Interconnectedness

People, Profit, Planet – Sustainability Programme at WSD2013

Kampa-Dance640-x-266

Exploring Sustainability in Creative Practice

Theatre is a process of reinvention, making and remaking. How do we consider the resources that go into bringing something to the stage? What is our responsibility to materials and energy? How do we create efficient spaces that house performance? How do we talk about this, both as artists and in our art? These questions are the focus for the Sustainability Programme at World Stage Design 2013. Join designers, architects, researchers and others who are focused on the intersection of sustainability and performance as we explore the future of our field as it relates to one of most vital issues of today.

You can view the full programme and book online for some events here.  More events will be added throughout the summer, so keep checking the website.

The People, Profit, Planet programme is supported by the Waterloo Foundation.

Who should attend?

These workshops and presentations are for anyone interested in considering the issues of sustainability within their work. Curious about how reused and eco-materials impact design and construction? Or the future of new energy efficient lighting technology? Intrigued by new work that explores issues of social justice and the environment? Interested in tools and best practices to monitor the carbon footprint of your facility or productions? Perplexed by how these tie together? Join us for a cross section of programming that highlights performances, place and interconnectedness in the wider world.

Sustainability Offerings at WSD2103


Thurs, Sept 5


Fri, Sept 6


Sun, Sept 8


Mon, Sept 9


Tues, Sept 10


Wed, Sept 11


Thurs, Sept 12


Fri, Sept 13


Sat, Sept 14


People, Profit, Planet – group leader
Ian Garrett - Assistant Professor, York University, Canada

Be a gathering! The Natural Circus trainings, Spring 2012

This post comes to you from Cultura21

‘I am movement and stillness at the same time’

The Natural Circus trainings are a body and movement practice (and maybe a bit more), embedded in an understanding that ‘nothing lasts, nothing is finished, nothing is perfect’.

Situated in a powerful natural environment, they are playful gatherings beyond the human(-centered) perspective that may help realize the complete interdependence and interconnectedness of the human being with the natural world – until what remains is dance only. The trainings integrate elements of Contact Improvisation, Physical Theater, Tango, Bodywork, Meditation, Deep Ecology and Nature Awareness Work, Taoist/Advaita/Zen philosophy.

This 4-days gathering will take place in Barnave/Diois, France; from May 24th to the 28th, and will feature Diethild Meier (Dancer, improviser, visual artist), Lars Schmidt (Wandering Monk, Natural Thinker, Improviser) and Romain Petit (Freeclimber and climbing teacher).

The cost of the gathering is 240€, housing on site (Le Serre) included, in two rustic apartments, food will be extra, shared and prepared together. The number of participants is limited to 12 persons

For more information, go to Natural Circus´ website.

Registration: contact [at] passiveactivism [dot] net

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

Call for papers – Seismopolite Journal of Art and Politics issue 3

Theme: Reimagining the political geography of place and space

In the coming issue we wish to focus on political geographies, as well as artistic interventions in, and reimaginations of, such geographies. The distinction between “place” and “space” is of particular interest, as it is fundamental not only to much art, but also to our global situation within neoliberal political geography. If time has come for us to reimagine this geography, as well as the interrelationships between, and definitions of “space” and “place”, is it thinkable that art could be an ideal site for such reimagination?

The construction and exploitation of a particularism of the local also seems indigenous to the logic of neoliberalism, in the sense that it relies on the opposition between place and space to be able to expand in the first place. Among other things, the space-place dichotomy facilitates the reduction of developmental issues, political unrest or violence to irrational expressions of local misguidance, backward culture or belief systems. When the evolution of neoliberal space is merged with democratic and civilizing pretentions, the otherness and fixed specificity of places appears to be a legitimate pretext to expand into always new (potentially profitable) areas in and beyond the periphery.

The self-fulfilling prophesy of neoliberal geography also constitutes an effective impasse in alternative visions of political geography – on the one hand, by making the critical reconstruction of place and its interconnectedness with a larger picture, beyond the dichotomies of space/place and local/global, superfluous – on the other, by dissimulating any locally based meaning of universality that cannot be reduced to the civilizing prospects and ideals of neoliberal universalist geography. In this sense, the self-upholding myth of the local which neoliberal geography feeds on seems to express another form of orientalism, convincingly presenting itself and its worldview as the necessary cure to global and local problems, and reversely; presenting political issues in localities beyond its borders as a temporary void in its over-arching, inescapable logic.

