Rain Water

US town to turn drainage basin into public art

December 19, 2011ecoartscotlandArt Network, Brookner, Chris Drury, Community Image, Curators, Drainage Basin, Ecological Art, Edge Research, Environmental Artists Directory, Fremantle, Industrial Pollution, International Networks, Listening To Reading, Minnesota Public Radio, National Endowment For The Arts, Rain Water, Recreational Space, Social Practices, Summer Rains, Theoretical Texts, Water Image, West Sussex

This post comes to you from EcoArtScotland

image from Jackie Brookner's page on the Women Environmental Artists Directory

Minnesota Public Radio recently reported that Jackie Brookner is advising and supporting the inhabitants of the City of Fargo in North Dakota on a major ecological art project funded in part by the National Endowment for the Arts.Â The focus of the project is making use of a drainage basin, built to deal with heavy summer rains, as year round facilities for the community.

Thereâ€™s an interview with Brookner on the NEA blog and if you prefer listening to reading, you can hear her on the Social Practices Art Network.

image from Heart of Reeds website

In the UK Chris Druryâ€™s Heart of Reeds in Lewes, West Sussex, is probably a comparable project.Â This constructed environment remediates industrial pollution whilst providing recreational space and managing rain water.

ecoartscotland is a resource focused on art and ecology for artists, curators, critics, commissioners as well as scientists and policy makers. It includes ecoartscotland papers, a mix of discussions of works by artists and critical theoretical texts, and serves as a curatorial platform.

It has been established byÂ Chris Fremantle, producer and research associate withÂ On The Edge Research,Â Grayâ€™s School of Art, The Robert Gordon University. Fremantle is a member of a number of international networks of artists, curators and others focused on art and ecology.
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H20 â€“ Preview: Collective Magpie

April 7, 2011Green Public ArtArtists Portfolios, Barandas, City Water, Farmers Market, Garden Spaces, Greenlight, Guest Expert, Horticulturalist, Light Bulbs, Magpie, Plant Propagation, Plant Propigation, Public Art, Rain Water, San Diego Artists, San Diego Ca, Urban Ecology, Water Conservation Garden, Water Tanks, Woodworker

This post comes to you from Green Public Art

On May 6, 2011, H20: The Art of Conservation will open to the public the Water Conservation Garden in San Diego, CA. Green Public Art reviewed over 1100 artists portfolios before inviting 14 San Diego artists to participate the exhibition which offers San Diego homeowners an artistic alternative to incorporate water conservation into their own garden spaces. Artists are currently in their studios developing their site-specific sculptures. In the weeks leading up to the exhibition opening the artistâ€™s concepts will be revealed on this site. Questions? Contact Rebecca Ansert, Curator, Green Public Art at rebecca@greenpublicart.com.

CONCEPT: greenlight, is a sculptural series made from lumber salvaged from city water tanks, rain water, repurposed light bulbs, and plant clippings collected from the San Diego public. In an effort to produce a local work in collaboration with the civic landscape and the San Diego public Magpie has allowed for various types of local participation.Â Students from the urban ecology and media arts classes at High Tech High have been invited to problem solve design issues and construct. Magpie is also collecting regional plants through a Clipping Exchange Picnic at Art Produce gallery during the North Park Farmers Market. Green woodworker and horticulturalist Julie Fuchs has joined Magpie as a guest expert and designer for greenlight.

Collective Magpie needs YOU! to make their installation successful. On March 17, 2011 from 3:00pm-7:00pm they are hosting a plant propagation picnic on the back patio of Art Produce (3139 University Ave., San Diego, CA 92104). They will be trading plants with neighbors and sharing plant propigation information as part of a class with 2831 University â€“ see flyer below.

ABOUT: Collective Magpie, M.R. Barandas and Tae Hwang, is a transnational, interdisciplinary, and interactive public art collective. All projects exist in public places and are dependent on audience interaction for their manifestation. We aim to inspire wonder by expanding the notion of â€œpublic artâ€ to mean not only public access, but public as active collaborative contributors to contemporary art. Every Magpie project is an experiment in large-scale organization of human effort.Â By manifesting art in collaboration with the public on a large scale, Collective Magpie aims to actively engage the public in contemporary art and facilitate contemporary art that includes the public.

Rebecca Ansert, founder of Green Public Art, is an art consultant who specializes in artist solicitation, artist selection, and public art project management for both private and public agencies. She is a graduate of the masterâ€™s degree program in Public Art Studies at the University of Southern California and has a unique interest in how art can demonstrate green processes or utilize green design theories and techniques in LEED certified buildings.

Green Public Art is a Los Angeles-based consultancy that was founded in 2009 in an effort to advance the conversation of public artâ€™s role in green building. The consultancy specializes in public art project development and management, artist solicitation and selection, creative community involvement and knowledge of LEED building requirements. Green Public Art also works with emerging and mid-career studio artists to demystify the public art process. The consultancy acts as a resource for artists to receive one-on-one consultation before, during, and after applying for a public art project.

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Arup’s Insect Hotel – Core77

August 13, 2010newsArup Associates, Butterflies, Cells, City Of London, Detritus, Environments, Hive, Insect, Insects, Lacewings, Ladybirds, Moths, Presence, Rain Water, Solitary Bees, Spiders, Stag Beetles, Vertical Wall

Arup Associates have just won theÂ Beyond the Hive Competition, sponsored by the City of London, to design a Bug Hotel for its parks. This one encourages the presence of stag beetles, solitary bees, butterflies, moths, spiders, lacewings and ladybirds by combining all these species’ required environments into one.

The ‘hotel’ consists of a vertical wall with cells divided into a voronoi pattern, where detritus and materials can be stuffed to creaqte the perfect environments for a wide variety of insects. The sides of the hotel are accessible to moths, and the top can absorb rain water through planting.

via Arup’s Insect Hotel – Core77.