Sculpture

Public art with a message about energy saving and renewables

This post comes to you from Culture|Futures

transition-sculpturesIn Newton Abbot in United Kingdom, five tall ‘Energy sculptures’ have been up for six months now, with a sixth on its way, to highlight a debate about energy and how it is at the heart of the economic and environmental challenges facing humanity today.

A group of volunteers in a Transition Town group in Newton Abbot wanted to create something tangible and visible around the ideas of energy saving and renewable energy that would spark a discussion in their town.

Not always smooth but in the end successful, their journey to raise five three-meter tall sculptures in a number of settings in and around the town started in 2009 and turned out to be “long and interesting”, as it is described in this blog-post on the home page of the Transition Network.

The sculptures use wood from a 150 year old cedar tree that needed to come down in the district. They are adorned with symbols representing five sources of renewable energy, which are based on 35,000 year old cave paintings.

This summer, the artists plan to organise a sculpture guided walk “to show-case the town and the use of energy past and present and give food for thought.”

Press about the sculptures:

9 November 2012:
Sculptures are fanning out around town

7 November 2012:
Energy Sculptures to expand the mind!
E=X=P=A=N=D YOUR MIND on ENERGY. Strange but beautiful structures have appeared this week in and around our town. Where are they from? What do they mean?

5 November 2012:
New transition sculptures have landed in Newton Abbot
Public art in Newton Abbot highlights our relationship with energy

Culture|Futures is an international collaboration of organizations and individuals who are concerned with shaping and delivering a proactive cultural agenda to support the necessary transition towards an Ecological Age by 2050.

The Cultural sector that we refer to is an interdisciplinary, inter-sectoral, inter-genre collaboration, which encompasses policy-making, intercultural dialogue/cultural relations, creative cities/cultural planning, creative industries and research and development. It is those decision-makers and practitioners who can reach people in a direct way, through diverse messages and mediums.

Affecting the thinking and behaviour of people and communities is about the dissemination of stories which will profoundly impact cultural values, beliefs and thereby actions. The stories can open people’s eyes to a way of thinking that has not been considered before, challenge a preconceived notion of the past, or a vision of the future that had not been envisioned as possible. As a sector which is viewed as imbued with creativity and cultural values, rather than purely financial motivations, the cultural sector’s stories maintain the trust of people and society.
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Big Coal Bullying Prompts University to Destroy Artwork

This post comes to you from EcoArtScotland

Sadly Chris Drury’s sculpture in Wyoming is to be destroyed, as reported by Mary Anne Hitt: Big Coal Bullying Prompts University to Destroy Artwork.

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 by Chris Fremantle, producer and research associate with On The Edge Research, Gray’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.
Go to EcoArtScotland

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Land Art Generator Initiative design competition

This post comes to you from Cultura21

The Land Art Generator Initiative (LAGI) aims at designing public art installations that have an additional benefit of large scale clean energy generation. Each sculpture can continuously distribute clean energy into the electrical grid and thus potentially provide power to thousands of homes.

In 2012 the Land Art Generator Initiative holds a design competition for a site within Freshkills Park (the former Fresh Kills Landfill) together with New York City’s Department of Parks & Recreation in New York City.

“At 2,200 acres, Freshkills Park will be almost three times the size of Central Park and the largest park developed in New York City in over 100 years. The transformation of what was formerly the world’s largest landfill into a productive and beautiful cultural destination will make the park a symbol of renewal and an expression of how our society can restore balance to its landscape.

In addition to providing a wide range of recreational opportunities, including many uncommon in the city, the park’s design, ecological restoration and cultural and educational programming will emphasize environmental sustainability and a renewed public concern for our human impact on the earth.” –

FRESHKILLS PARK

LAGI 2012 is an ideas competition to design a site-specific public artwork that combines beauty with utility of generating electricity.
The beauty of the reclaimed landscape and the backdrop of the Manhattan skyline are promising settings for an aesthetic and sustainable urban planning of the area.

