Jaime Pitarch. Chernobyl (2007). Lime tree wood, aniline, oil, varnish. Jaime Pitarch is one of the artists being displayed at The Rest of Now, an exhibition in an ex-aluminium factory in Bolzano, Italy, as part of the Manifesta Biennale.
Now, the Manifesta Biennale is the European Biennial of Contemporary art, changing locations every two years. The next Manifesta edition, Manifesta 7, takes place in 2008 and will be situated along a string of locations on Europe’s North-South transit route, linking the regions of the Austrian Tyrol to the Italian South Tyrol and Northern Italy. It is the first time that Manifesta takes place in a Host Region instead of a Host City. After Rotterdam (1996), Luxembourg (1998), Ljubljana (2000), Frankfurt (2002), San Sebastian (2004) and Nicosia (2006 – cancelled), the Autonomous Province of Bozen / Bolzano – South Tyrol and the Autonomous Province of Trento who together constitute the region of Trentino – Sudtirol/Alto Adige have been selected by the International Foundation Manifesta (IFM) for its industrial heritage and cultural infrastructure, which will form the basis for formulating a new strategy for the next edition of Manifesta.
History
Manifesta grew out of an early Dutch initiative, to create a pioneering, pan-European platform for the contemporary visual arts. The concept of an itinerant Manifesta first took shape in Rotterdam, in consultation with a specially appointed International Advisory Board (the forerunner of the present International Foundation) and with the support of thirty National Governmental Arts organisations and Ministries of Culture in Europe.
Manifesta developed into a fast growing network for young professionals in Europe and one of the most innovative biennial exhibition programme to be held anywhere. This is due, in no small measure, to its pan-European ambitions and its uniquely nomadic nature. Both the network and the exhibition, with its related activities, are equally important components of this itinerant event. Manifesta offers a platform for emerging artists, on the basis of a networking organisation, which is able to respond flexibly to new artistic, technological and cultural developments. The most obvious aspects of Manifesta’s inbuilt flexibility is the fact that a new, pan-European theme or concept is developed on each occasion by a team of outside curators, working in close consultation with representatives of all kind of cultural, social, academic institutions in the host city. In other words, each new edition aims to establish a close dialogue between a specific cultural and artistic situation and the broader context of European visual contemporary art. At the same time, Manifesta provides strong continuity, through its ever-expanding network of contacts. (info source: www.the-artists.org)
“Designing Water’s Future is aimed at generating exceptionally creative and original design thinking to raise awareness of the emerging global water crisis—and to do so in ways that inspire people to act. Reaching beyond all boundaries, the initiative seeks to reframe how we think about water, how we manage it, how we save it. It will address the design problem of the crisis, redefining the outdated, limited cultural mythologies that have become obstacles to progress on one of the world’s gravest threats.”
The goals
* Engage in design thinking: Challenge assumptions using human-centered research to determine the most effective strategies for communicating and develop prototypes to test effectiveness. * Define new approaches for public participation and engagement: From the most tactile to the most virtual, inspire individuals and communities with bi-directional (push-pull) engagement. * Develop and apply tools for messaging: Use online and traditional communications vehicles for distributing the manifesto, messages, calls to action, fact-based narratives and data provided by Circle of Blue and other sources. Generate comprehensive messaging and communications tools and strategies for water that may be applicable universally and/or to specific target audiences.
* October 1, 2008: Projects may be submitted online. * December 15, 2008: Deadline for entries. * February 2009: Finalists announced. * February–April 2009: Finalists develop polished presentations. * Late March 2009: Finalists attend the Aspen Environmental Forum. * August 2009: Finalists invited to Copenhagen for a collaborative workshop. * October 2009: Selected projects will be published. * November–December 2009: Select number of projects will be presented to participants of the World Summit on Climate Change in Copenhagen
Vicente Guallart’s work consistently seeks to introduce new geologically inspired forms into the built infrastructure of the city. On his website you will find a selection on his amazing proposals using architectural metaphors that deal with the digital, the natural, and the artificial. I his own words: “My projects explore people’s capacity to construct an inhabitable environment by assuming this new three-way interaction. Starting from the hypothesis that the end purpose of architecture is not (solely) to build but also to define environments where human life can be organized, I work as much through action as through omission ; with stones as well as with glass and “bits” ; in urban and rural territories ; and in the physical and virtual worlds.”
i found this x-ray dislocated shoulder (ouch!) – unknown source
“Dislocate is a project which examines the relationship between art, technology and locality.
