August « 2010 « Carbon Arts

Hothouse

HotHouse is a think-tank initiated by the National Institute of Experimental Arts (NIEA), UNSW, which aims to bring together creative thinkers in a quest to develop models for sustainable environmental change. It launched with a two-day symposium in association with Object: Australian Centre for Craft and Design and the City of Sydney, which took place at the Opera House from 27-28 July 2010. Twenty-five speakers across arts, design, architecture and sustainability, including Carbon Arts, presented to a packed audience. A stimulating two days about curating (caring for) public space, it will be interesting to see how HotHouse evolves. A blog has been created, so watch this space.

Seven Thousand Oaks

Seven Thousand Oaks is a Melbourne-based organisation aiming to become a repository of information of and for artists addressing the issue of sustainability in their work, as well as a place to celebrate artists work in this field and connect artists with sustainability professionals. 7KO also ran a festival in July 2010 in Melbourne, hosting over 20 artists exploring the issue of sustainability through music, visual art, performance and installation. This included a catalogue of essays and a field trip to plant trees.

Solar Equation

This stunning digital, sculptural work by artists Rafael Lozano-Hemmer was commissioned by Federation Square in Melbourne, Australia for the 2010 Light in Winter festival. Five projectors animated the world’s largest spherical balloon, depicting live mathematic equations representing real activity on the sun, using new advances in astronomy. As well as raising questions around global warming, the work created a poetic space, evoking mythologies of the sun prevalent in many cultures.

SOL.a – State of Design Festival

SOL.a is a kinetic sculpture, which was commissioned for Melbourne’s State of Design Festival 2010 and sat in Federation Square’s plaza. The sculpture is activated by the sun’s thermal energy and also generates renewable energy, communicating to the public the power of renewable resources. It is a collaboration between Singapore-based artist Grace Tan from Kwodrant, the OUTr Research Lab from RMIT University: Craig Douglas, Rosalea Monacella, Greg Afflick, Thomas Harper, Carlie Young, Kathryn English, Joseline Setiawan, and Armando Oliver, and Arup Engineers Melbourne.

Solar Ballerinas

Solar ballerinas – or audio tutus - is the work of Benoit Maubrey, who has developed a number of electro-acoustic scupltures. The tutus respond to the sun’s intensity by emitting sound that corresponds to the level of light. The tutus also pick up on local sounds and feed these back, generating sound loops. As the dancer moves the white noise and sampled sounds change, creating a performance that is fascinating and hard to ignore.

Chalk Urban Art Festival

In 2009, the Chalk Urban Art Festival in Sydney took the theme of climate change. Artists created works on the pavement in Chapel St, Paramatta, responding to the subject, engaging people on the streets in the discussion. A big success, the festival returns to this working class neighbourhood in 2010, with a different theme. This is an excellent example of how climate change can be inserted as a theme into an existing festival, and of an effective engagement model using street art.

UNEP Art for the Environment

The UNEP Art for the Environment initiative aims to generate environmental awareness using the universal language of art as a catalyst for individuals, communities and leaders to focus on environmental values. UNEP promotes the creation and installation of a growing number of exhibits around the world, in conjunction with major events such as World Environment Day (5 June) and the UNEP Champions of the Earth awards. A number of these exhibitions have been focussed on cimate change, including Tick-Tock, Tick-Tock (pictured) – an installation of artists Neil Bell & Ola Sivhed, consisting of a swinging pendulum of melting ice.

State of Design Festival – Change by Design

The 2010 State of Design Festival in Melbourne focussed on the role of Design to effect change. Many environmental themes were explored, including A Liveable Cities Exhibition, sponsored by Melbourne Water, which brought together leading Melbourne designers to present fascinating installations relating to current water use and suggestions for sustainable change. Pictured is one work, which encouraged people to take home a tube, each containing a prediction of the future, to consider. An interesting example of how a company can harness the arts to visualise and communicate environmental relationships to help meet its goals.

The Secret Life of Things

The Secret Life of Things was a series of animations, commissioned by EPA Victoria and company Eco Innovators, for the State of Design festival 2010 in Melbourne, communicating the life-cycle impacts of common products. Life-pscyclology – the secret life of the phone is one of them. Created by Layla Acaroglu, it depicts a phone going to therapy to try and discover why he’s been abadoned and how he can emark on a new life – based on the valuable materials contained within him. Very cute!

Carbon Arts