Howdy-
Here's the link to the Pecha Kucha night at Yestermorrow YouTube video from July 24, 2013.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sxeq_ZCFkrA
Some very interesting presentations!
Watch and Enjoy.
That is all for now...
susie
Friday, August 30, 2013
Wednesday, August 28, 2013
Art Review: "Exposed" at Helen Day Art Center
My first, very awesome review, in Seven Days...
Wow. I honestly feel like I have hit the big-time... and, as far as my reality goes, I have.
I continue to be stunned, delighted, wonderstruck, blessed (i'm not sure if any of those words on their own, really express what i'm feeling... not even sure that all of them together capture it either) that I even have the opportunity to have a piece in a Helen Day Art Center exhibit.
That people really seem to like what I created.
Are touched by it.
Enjoy it.
Well.
I honestly have no words.
Hah! That is such a rare occurance. Relish it while you can!
And, by the way, I wasn't the only one who got a good review.
Here it is...
As it happens, though, the majority of pieces in this year’s “Exposed,” curated by Rachel Moore, merit stopping for a closer look — and listen: Dialing a number on your cell gets you a brief artist statement for each work. This may or may not tell you something you can’t see for yourself, but it’s a nice option.
The risk of selecting works for this exhibit is that not every sculpture can stand up to the distractions outside; some would likely garner more attention in a white-box gallery. This could be said of Hector Leiva’s “The Matter of Memory” pieces, which appear in several locations. The works — each a low-to-the-ground plaster square with a QR code atop it — are potentially more engaging conceptually than visually. But if you haven’t installed a QR code reader on your phone, you won’t know that you can “leave a memory behind” with the Matter of Memory app — which also must be downloaded. But outdoors, even tech-savvy viewers might find this cerebral activity too much trouble.
Success in “Exposed” can be defined by one of two qualities: The work is strong enough to render location irrelevant, or it appeals precisely because of how it engages with the outdoors. As space prohibits evaluating all of the entries, here are three of the best pieces in each category.
Location Irrelevant
James Irving Westermann’s large-scale, lacy sphere is ingenious on several levels: For one, it’s constructed from recycled bicycle gears. Second, how Westermann corralled them into an elegant sphere is a captivating mystery. And third, the piece looks light and airy even though it’s made of metal. The looming steel beams upon which it sits are overkill, though; the sphere could sit unaided on the ground, as ready to engage as a beach ball.
Judith Wrend’s geometric, two-pronged aluminum sculpture juts upward authoritatively, commanding attention not just for its signature bright-red, automotive-finish paint job but for its assured presence in the world. Sited next to a sidewalk in downtown Stowe, Wrend’s piece is aptly named “Attraction.”
Colleen Rudolf’s lifelike bronze “Encounter (Wolf & Dog),” on the gallery’s front lawn, is a standoff of the two creatures that evokes surprising drama. Rudolf fashioned her dog with ears back and tail erect; the animal looks alert, uncertain, but willing to wag. The wolf’s tail hangs down as the creature gazes steadily at the dog. Not to anthropomorphize, but the expression on its face might be read as indulgence toward its more domesticated relative. Placed some 15 feet apart, the animals are locked in an evolutionary tension.
Engages With the Outdoors
Also on the gallery lawn, Ethan Bond-Watts’ “Seed #2” is literally botanical, at least in part. His elliptical steel armature is fuzzy with green grass and the occasional miniature nasturtium, this planted within the form with the assistance of soil and burlap. According to a description, an invisible irrigation system maintains the sculpture’s plant life, and the pod-like outline of the whole piece matches conception to function. No word on whether Bond-Watts employs a tiny lawnmower to manicure his witty abstraction.
Susie J. Gray calls her work “Looking East, 6 Degrees North,” but the structure, sited along but facing away from the rec path, is more emotionally resonant than that geographical title would suggest. That’s because the band-shell-shaped quasi-shelter, loosely formed with bent willow branches and entwined with native plants, harbors three tree stumps for sitting. And as soon as you enter and take a seat, you project on the space the narrative that suits you. Whether that’s playhouse or bus stop or gazebo, the enclosure engenders a sense of privacy and intimacy, and by extension a fondness for the natural materials that embrace you. But Gray’s simple structure is not just aesthetically pleasing; it is an astute manipulation of the very idea of shelter.
