable, and what would changes to these imply? How could we guess what other things would change along with the changes we desire? How would we implement a shift in an ethical and socially acceptable manner?

Recursion

Recursion (like its fellow concepts, self-reference and reflexivity) is open to many interpretations depending on who you are, and the context you are in. We are interested in both what is held in common between these different interpretations, and what is particular to each. We wish to explore not only the implications of acting based on how we understand these ideas, but also what happens when we proceed unaware of the differences.

Praxis

Why are praxis and theory often separated; and how can they better be brought together? In what ways are the ideas of cybernetics and systems inherently concerned with practice? Does the phrase “the paradox of praxis” evoke a resonance?

Program

The program will offer a compelling network of ideas to inspire participants in creating their own ideas, insights and thoughts. There will be a mix of meeting types: plenary presentations, workshops, conversations, and evening performances taking place in the wonderful spaces (and, weather permitting, grounds) of the Asilomar Conference Facility.

The following invited speakers will be making plenary presentations:
Graham Barnes
Eric Bateson
Nora Bateson
Fritjof Capra
Humberto Maturana
Ximena Dávila
Terrence Deacon
Debora Hammond
Klaus Krippendorff
Rex Weyler
Carol Wilder

Nora Bateson will show her award-winning film, An Ecology of Mind, about her father’s life’s work. Other performances will include film, multimedia, theatre, and music. The workshops for this conference will be designed as participatory experiences that in some manner generate or demonstrate ideas and concepts. They will have theme based conversations and also provide many convivial spaces for spontaneous conversations. A full program will be published on the organizers website by early May.

Venue

Asilomar is a National Historic Landmark is located on 107 acres of beautiful and ecologically diverse beachfront land. Asilomar offers a unique and desirable conference experience in its natural setting, its conference facilities, and its suitability for conversational spaces. http://www.visitasilomar.com/
Conference participants must book with the Asilomar site for accommodation and meals.

Important Dates

Apr-30 Proposals for Abstracts (papers and workshops) due
Apr-30 Early Bird Registration closes
May-10 Referees respond to proposals
May-20 Any Revisions to Abstracts due
May-30 Abstracts published online
May-30 Program details published online
July-09 Conference starts

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

BLDGBLOG: Literary Climatology

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Some fascinating ideas from BLDGBLOG in excerpt form a little while ago, which relate to ideas of ecodrama:

1) Performance Physics 

It was, we might say, not performance art but performance physics: an immersive, urban-scale demonstration of quantum dislocation… constantly out of self-synch in a single setting… the skies of San Francisco temporarily modeling an inter-dimensional event.

2) Sky Forensics

…the passage of the Blue Angels had been setting off car alarms all over the city… the locations of the car alarms always coincided with the physical passage of the airplanes… you could actually reconstruct the aerial trajectories of the planes through entirely indirect means.

In twenty years’ time, then, forensic historians could reconstruct the skies of Fleet Week 2011 using nothing but data from parked cars.

3) Literary Climatology

…we briefly got onto the subject of skywriting… The idea of blogging in the sky through the medium of artificial weather—chemically produced, aerodynamic clouds draping the city in a haze of literary climatology…

Of course, it’s worth the whole post….

via BLDGBLOG: Literary Climatology.

Superhero Clubhouse: the Call to Grow Theater – The Brooklyn Rail

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…This type of question isn’t always asked, but for Superhero Clubhouse, it’s de rigeur.  Founded in 2007 by Jeremy Pickard, Superhero Clubhouse is a “society of theater artists engaged in making original plays and events about the natural world via a green and collaborative process.”  How they make their work is equally as important as the subject matter itself.  A rehearsal room populated with handheld devices may be a solution to printing multiple versions of a script, yet it is also a manner of developing work with more fluidity.  They’re measuring multiple efficiencies here as they constantly tackle large-scale issues: water pollution, mercury poisoning, ethical food production.  In the process, they’re also examining an issue that theater artists are only just starting to acknowledge: how the act of creating theater can be so inherently wasteful.  For Jeremy a play is “a way to realize or actualize the conversations we’re having about bigger issues.”

via Superhero Clubhouse: the Call to Grow Theater – The Brooklyn Rail.