Contributors from a variety of disciplinary backgrounds are invited to submit articles, exhibition reviews or interviews that address the theme “Reimagining the political geography of place and space”, through a high variety of possible angles.

Topics may include, but are not restricted to:

  • Artistic approaches to political geography, artistic intervention in geopolitical discourses and decolonization strategies.
  • The concepts of space and place in art, and their renegotiation through art
  • The role of art and artists in the rewriting of history and political geography in post-colonial situations.
  • The relationship between neoliberal political geography and orientalism
  • The art biennial as a global phenomenon, and its role in the (re)negotiation of political geography
  • The relationship between the global art scene and neoliberal political geography.
  • The relationship between art and geography

For guidelines and payment rates, please contact Seismopolite Journal of Art and Politics at submissions@seismopolite.com

We accept submissions continuously, but to make sure you are considered for the upcoming issue, please send your proposal, CV and samples of earlier work to us within February 10, 2012.

Completed work will be due March 5, 2012. Commissioned works will be translated into Norwegian and published in a bilingual version.

 

Seismopolite Journal of Art and Politics is a bilingual English and Norwegian quarterly, which investigates the possibilities of artists and art scenes worldwide to reflect and influence their local political situation. Follow this link to visit the journal: www.seismopolite.com

Symposium: “Animal Ecologies in Visual Culture”

This post comes to you from Cultura21

By Ronja Röckemann

Reposted from: www.antennae.org.uk/Symposium

The symposium on October 8th 2011 at University College London proposes an exploration of artistic practices involved with animals and environments. In the recent re-surfacing of the animal in contemporary art, emphasis has been given to mammals, mainly because of the most immediate relational opportunities that these animals offer to us. However, a number of very interesting artists has been recently trying to bridge the abyss between ‘us’ and more ‘taxonomically remote’ creatures through the use of art and science as active interfaces. This new focus reveals the interconnectedness between humans, amphibians, reptiles and insects, and the environments in which we all live. Through a multidisciplinary approach, the symposium aims at facilitating a dialogue between artists, scientists and academics interested in informing wider audiences through visual communication.

Speakers Include: Heather Ackroyd and Dan Harvey / Ron Broglio / Maja and Reuben Fowkes /Rikke Hansen / London Fieldworks / Joyce Salisbury / Linda Williams. See www.antennae.org.uk for registration.

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

APInews: Werewolves & Coastal Land Loss in Louisiana

A werewolf will prowl at dawn and dusk in the abandoned City Park of New Orleans as residents gather for “Loup Garou,” “part performance, part ritual, part howl to the world about southeast Louisiana’s plight.” The artists of Mondo Bizarro and ArtSpot Productions will present the outdoor performance Thursdays-Sundays, October 8-25, 2009, including post-show discussions about coastal land loss with experts from the Gulf Restoration Network. The artists say a “loup garou” is a “wild and dangerous entity some say a werewolf well anchored in the folk traditions of southern Louisiana,” going back to France and Acadia. The event is “environmental performance that uses rigorous physicality, poetry, music and visual installation to investigate the deep interconnectedness between land and culture in Louisiana.” Thursday performances begin at sunrise and weekend performances end at sunset; free gumbo on Fridays.

via APInews: Werewolves & Coastal Land Loss in Louisiana .

Strange beasts in Shrewsbury

Theo Jansen is unveiling one of  his new wind-driven creatures at Shrewsbury’s Shift-Time: A Festival of Ideas this July. This gives us an excuse to show this piece of much-loved video of his “strandbeests”:

 

STRANDBEESTEN_TRAILER from Alexander Schlichter on Vimeo.

Shift-time is taking its inspiration from the Darwin celebrations this year. It also features a new sound/video work Follow The Voice by the great Marcus Coates:

In a playful echo of Darwin’s The Expression of Emotions in Man and Animals, Marcus Coates’ new film work, Follow the Voice establishes striking parallels between a range of familiar man-made sounds and an equally evocative chorus of animal cries and calls. Chasing pockets of sound around the urban landscape of Shrewsbury, (the ‘beep’ of the supermarket checkout; the siren of a reversing delivery lorry) and by slowing down or speeding up his recordings, Coates reveals an extraordinary likenesses with the natural calls of animal species. Follow the Voice captures the heightened feeling of interconnectedness at the heart of Darwin’s view of the world, and reminds us of the spirit of curiosity and discovery that infuses his ideas.

Follow The Voice premieres on July 11 and is installed in the Unitarian Church where Darwin worshipped as a child.

More on Shift-Time here.

Go to RSA Arts & Ecology