The competition is open to everyone. Designers, artists, engineers, architects, landscape architects, university students, urban planners, scientists are encouraged to send their submissions.

For more information and the design brief see http://landartgenerator.org/competition.html

If there are further questions, please send an email to lagi [at] landartgenerator [dot] org.

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

Lillian Ball: Waterwash ABC

This post comes to you from Cultura21

Lillian Ball works in New York as an environmental artist and activist. She has a multidisciplinary background in anthropology, ethnographic film, and sculpture, which influences her work. Furthermore she has received numerous awards and has traveled widely due to her international exhibitions.

Her latest project Waterwash ABC includes the construction of a wetland park, improvement of habitat as well as increase of public access to Bronx River. Its aim is to filter storm runoff and create consciousness among the community for watershed issues by means of an aesthetic nature experience.  The need for restoration and revitalization of areas challenged by stormwater issues is widespread in waterfront areas worldwide.

The vision of Lilian Ball was a vegetated swale with native plants, permeable pavement, and educational signage explaining the need for non-point source stormwater management in private as well as public places.  The transformation of a neglected space into a public outreach park is supposed to inspire community commitment to stormwater issues.

The runoff from the parking lot and the roof of the ABC Carpet and Home retail facility at 1055 Bronx River Ave was emptied unfiltered into the Bronx River. Ball’s project aims to alter this fact. Rocking the Boat is the fiscal agent for this Bronx River Watershed Initiative in order to construct a wetland habitat that stabilizes the shoreline to detain and filter the outfalls before they enter the river.

Rocking the Boat students will plant a variety of salt-tolerant native species and help the  ABC personnel in planting the community vegetable garden and maintain the site. Above that a hydrologic monitoring will be carried out by Rocking the Boat environmental apprentices.

In that way the project creates a permanent, publicly visible remediation, habitat restoration, and educational site. Above that it acts as a green infrastructure model.
For more information see http://lillianball.com/waterwash/index.html and  www.rockingtheboat.org

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

Andrew Rogers: Time and Space

Andrew Rogers, a leading contemporary artist based in Australia, is primarily a sculptor.  His large works may be found in plazas and buildings around the world.  He is also the creator of the world’s largest contemporary land art undertaking.

Derived from an early sculpture, the Rhythms of Life project is composed of 47 land art structures, which can be found in 13 countries and on 7 continents.  The project is the result of 13 years of work, and the collaboration of 6,700 people from around the world.

The work is particularly unique in that Rogers has incorporated a great civic vision.  The structures represent a process, and local collaboration.  At many sites, a common Rhythms of Life piece is not far from a work that is local and unique to the community it represents.

For the first time, images of these works are on exhibition at the 18th Street Arts Center in Santa Monica, California.  68 large scale photographs of Rogers’ Rhythms of Life project will be on display at the gallery until May 28, 2011.  You can also view the work online at www.andrewrogers.com/landart.

Rhythms of Life / Chile

Rhythms of Life / Chile

Rhythms of Life / Antarctica

Rhythms of Life / Antarctica

H20 – Preview: Dia Bassett

This post comes to you from Green Public Art

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

Bassett.Dia Bassett.Dia Bassett.Dia

CONCEPT: My sculpture will mimic the flow and reflective qualities of water. By recycling plastic bags to build my structure, I urge others to consider our uses of man-made materials, especially that of plastic which takes 10-20 years to decompose. People do not recycle their plastics consistently, possibly because of the confusion of which kinds are recyclable. Here, I do not wish to mandate how we should consume products, but only to question how we consume them and to what degree we are dependent on them.  My sculpture will cover the rock layout on the east side of the Cactus and Succulent Garden with my crocheted plastic form.  The design will split off after 144 inches, as does the rock formation and continue to the end of this formation, 164 inches further.  The piece will be 48 inches wide, covering all the rocks laying on the ground, and will be anchored down with rocks as well as ground stakes