Balance The Kaleidoscope Video

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This post comes to you from Engage by Design

[iframe http://player.vimeo.com/video/30905677?title=0&byline=0&portrait=0 500 331]

What is the Kaleidoscope Project?

Interviews and conversations with experts on sustainability, design and innovation, reflecting theory and generating actions between a diverse range of disciplines including design [product, fashion, graphic, web, architects and interiors], science, art, activists, business, psychology and academia. This project tackles these conversations with two supporting outcomes.

The first is the 5 Kaleidoscope Videos, split into four different values; Balance, Meaning, Innovation and Culture. During each interview we asked how each value is seen and practised today and how they should be practiced in order to move towards a better future. The last video focuses on the tools and skills that we need to get to that better future, acting as a call to arms for designers and professionals about the need for rethink the way we practice our disciplines.

This short film is about Balance.

Engage by Design is a social enterprise developed through the final Master research of Rodrigo Bautista and Zoe Olivia John in sustainability and design. As a consultancy they specialize in strategic interventions that aim to support the transformation of your product or service into a more sustainable one.

Engage by Design’s research arm intends to act as a platform which enables dialogues and actions between a diverse range of disciplines around sustainability and design.

Rodrigo Bautista – Rodrigo is an Industrial Designer and has worked in many different industries including media, products, services and telecommunications. Today his work focuses on strategic interventions and tools to apply sustainability and design instruments within a company.

Zoë Olivia John – Zoë’s background in Fashion & Textiles has lead her into the research and development of better ways to integrate learning about sustainability for Higher Education students and tutors, particularly within the F&T programme. She is interested in finding new ways to readdress our value structure from one of linear economic quantity to one of circular quality.

Go to Engage by Design

Engage by Design is Live, Check out the Kaleidoscope Project

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We are thrilled to announce that ENGAGEBYDESIGN.org is now live!

We are launching with The Kaleidoscope Videos, a series of conversations with experts on sustainability, design, science, arts, business and innovation, aiming to reflect and generate actions between a diverse range of disciplines.

Engage by Design (EbD) is a new social enterprise developed through our final Master research in sustainability and design. EbD specialises in strategical interventions that aim to support the transformation of your product or service to a more sustainable one.

We have found that sustainability can be really confusing, not only is it ambiguous but its also huge and therefore can be incredibly overwhelming. To help us look at how we can make a more positive sustainable impact in our work, on our society and to the world we live in we have developed four lenses or ‘Values’ to use as a starting point for conversations.

These 4 Values are: Innovation, Balance, Meaning & Culture.

The Kaleidoscope Project teaser video is live, please watch, comment and share it!

Thank you all for all your support – this couldn’t have happened without you. Stay tuned for more or contact us anytime for a more personal update. 

Best,

Zoë Olivia John and Rodrigo Bautista.

Engage by Design

Open Engagement Conference 2011

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This post comes to you from Cultura21

May 13th – 15th 2011 in Portland, Oregon

The free conference fosters both local, national and international dialogue and partnerships around socially engaged art making. This year’s Open Engagement sets out to discuss various perspectives on art and social practice.

Five themes will be in focus of conversations, interviews, open reflection on experiences, and related projects created for or presented at the conference: Peoples and Publics (Democracy, Participation, Activism), Social Economies (Education, Networking, Technology), In Between Places (Transdisciplinarity, Field Work), Tracking and Tracing (Histories, Documentation) and Sentiment and Strategies (Feelings, Advice, Slowness). The conference themes are directly related to the current research and inquiry of the students in the Art and Social Practice program at Portland State University. Included in this year’s conference will be a summit on art and education.

For the conference schedule, featured presenters, locations and further information visit: openengagement.info

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

Worldchanging: Bright Green: Thank You for Seven Years of Worldchanging

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Sad news at the start of international talks….