Designed to facilitate international dialogue between artists, researchers and the public, Dislocate encourages exchange and reflection upon our experiences and perceptions of the interplay between these elements.
Dislocate questions our notions of place and location in the face of perpetual motion through multifaceted environments. The velocity of this passage is accelerated through new technologies, but as a result how does this impact upon our encounter with place and our attempt to communicate this to elsewhere?
Through an exhibition, symposium and workshop series Dislocate will examine this encounter and communication, taking a journey through surrounding spaces and exploring our transient connections.
Excelled through so many spaces with such momentum, mobility brings freedoms but also responsibilities. While in this state of passage how do we decide which spaces to engage with and what is our dialogue with them?
Dislocate offers the space to investigate the creative and social potential of new media to engage us with our direct locality and to ask what is the importance of where we are now?” (quoted from Dislocate)
On August 18, 2008, Bao-Liang Chen, a PhD candidate at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI), presented the results of research aimed at evaluating the potential for transforming stretches of asphalt into a cost-effective energy source at the annual symposium of the International Society for Asphalt Pavements in Zurich, Switzerland. The study looks not only at how well asphalt can collect solar energy, but at the best way to construct roads and parking lots to maximize their heat-absorbing qualities.
Rajib Mallick talks about the many benefits of using roadways as solar collectors:
“For one, blacktop stays hot and could continue to generate energy after the sun goes down, unlike traditional solar-electric cells. In addition, there is already a massive acreage of installed roads and parking lots that could be retrofitted for energy generation, so there is no need to find additional land for solar farms. Roads and lots are typically resurfaced every 10 to 12 years and the retrofit could be built into that cycle. Extracting heat from asphalt could cool it, reducing the urban ‘heat island’ effect. Finally, unlike roof-top solar arrays, which some find unattractive, the solar collectors in roads and parking lots would be invisible.”
Once again the (labels apart) lounge electro-poppers Tim Gane, Laetitia Sadier, Andrew Ramsay, Simon Johns, and Joseph Watson return with their fuzzy Moogs, peculiar string trots, deep-tones, and playful vocal melodies.
As Gane has noted in interviews, Chemical Chords was constructed by fiddling with infinite chord combinations and analog drum loops.
Embrace the groop’s pop molecules as you surf the 60s French pop and Motown soul waves of Chemical Chords.
Stereolab, (Chemical Chords) = Three Women (not the Robert Altman’s one)
Sep 20 2008 8:00P Detroit BarCosta Mesa, California
Sep 21 2008 8:00P Glass House Pomona, California
Sep 24 2008 8:00P La Zona RosaAustin, Texas
Sep 26 2008 8:00P Variety Playhouse Atlanta, Georgia
Sep 27 2008 8:00P 40 Watt ClubAthens, Georgia
Sep 29 2008 8:00P Cat’s Cradle Carrboro, North Carolina
Sep 30 2008 8:00P 9.30 ClubWashington, Washington DC
Oct 1 2008 8:00P Trocadreo Theatre Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Oct 2 2008 8:00P Fillmore at Irving PlazaNew York, New York
Oct 3 2008 8:00P Fillmore at Irving Plaza New York, New York
Oct 4 2008 8:00P Fillmore at Irving PlazaNew York, New York
Oct 6 2008 8:00P Paradise Boston, Massachusetts
Oct 7 2008 8:00P Club Soda Montreal, Quebec
Oct 8 2008 8:00P Phoenix Concert Theatre Toronto, Ontario
Oct 9 2008 8:00P Crofoot Detroit, Michigan
Oct 10 2008 8:00P Vic Theatre Chicago, Illinois
Oct 12 2008 8:00P First AvenueMinneapolis, Minnesota
Oct 14 2008 8:00P Gothic Theatre Denver, Colorado
Oct 17 2008 8:00P Showbox Seattle, Washington
Oct 18 2008 8:00P Wonder Ballroom Portland, Oregon
Oct 19 2008 8:00P Commodore BallroomVancouver, British Columbia
Oct 21 2008 8:00P Fillmore San Francisco, California
Oct 22 2008 8:00P Fillmore San Francisco, California