ABOUT: Dia Bassett was born and raised in San Diego, California.  She is a Masters of the Fine Arts candidate at San Diego State University.  She received her B.A. from Point Loma Nazarene University in 2003.  In 2001, she began an eight-month stay in Florence, Italy to study sculpture, archeological conservation, and Italian.  She has a background in theatre, which led to her participation in the Eveoke Dance Theatre Performing Group from 2004-2005.  Most recently, she has exhibited works at UCSD in the Hyperlocal Identities exhibition. In June 2010, Dia traveled to London using the Isabel Kraft Sculpture Scholarship, in order to participate in an Oxford workshop with Lucy Brown and to research textile and art collections at various institutions such as the Tate Museums, The Victoria and Albert Museum, the Royal College of Art, and the Saatchi Gallery.

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 master’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 art’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.

Go to Green Public Art

tele-present water 2011

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7WEQme9O2rg

This installation draws information from the intensity and movement of the water in a remote location. Wave data is collected in real-time from a selected National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration data buoy station. These buoys are located on the surface of the ocean at different locations all over the globe. They collect and transmit real-time data about water temp, wind speed and direction as well as wave heigh and frequency. The wave intensity and frequency is transferred to a mechanical grid structure. This installation will be a unique method of representing data in physical form creating a contrast between the organic movements of the water and the movements of mechanical structure. The resulting sculpture will be a real-time simulation of the physical effects caused by the movement of water from a distant location creating a relationship between two different locations.

Art show partners creation with science

ASU Sustainability contest inspires paintings, sculpture and multimedia

Fertilizer is rarely an inspiration for an art show, but on Feb. 5, at the Desert Botanical Garden, sustainability, fertilizer and phosphorus scarcity will provide fertile fuel for creative vision.

The art show, a juried exhibition with more than 20 works by artists from Phoenix, Chicago, Portland and Houston, was created in partnership with scientists engaged in the Sustainable Phosphorus Summit, to take place Feb. 3-5, at ASU. The exhibition will include paintings, photography, sculpture, multimedia and innovative approaches to portraying sustainability through dance and music.

Free and open to the public, the art show starts at noon, with the top prizes awarded at 6:30 p.m. An RSVP is required to attend: sustainablePsummit+DBG@gmail.com.

The Sustainable Phosphorus Art Show is scheduled to take place from noon to 7 p.m., Feb. 5, at the Desert Botanical Garden, in Phoenix. Cash bar and reception will take place from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.

If you miss the exhibit Feb. 5, the art show will move to ASU’s Step Gallery, in the Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts, in Tempe, from Feb. 14-18.

Additional information on the scientific program of the Sustainable Phosphorus Summit can be found here. For more information on phosphorus sustainability, visit sustainablep.asu.edu/p-info.

Peggy Coulombe, Margaret.Coulombe@asu.edu
(480) 727-8934
School of Life Sciences

Art show partners creation with science | ASU News.

Ice Bear by Mark Coreth, for WWF, Copenhagen Dec 10

There’s a lot of discussion about the role of dystopian art in creating new stories about climate and the environment. I have to say, if I was a kid, Mark Coreth’s sculpture of a melting polar bear would scare the bejayzus out of me.

Ice Bear is in London’s Trafalgar Square from today.

Go to RSA Arts & Ecology

APInews: Sachaqa Offers Eco-art Studios in Peru

Want to take part in an international eco-art project? The Sachaqa Art Center is building an Eco Art Village in the heart of the Amazon jungle, in Tarapoto, Peru. “The main aim is to build a creative community where painting, music,writing, sculpture, ceramic artists can find inspiration from the natural environment and each other,” says English artist and Sachaqa founder Trina Brammah. The Center is currently located in the village of San Roque De Cumbaza, Lamas; studios there cost $200/month, including kitchen, accommodation and shared studio space. Sachaqa is in the process of building a new center near the village, designed to use ecologically friendly materials and renewable energy sources, using an Eco-Dome Plan designed by architect Nader Khalili. They invite participation in the building process as well.

via APInews: Sachaqa Offers Eco-art Studios in Peru .