Arts

28.01.2013

[UN]NATURAL LIMITS – Austrian Cultural Forum New York

Jan 23 – April 1, 2013

Austrian Cultural Forum New York
11 East 52nd Street – New York, NY 10022

Artists: Desire Machine Collective, Thomas Hirschhorn, Mathias Kessler, Superflex, Mierle Laderman Ukeles, Lois Weinberger

Curated by Dieter Buchhart & Arnaud Gerspacher

Curatorial Advisor: Mathias Kessler

The new international group exhibition [UN]NATURAL LIMITS, which opened on January 22nd, gathers together different artistic reactions to the alienating effects of the unfettered global exploitation of resources, and offers insight into the denial and myopia of current political responses to what increasingly appears to be a perpetual crisis.
It focuses on the environmental relays sent back in response to our human activities (or failures to act), while giving voice to various groups, thinkers, and artists who seek to interrupt narcissistic and destructive self-involvements in society.

The exhibition, which was commissioned by the Austrian Cultural Forum’s director Andreas Stadler and curated by the Viennese-New York team of Dieter Buchhart and Arnaud Gerspacher, maintains a deep ambiguity towards the modernist legacies of endless expansion and selective prosperity, as our social and political systems slowly begin to confront the limits of growth and sustainability. Each artist or collective poses a challenge to the perceived limits that condition our understanding of the world: on the one hand, the limited prospect for action, compassion, and change, while on the other, the limitless drive for resources and capital in all its forms. A reversal is necessary: it is compassion that should be limitless.

Read more »

By Nikolai Huckle

24.01.2013

Open call – Museum of Arte Útil

The Museum of Arte Útil is a collaboration between the artist Tania Bruguera, the Queens Museum of Art, New York and the Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven, the Netherlands. The Museum of Arte Útil is the result of Tania Bruguera’s decade of research into a concept that emphasizes effectiveness and implementation over representation, looking at historical and contemporary examples of alternative strands in socially informed art practice.

Útil as a term refers to something being useful. But it goes further than the English translation, encompassing the idea of a tool or device. Bruguera states that “Arte Útil moves beyond a propositional format, into one that actively creates, develops and implements new functionalities to benefit society at large.”

The project will comprise research, an online platform, an association of Arte Útil practitioners, a series of public projects, a lab presentation at the Queens Museum of Art beginning in February 2013, culminating in the transformation of the old building of the Van Abbemuseum into the Museum of Arte Útil in the Fall of 2013 and a publication. The aim is to present a survey of past and present projects that are rooted in the notion of art’s use to its users and to society at large. Central to the project’s various forms is this open call. Read more »

By Nikolai Huckle

23.01.2013

Call for Applications: Negotiating Routes: Ecologies of the Byways- Part IV

Deadline: 5th February, 2013

Khoj is inviting applications from artists, artists groups or professionals for the Negotiating Routes: Ecologies of the Byways – Part IV project.

All projects proposals must tackle issues of ecology and should have an interdisciplinary approach that emphasizes both research and community engagement. Projects should be site-specific and should preferably be located in peri-urban or rural places within India.

Applications for the Negotiating Routes project should be submitted to applications [at] khojworkshop [dot] org and should include the following: Read more »

By Nikolai Huckle

16.01.2013

Exhibition: Burnt Stars by Jenny Brown

Australian Artist Jenny Brown, currently residing in Berlin, Germany on a DAAD scholarship, is inviting to her exhibition Burnt Stars  – Meditations on resistance, resilience and systems, curated by Adam Nankervis at stattberlin, an art space (in Berlin) dedicated to new forms of artistic expressions.

The opening event is on Thursday 17 January 2013 at 7 pm and the exhibition will stay open until Sunday 20 January from 2pm until 7pm.

 

By Nikolai Huckle

15.01.2013

Call for nominations: “AWEInspiring” Arts & Environment Award

The Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management´s (CIWEM) Art and Environment Network (AEN) is calling for nominations for their annual Arts and the Environment Award, carried out in association with the Centre for Contemporary Art and the Natural World (CCANW), to recognise innovation and excellence in work by arts practitioners or environmentalists engaging with arts practices.

2013 sees the fourth year of the award, details of the award and previous winners can be found at http://www.ciwem.org/competition-and-awards/aweinspiring.aspx

The eligibility criteria are as follows:

  • Nominations may consist of an artwork, arts project or body of work by a living artist (or group) that is contributing innovatively to CIWEM’s vision of “putting creativity at the heart of environmental policy and action”.
  • The nomination must demonstrate innovation and excellence; whether in ideas, execution or impact.
  • The award is open to arts practitioners, environmentalists engaging with arts practices, or persons/initiatives that integrate these disciplines.
  • The focus is on rewarding identified work, not simply a person.
  • All forms and modes of arts practice, and geographical locations, may be considered.
  • Special emphasis will be given to inspiring examples of young and/or emerging talent.