Oct 23 2008 8:00P Henry Fonda Theatre Los Angeles, California
Oct 24 2008 8:00P Belly Up TavernSolana Beach, California
Dec 12 2008 8:00P The Pavilion Cork, Cork
Dec 13 2008 8:00P Tripod Dublin, Dublin Dec 14 2008 8:00P Black Box Belfast, Northern Ireland
Dec 16 2008 8:00P Oran MorGlasgow, Scotland
Dec 17 2008 8:00P Academy 3 Manchester, Northwest
Dec 18 2008 8:00P Concorde 2Brighton, South
Dec 19 2008 8:00P Koko London, London and South East
Hacking has been part of our lifestyles for many year now. We all hack to a certain degree. The term hackingis used for different purposes and is commonly used to refer to illegal activity performed by computer experts. However, hacking can take different forms and approaches. It can go from furniture and architecture to toys and other electronic devices. Hacking basically refers to the act of customizing of modifying everyday products to improve their functionality, re-purpose them for conceptual reasons, pure entertainment or a clever fusion of all the previously mentioned. Today, hacking practice and theories are used in different fields as a tool to reveal how systems are built and learning how they operate. Something that should become mandatory in our societies.
Just in case you are new to this subject (i don’t thinks so), I am going to bombard you with a selection of links that can inform you in more specific ways or take you through the different hacking avenues.
“A team of European astronomers announced a remarkable breakthrough in the field of extra-solar planets. Using the HARPS instrument at the ESO La Silla Observatory, they have found a triple system of super-Earths around the star HD 40307. Looking at their entire sample studied with HARPS, the astronomers count a total of 45 candidate planets with a mass below 30 Earth masses and an orbital period shorter than 50 days. This implies that one solar-like star out of three harbours such planets. “Does every single star harbour planets and, if yes, how many?” wonders planet hunter Michel Mayor from Geneva Observatory. “We may not yet know the answer but we are making huge progress towards it.” (by Science News)
An artist’s impression of the trio of super-Earths discovered by an European team using the HARPS spectrograph on ESO’s 3.6-m telescope at La Silla, Chile, after five years of monitoring. The three planets, having 4.2, 6.7, and 9.4 times the mass of the Earth, orbit the star HD 40307 with periods of 4.3, 9.6, and 20.4 days, respectively. European researchers said on June 16, 2008 they had discovered the batch of three “super-Earths” orbiting a nearby star, and two other solar systems with small planets as well.
“Telemegaphone Dale stands seven metres tall on top of the Bergskletten mountain overlooking the idyllic Dalsfjord in Western Norway.
When you dial the Telemegaphone’s phone number the sound of your voice is projected out across the fjord, the valley and the village of Dale below.
Telemegaphone Dale is generously supported by Nordic Culture Point, Unsworn Industries and nkd – nordic artists’ centre in dale. Special thanks to Nicklas Marélius, Svein Ove Løseth, landowner Ingolf Viken, and Jörgen Bladh at Kylprodukter i Kivik.
Special hats off for the team of horn-carriers who volunteered to help us carry a ton of stuff up the steep mountain in the blazing sun: Les Joynes, Bjørn Kowalski Hansen, Svein Ove Løseth, Maria Petschatnikov, Natalia Petschatnikov, Helga Steppan, Åsa Ståhl, and David Zadig, we owe you big time and will remember this collective effort for ever!”
The Bioplastics industry is blooming as the cost of oil climbs and the disastrous nature of petroleum-based plastics is revealed in full effect. Metabolix is a company which combines bioscience and nature to bring sustainable, clean solutions to the world in plastics, energy, and chemicals. This past Monday they announced an incredible development: they have found a way to generate “significant amounts” of ecologically-sound bioplastic by growing it in directly in switchgrass. The fast-growing perennial plant is paving the way for a sustainable source of Mirel, the company’s biodegradable brand of bioplastic.