Edwin F. Bennett’s work, aptly titled “Cut,” is an anomaly in “Exposed,” and when you come upon it you wonder why the exhibit does not attract more Andy Goldsworthy-esque, temporal art such as this. Bennett’s striking creation is an “installation” by virtue of deletion. He cleared a straight, narrow channel through a copse of trees and lined its footpath with red mulch. This immediately flouts the art-class admonition that there are no straight lines in nature. At the end of the path, perhaps 30 feet away, there is sunshine, like the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel — or the light that awaits us upon both birth and death. Or is this about humans’ imposition of rigid linearity (aka “development”) on the natural world?
“Cut” evokes multiple associations, but its greatest pleasure is experiential: Bennett invites viewers to walk the path and observe how this simple but symbolic alteration of the environment feels.
Oddly, it is the opposite of exposed.
BY: PAMELA POLSTON [Seven Days 08.14.13]
Tuesday, August 20, 2013
Today is "Earth Overshoot Day" 2013
Hi Folks- this message came to me thru one of my e-mailing lists and I thought it worthwhile passing along...
August 20, 2013, 12:01 AM Geneva, Switzerland
August 20 is Earth Overshoot Day, the approximate date humanity’s annual demand on nature exceeds what Earth can renew in a year. In just 7 months and 20 days, we have demanded a level of ecological resources and services — from food and raw materials to sequestering carbon dioxide from fossil fuel emissions — equivalent to what Earth can regenerate for all of 2013. Humanity has exhausted nature’s budget for the year.
For the rest of the year, we are operating in overshoot. We will maintain our ecological deficit by depleting stocks of fish, trees and other resources, and accumulating waste such as carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and oceans. As our level of consumption, or “spending,” grows, the interest we are paying on this mounting ecological debt — shrinking forests, biodiversity loss, fisheries collapse, food shortages, degraded land productivity and the build-up of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere and oceans — not only burdens the environment but also undermines our economies. Climate change — a result of greenhouse gases being emitted faster than they can be absorbed by forests and oceans — is the most widespread impact of ecological overspending.
In 1961, humanity used only about two-thirds of Earth’s available ecological resources. Back then, most countries had ecological reserves. Yet both global demand and population are increasing. In the early 1970s, increased carbon emissions and human demand for resources began outstripping what the planet could renewably produce. We went into ecological overshoot. Global Footprint Network’s 2012 National Footprint Accounts show humanity is now using ecological resources and services at a rate it would take just over 1.5 Earths to renew. We are on track to require the resources of two Earths well before mid-century.
Today, more than 80 percent of the world’s population lives in countries that use more than the ecosystems within their own borders can renew. These “ecological debtor” countries either deplete their own ecological resources or get them from elsewhere. Japan’s residents consume the ecological resources of 7.1 Japans. It would take four Italys to support Italy. Egypt uses the ecological resources of 2.4 Egypts.
Not all countries demand more than their ecosystems can provide, but even the reserves of such “ecological creditors” like Brazil, Indonesia, and Sweden are shrinking over time. We can no longer sustain a widening budget gap between what nature is able to provide and how much our infrastructure, economies and lifestyles require.
It is possible to turn the tide. Ecological debtors have an incentive to reduce their resource dependence, while creditors have the economic, political and strategic motive for preserving their ecological capital. Global Footprint Network and its network of partners are working with organizations, governments and financial institutions around the globe to make decisions aligned with ecological reality. Rather than liquidating resources, it is wiser to treat them as an ongoing source of wealth.
their website is: http://www.footprintnetwork.org
I have spent a bit of time just now checking it out and recommend you do so for yourself... I am not familiar enough with the organization to say I endorse it fully, but I do believe this particular message is a good one, that's for sure!
And might I add WILLOW has much to offer us in terms of turning the tide! It is an excellent plant to use for phyto-remediation (cleaning up of soils and water) not to mention all it's other amazing uses.