Seven years ago, Alex Steffen and Jamais Cascio started Worldchanging with the intention of providing access to the tools, models and ideas for building a better future. They wanted to push the concept that solutions-based thinking could transform the debates about sustainability and social innovation. With a scrawny little blog, a brilliant crew of fellow travelers and a lot of moxie, an initial group of us set out to change how people think about (and prepare for) the future.

Since then, Worldchanging has published almost 12,000 essays, articles, blog posts and “quick changes.” We’ve put out a bestselling book (which has been translated into French, German and other languages). We’ve had roughly eight million unique readers, and reached tens of millions more with our ideas through talks, interviews in the media and so on. We’ve had a major impact on the debate, introducing a whole bunch of new ideas and moving forward some entirely new discussions. Many Worldchanging writers have become leading voices in important planetary conversations. We’ve coined a number of phrases, not least the idea of bright green environmentalism. We’ve won awards, earned critical acclaim and, if our mail is to be believed, offered some optimism and inspiration to a number of bright, idealistic people.

But all things change, and so it happens with Worldchanging. The organization is taking steps to close its doors and dissolve as a 501c3 nonprofit organization by the end of 2010. It is our goal to see the archive of work here maintained, though the form of that archive is still uncertain.

via Worldchanging: Bright Green: Thank You for Seven Years of Worldchanging.

Bob Usdin of Showman Fabricators Announces First LDI Green Awards

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Bob Usdin of Showman Fabricators, who organized LDI Green Day and the awards for best green product and best green production at this last year’s show in Orlando, is seen here announcing the recipients of those awards.

As a judge for the awards I had the opportunity to get into some great conversations about the products that were are weren’t on the show floor the weekend before Thanksgiving. I also got to ask questions about products that WEREN’T on the show floor.

We’ll be posting more from our LDI wrap-up before Miranda and I are off to Copenhagen to cover the arts festivities around COP15, primarily New Life Copenhagen by wooloo.org,  and maybe get over to Arcola for the launch of their new facilities.

If you need to catch up on all of the greening of LDI here are some links for you to check out:

https://www.sustainablepractice.org/2009/11/19/2009-green-day-ldi

https://www.sustainablepractice.org/2009/10/28/ldi-and-sustainability-part-i

https://www.sustainablepractice.org/2009/10/26/how-green-is-green-no-orangutans-were-harmed-in-the-making-of-this-scenery-aug-2008

https://www.sustainablepractice.org/2009/09/28/green-awards-at-ldi

Jeremy Deller: how art “digs into public life”

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We have had my brother-in-law staying Jeremy Deller’s latest project, It is What It Is. We have been working with Jeremy on the Bat House Project. Both works provide a mechanism, a vehicle (literally in the case of ‘It is What It Is’) to encourage debate and engagement with particular issues.

Dragging a wrecked car from Iraq across the States is simply not art, said my brother-in-law very firmly, fixing his attentions solely on the object rather than the discourse generated.

An alternative to the car being in the States, it could have been on the Fourth Plinth in Trafalgar Square instead of Antony Gormley’s forthcoming project. But both works pull us members of the public into art that ultimately is process not product.

Why is it that many people just won’t have it that the purpose of art is to elicit participation from us, to open up thinking, to encourage us to review the human condition and to nudge or provoke a response? Why can’t they relax and just accept that artists can use whatever materials they damn well choose – be that the human body, a urinal, oil paint or bronze or a cork screw to actify that purpose.

The site is still up of the road diary by Nato Thompson that is part of It is What It Is, although the trip ended on 17 April 09. I urge you to read it and see what, as Thompson says, “digging into public life”, has revealed.

Meanwhile off line It is What It Is has provoked more conversation in our house than any more conventional piece of art over the past two weeks. This is far more important to me than convincing my brother-in-law that it is art. I did get a rueful smile from David when I noted that having argued for half an hour the night before, he came down to breakfast the next morning wanting to begin all over again. And then seemingly tangentially, we started talking about war.

After all the second part of the work’s title is ‘Conversations about Iraq’.

www.conversationsaboutiraq.com

EDIT. William Shaw adds: Here’s one interesting example of the conversation started by the Deller artwork, nicely reported by The Artblog.

Go to RSA Arts & Ecology