Urban Ecology

CURATING CITIES: SYDNEY TO COPENHAGEN CONFERENCE

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Drawing on case studies from around the world, the Curating Cities project assesses the ongoing and potential contribution of public art to eco-sustainable development and the benefits to Sydney and cities in general.  The project provides a rubric for public art in relation to the fundamental domains of sustainable planning: energy, water, food and waste.

A vital part of the project, the Curating Cities: Sydney to Copenhagen Conference will address the demands on the cultural sector in the face of climate change; namely the need to develop sustainable cities and raise questions about the role of public art in urban ecology. Bringing together artists, designers, curators, educators and creative thinkers the conference will propose new strategies of change toward the fundamentals of urban sustainability.

The conference organized by the National Institute for Experimental Arts, UNSW in association with the City of Sydney, the Danish Arts Agency and the Visual Arts and Design Educators Association. The conference will be opened by Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore and Lord Mayor of Copenhagen Frank Jensen. For more details and full list of speakers please visit http://curatingcities.org/conferences/curating-cities-sydney-copenhagen

CURATING CITIES: SYDNEY TO COPENHAGEN EXHIBITION

The Curating Cities: Sydney to Copenhagen Conference is held in conjunction with a keynote exhibition that highlights the fundamentals of sustainability: carbon reduction, consumption, and food production. The exhibition (17 Nov – 18 Dec 2011) will be a showcase five influential projects that evoke the city as part of an ecology affected by human action. For more info please visit http://curatingcities.org/exhibitions/curating-cities-sydney-copenhagen

Our project website is: www.curatingcities.org.

H20 – Preview: Collective Magpie

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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 artist’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.  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 – 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 “public art” 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.  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 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