More on that next time, then!
be very well-
susie
August 20, 2013, 12:01 AM Geneva, Switzerland
August 20 is Earth Overshoot Day, the approximate date humanity’s annual demand on nature exceeds what Earth can renew in a year. In just 7 months and 20 days, we have demanded a level of ecological resources and services — from food and raw materials to sequestering carbon dioxide from fossil fuel emissions — equivalent to what Earth can regenerate for all of 2013. Humanity has exhausted nature’s budget for the year.
For the rest of the year, we are operating in overshoot. We will maintain our ecological deficit by depleting stocks of fish, trees and other resources, and accumulating waste such as carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and oceans. As our level of consumption, or “spending,” grows, the interest we are paying on this mounting ecological debt — shrinking forests, biodiversity loss, fisheries collapse, food shortages, degraded land productivity and the build-up of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere and oceans — not only burdens the environment but also undermines our economies. Climate change — a result of greenhouse gases being emitted faster than they can be absorbed by forests and oceans — is the most widespread impact of ecological overspending.
In 1961, humanity used only about two-thirds of Earth’s available ecological resources. Back then, most countries had ecological reserves. Yet both global demand and population are increasing. In the early 1970s, increased carbon emissions and human demand for resources began outstripping what the planet could renewably produce. We went into ecological overshoot. Global Footprint Network’s 2012 National Footprint Accounts show humanity is now using ecological resources and services at a rate it would take just over 1.5 Earths to renew. We are on track to require the resources of two Earths well before mid-century.
Today, more than 80 percent of the world’s population lives in countries that use more than the ecosystems within their own borders can renew. These “ecological debtor” countries either deplete their own ecological resources or get them from elsewhere. Japan’s residents consume the ecological resources of 7.1 Japans. It would take four Italys to support Italy. Egypt uses the ecological resources of 2.4 Egypts.
Not all countries demand more than their ecosystems can provide, but even the reserves of such “ecological creditors” like Brazil, Indonesia, and Sweden are shrinking over time. We can no longer sustain a widening budget gap between what nature is able to provide and how much our infrastructure, economies and lifestyles require.
It is possible to turn the tide. Ecological debtors have an incentive to reduce their resource dependence, while creditors have the economic, political and strategic motive for preserving their ecological capital. Global Footprint Network and its network of partners are working with organizations, governments and financial institutions around the globe to make decisions aligned with ecological reality. Rather than liquidating resources, it is wiser to treat them as an ongoing source of wealth.
their website is: http://www.footprintnetwork.org
I have spent a bit of time just now checking it out and recommend you do so for yourself... I am not familiar enough with the organization to say I endorse it fully, but I do believe this particular message is a good one, that's for sure!
And might I add WILLOW has much to offer us in terms of turning the tide! It is an excellent plant to use for phyto-remediation (cleaning up of soils and water) not to mention all it's other amazing uses.
More on that next time, then!
be very well-
susie
Saturday, August 10, 2013
Exploring Outdoor Play - anyone interested?
PLC
North Branch Nature Center
713 Elm Street Montpelier, VT
Thursday, August 15, 2013
5:30-7:30
I have been asked to be a part of the panel for the first meeting of this Professional Learning Community (PLC). I will be doing a slide presentation on Willow Weaving & Living Willow Structures as a medium for play and education.
The presentation will be a short and sweet 6 minutes and 40 seconds, following the Pecha Kucha format I mentioned on this blog last month. Plus a time for questions for which I will hopefully have the answers!
If any of you are close by and interested in participating in the series contact Jen Brown 802-245-4900 or jen(at)fourwindsinstitute(dot)org.
Also, if you are interested in learning more about the amazing potential for Willow & Living Willow Structures in our lives, please contact me!
I would love to speak with you and would be delighted to give this same short presentation at your local garden club, nature center, conservation group, library, church, school, permaculture class, CSA farm, heritage center, art center... even just a group of your sustainably minded friends!
It's a gorgeous day in the valley, sun shining, cool breeze blowing.
This is summer at it's best!
love-
susie
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)