The deadline for nominations is 31st January 2013. The winner will be announced in the press and a presentation will be made at a high-profile event (in previous years this has been the CIWEM Annual Dinner).

You can consider putting forward a project, body of work, organisation, person or group you would like to see given special recognition in this way, by sending a short description, and your reasons, to Laura Grant at lgrant [at] ciwem [dot] org.

By Nikolai Huckle

08.01.2013

Out Now – CSPA Q9: Science/Art

The latest CSPA Quarterly  issue on Science/Art features a preview of the CSPA Fusebox Festival study, writing from Sarah Moon and Alyce Santoro, a report from Moe Beitiks on the first annual Moscow Science Art Conference, and an excerpt from Lina Weintraub’s new book. “Through this issue, we explore the connection and complex relationship that exists between science and art.”

Includes: Alyce Santoro, Amanda Gartman, Fusebox Festival, Linda Weintraub, Meghan Moe Beitiks,Moscow Science Art Conference, Sarah Moon

Reposted from The Center for Sustainable Practice in the Arts Website

By Nikolai Huckle

07.01.2013

Shifting Baselines Residency and Exhibition Project

Gallery Talk & Exhibition Opening
Monday, January 7, 2013 – 6pm @ Santa Fe Art Institute

Shifting Baselines Exhibition
January 8 – 25 – Monday – Friday, 9am – 5pm @ Santa Fe Art Institute

Shifting Baselines, an exhibition curated by ecoartspace founder Patricia Watts, opening on the 7th of January, 2013,  will show existing and new work from installation artist Hugh Pocock and painter Cynthia Hooper, a Northern California painter and video artist who teaches at College of the Redwoods in Eureka.

Shifting baseline is a scientific term used to describe the way changes in the environment can be measured against previous reference points (baselines) that represent significant changes from the “original state.” For example, places that swarmed with a particular species hundreds of years ago may have experienced long-term decline, but it is the level of recent decades that are considered the appropriate reference point for current populations. In this way large declines in ecosystems or species over long periods of time were, and are, masked. There is a loss of perception of change that occurs when each generation redefines what is “natural.” This term has become widely used to describe the shift over time in the expectation of what a healthy ecosystem baseline looks like.

The exhibition will also be the inaugural event of the Santa Fe Art Institute’s 2013-14 season of programming – Contested Space, focusing on arts role in communicating and exploring new territory in an already mapped out world.

To learn more about the Shifting Baselines residency and exhibition, please go to the ecoartspace blog and the Santa Fe Art Institute blog.

By Nikolai Huckle

06.01.2013

The Azolla Cooking and Cultivation Project Book and eBook now Available

The Azolla Cooking and Cultivation Project (2012) is now available as free pdf, as paperback at Amazon US / UK and as e-book at Kindle Store.

Erik Sjödin is an artist and researcher based in Stockholm and Bergen. His practice explores interdependencies and interrelationships between humans and non-humans as well as questions of being and becoming.

Erik’s work is primarily constituted of transdisciplinary research and interventions in the public realm. His projects are often of an exploratory nature and take shape over several years. He frequently collaborates with and consults experts such as scientists, farmers, chefs and craftspeople.

Reposted from The Center for Sustainable Practice in the Arts Website

By Nikolai Huckle

14.12.2012

Competition to Design a Sustainable Theatre now open

Could You Design a Sustainable Theatre?

World Stage Design 2013 is a celebration of International performance design from the world of theatre, opera and dance. The event will take place in Cardiff, UK in September 2013, hosted by the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama and includes an exhibition as well as public performances and installations in non theatre spaces.

The Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama is seeking proposals for a competition to design a sustainable temporal theatre, to be built in Cardiff, as part of the World Stage Design 2013 festival.

This competition is open to students and emerging practitioners from across all related disciplines; theatre architects, technicians and scenographers should all see this as an opportunity to develop and apply their practice. Collaborative proposals are also welcome. Read more »

By Nikolai Huckle

04.12.2012

A Climate Change in the Art World?

An interesting article on www.artnews.com, written by Robin Cembalast, gives insight about the impact of Hurricane Sandy on the art community in New York and shows that Sandy could have been the wake-up call for the community to realize that action against climate change is required on their part.

Barry Bergdoll, MoMA’s Chief Curator of Architecture and Design is thinking about reshaping New York in a collective movement of architects, designer, officials and others:

“I don’t want to have yet another panel discussion, I want something that takes it to yet another level of effectiveness. I’m trying to figure out what that is.”