” Mirel is a versatile bioplastic with has many uses including food packaging, agricultural products, and consumer goods. It’s tough and durable, resistant to heat and hot liquids, and completely biodegrades when exposed to microbial activity in soil, marine environments, or compost piles.
Now Metabolix can make Mirel by combining genes of naturally occurring substances to produce a polyhydroxybutyrate (PHA) polymer that grows directly in switchgrass. As an added bonus, once the polymer has been harvested, the leftover plant can be used as a source for biomass energy. An efficient and versatile source of bioplastic such as this is sure to enable future generations of eco-friendly industrial design.” (by Inhabitat)
“Statlab #1 takes the local environment as its source material, sampling air direct and in real time from a local area. It displays the daily average of CO2 concentration trough a chemical reaction where chalk particles are formed. The result is an analogue graph where the difference in the amount of chalk particles per tank is a global measure for the fluctuating CO2 concentration within one week. The first version of the installation worked live during the first week of the ecoAesthetics exhibition at the Stille Veerkade in The Hague; notoriously one of the most polluted streets in the Netherlands. The project has been developed with support from over a three month period in which it was designed, built and tested.”
“Bitlek is an alias for Tjerk Stoop. Tjerk Stoop (1977) is a musician and installation artist. He uses sound, image and data as materials for electro-acoustic compositions, experimental short films and interactive installations.”
Romanian artist Alex Dragulescu creates artwork blending traditional art and new media. The “Spam Architecture” project designs virtual houses by mapping the content of incoming spam to structural and decorative elements: “he images from the Spam Architecture series are generated by a computer program that accepts as input, junk email. Various patterns, keywords and rhythms found in the text are translated into three-dimensional modeling gestures.”
More on Spam Architecture
If you ever run out of options on how to dress for work, school, or any other crowded place, take a look to and learn from the advice of Rusell Higgs.
Russell Higgs was born in 1960, in Oswestry army camp, Shropshire, England. He currently lives in East London. Russell is an artist, transhumanist, and civil disobedience activist. At the end of 2000 Russell was remanded in prison segregation for choosing not to wear clothing in a public space. He was motivated by a commitment to a simple statement of fact: the visible human appearance is not a crime. He remained continuously unclothed for a month, imprisoned on non-imprisonable charges until he was eventually released and the charges were quietly dropped. Russell is currently an unwaged citizen, because 9-to-5 existence does not accommodate a person whose priority is experimental inquiry. (source)
His Statement
” I pledge allegiance to the earth and to the flora, fauna, human and posthuman life that it supports. One planet, indivisible, with safe air, water & soil, economic justice, equal rights and peace for all.”
Visit his site for a daily shot…HERE!
I haven’t found much information about the Frankfurt based artist Jörg Niehage, but it is necessary to see “Samplingplong.”
A short video documentation of a his piece presented at ARS Electronica PRIX. HERE!!!
The Cuban Poster Blog is an archive of original Cuban posters is the collection of the East Dulwich Gallery in London and is the result of 10 years of collecting Cuban film and political posters. All the posters featured in this blog are part of the gallery’s collection. They were acquired from dealers, traders and individuals in Cuba, the US, Canada and the UK.
“There are hundreds of ethnic groups in Nigeria, each with its own language and traditions. Among other things which are part of these traditions are various hairstyles. These are determined by the social position of the family, and the artistic talent of the hair stylist. Among them there are special hairstyles for ceremonies such as circumcisions, a woman’s becoming an adult, or the celebration of a marriage. Today it is difficult to trace the background of certain hairstyles because various ethnic groups have mixed together, and adapted to modern culture. Many hairstyles have died out, taking their secrets to the grave with them. Since 1968 Ojeikere (b. Nigeria, 1930) has been making photographs of various hairstyles he sees on the street or at work, or at celebrations. He always asks his models where the hairstyle they are wearing comes from, what its meaning is, its name, and its history.” (source)
(images from The re-naturalization of territory by Vicente Guallart.)