A more radical art project concerned with Global Warming is the Greenhouse Britain by the Harrisons, as it addresses resettlement as the final consequence of climate change and shows how artists can work with architects and urban planners to redesign cities and neighborhoods. Of course this proposes a more drastic approach to the reaction to climate change and arts’s role in it, as it asumes that rising water levels are inevitable and that the then displaced population will need a differently designed civilization. But maybe adaption to climate change will require this kind of transformation?

For the whole article at artnews.com, click here.

By Nikolai Huckle

26.11.2012

Art installation (removal) leads to controversy at Wyoming University

British environmental artist Chris Drury´s art installation Carbon Sink: What Goes Around Comes Around created back in July 2011 on the Wyoming university campus, was originally intended to inspire a conversation about a prevalent environmental problem in the region. Global warming has, so scientists say, led to less pine beetles dying off by below zero temperature and thus more forest infested by the tree-killing beetles.

The sculpture features a 36-foot-wide circle of logs from beetle-killed trees, arranged in a circular pattern around a pile of coal and thus it points at the link between human induced climate change and dead forests. A big contributor to greenhouse gas emissions however is the burning of coal.

Plausible topic for an art installation, but in a state where the fossil fuel industry is a major economic driver as well as a known financial supporter of the University of Wyoming, some toes were bound to be stepped on. Read more »

By Nikolai Huckle

25.11.2012

Call for applications for International Artists’ Residency: In Context: public.art.ecology, FOOD EDITION-II

Deadline: 4 JANUARY, 2013 – Online applications only

Khoj’s international residency: In Context: public.art.ecology focuses on exploring ecological themes in and around public spaces in Delhi and is being carried forth into its fourth year. In continuance with last year’s trajectory, the residency, FOOD EDITION-II will once again have a special focus on examining the notion of food and its myriad articulations in art. The residency will be for six weeks duration starting in the first week of March until mid April 2013.

Applications are invited from individual artists and artists’ collectives, with proposals for art projects exploring the intersection between art and ecology through a critical examination of issues surrounding the politics of food. Food as artistic medium incorporating performance, art installations or interactive events that re-examine the significance and relevance of food in the social context, simply in its connection with the body or as a primary ritual that fosters engagement, interaction and collaboration.

The applications should include the following: Read more »

By Nikolai Huckle

23.11.2012

Call for Participants: SymbioticA Biotech for Artists Workshop

28th January – 1st February, 2013

Deadline for applications – Monday 26th November 2012

BiofiliA, Base for Biological Arts, Aalto University, Finland, in collaboration with SymbioticA, The University of Western Australia is organizing an intensive five day workshop for artists and other interested people. After the workshop the opening of the new laboratory and biological arts programme will be celebrated.

The workshop will be led by SymbioticA’s Director and Aalto visiting Professor Oron Catts and BiofiliA’s scientific collaborator Marika Hellman.

This is a hands-on workshop where the tools of modern biology are demonstrated through artistic engagement, which in turn gives voice to the broader philosophical and ethical exploration into the extent of human intervention with other living things. It involves exploration of biological technologies and issues stemming from their use; it serves as a theoretical and practical introduction to the creation of biological art and is aimed at mentoring artists in issues of biotechnology and the life sciences. Read more »

By Nikolai Huckle

17.11.2012

Call for Artists: International Sculpture Competition

The Artistic Landscape

The Gabarron Foundation is welcoming international artists and designers to submit works for an international public sculpture competition for the future Parque de Levante in the city of Murcia, Spain.

When finished, Parque de Levante will be the largest outdoor sculpture parc in Spain and one of the largest of Europe. In addition to being designed, by architects John Keenen and Terence Riley from K/R Architects, to specifically incorporate sculpture and environmental artworks of different sizes and mediums into a sustainable landscape, a new museum dedicated to art and the environment is also planned to be built in the park.

There are no specific limits to the themes of the artists, but works relating to the parks mission of Hortus Cultura – the artistic landscape – will be taken into special consideration by the jury.

Of all submitted proposals, the fifty best will be chosen as honorable mentions, in which case each artist will receive an accredited honorary certificate. Their works will be included in exhibitions in Spain and the United States and published in an exhibition catalog.

Deadline for submissions: 21.12.2012

For more information on the competition, click here.

By Nikolai Huckle

16.11.2012

Drawing the line

As reported in The New Yorker,  eco-artist Eve Mosher was more or less forcefully reminded of one of her older projects by the more recent catastrophic event, Hurricane Sandy. Back in 2007 over the course of six months, she drew a line of chalk through Brooklyn representing 10 feet above see level.

Comparing the results back then to the path of destruction left by Hurricane Sandy today, confirms her implied assumptions of rising sea levels and increasing frequency of storms, caused by climate change, again raising the question why climate change hasn’t become a major political issue in the USA earlier.

For the whole article at newyorker.com, click here.

By Nikolai Huckle