ecoLOGIC opens in Los Angeles

ecoLOGIC was inspired by the College Art Association (CAA) conference, which took place in Los Angeles in 1999, where a group of dedicated artists joined together to present a comprehensive studio session entitled Off the Mainstream, Into The Mainstream. The session included three chairs and nine artists presenting the state of environmental art in the 1990s.

West coast curator Patricia Watts, who lived in Southern California for over twenty years and attended the CAA conference in 1999, has participated in and observed this evolution of artists addressing environmental issues in the greater Los Angeles area. EcoLOGIC was developed to coincide with the 2009 CAA conference, once again in Los Angeles, to provide a survey of Southern California artists, architects and designers who pose aesthetic inquiries that express a unique logic, ecological reasoning or discourse including Calvin Abe, Kim Abeles, Samantha Fields, Sant Khalsa, Manfred Menz, Kathryn Miller, Lothar Schmitz, Glen Small, and Joel Tauber.

Cypress College Art Gallery
January 28 – February 28th, 2009
Opening reception January 28th 7-9pm

For more information go to http://ecologicla.blogspot.com

Solar One at Habitat for Artists exhibition

On Sunday January 23rd Solar One presented material on their projects and green education series at Van Brunt Gallery in Beacon as part of the current exhibition, Simon Draper and Habitat for Artists Goes Indoors. Amy Lipton introduced the event by explaining ecoartspace's history of collaborative relationships with environmental organizations. Ecoartspace has been working towards building a bridge between the art and environmental worlds for the past 10 years. Solar One co-promoted the recent Harrison's talk at Feldman Gallery in NYC (see blog posting below) and will be working with Simon Draper and Habitat for Artists during their 2009 City Sol Summer Expo. Solar One Educator Christopher Kennedy spoke about their programs with over 10,000 students at 42 schools, camps and after school programs in NYC. He passed around a book he designed, titled The Green Innovator, Design for Sustainability, a resource guide for students with strategies for thinking critically about innovative solutions to environmental challenges. The book introduces students to the concept of systems thinking: considering the relationships and connections between what we design and use everyday and the impact this has on the earth. Outreach Coordinator Christopher Neidl then gave an engaging and informative talk including a power point presentation on the history of energy use in New York leading to the development of solar panels for private, public and corporate use. His talk provided an evaluation of solar panels for environmental benefit, economic use as well as for long term sustainability. It became evident during his talk that solar photo-voltaic use, will become the number one alternative energy source for cities and home owners as we begin to move away from a fossil fuel economy. He also pointed out the connection between our transportation system and the existing energy grid as cars become electrically run and will need to "power up" via the grid - making the need for a solar based grid and industry all the more necessary in the not too distant future. Formed in 2004, Solar One is the city's first solar powered Green Energy, Arts and Education Center, their mission is to inspire New Yorkers to become environmentally responsible city dwellers. They are located in Stuyvesant Cove Park on the East River and 23rd Street situated above a former brownfield site. In 2009 they will break ground on Solar 2, an 8000 square foot 100% green powered education and arts center designed by the architecture firm Kiss & Cathcart. Stay tuned for another Solar One/ecoartspace event to take place in NYC soon.

Artists Newton and Helen Mayer Harrison give a talk in NYC

On Tuesday January 13th,
ecoartspace NYC curator
Amy Lipton hosted an Artist's Talk with Newton and Helen Mayer Harrison. The artists led a gallery tour with over 100 in attendance through their new exhibition Global Warming at the Ronald Feldman Gallery. The Harrisons have been working together as a team since the early 1970's and are two of the most influential living artists working today on ecological issues. They are considered to be pioneers in this field along with artists Robert Smithson, Han Haacke and Alan Sonfist and have been exhibiting artists at Feldman Gallery since 1974. Their practice is one of scientific inquiry, dialogic process, community engagement and collaboration. They work with biologists, ecologists, architects, urban planners and other artists to uncover ideas and solutions, which support biodiversity and community development. Working well ahead of the curve, their work must now also be considered within the context of relational aesthetics, though their revolutionary concepts proceeded the coining of this term by over two decades.

The walk-through of the Global Warming exhibition focused primarily on the Harrison's new multi-media installation Greenhouse Britain, which toured the UK in 2007/8. The work consists of video, large panels comprised of text, mapping, photography and architectural models. It proposes an alternative narrative about how people might withdraw as waters rise due to sea level change, what new forms of settlement might look like, and what content or properties a new landscape might have in response to the global warming phenomenon. It also demonstrates how a city might be defended. Greenhouse Britain includes 5 components, the first being, On the Island of Britain: The Rising of Waters. This large-scale model of the Island of Britain, rests on the floor, with six overhead projectors showing animated video of the rising waters, storm surges, and the redrawn coastline. A soundtrack of three voices accompanies the piece.

The next component includes 3 panels of maps and text and is titled, On the Upward Movement of People: A New Pennine Village. This work proposes a 9,000-person village where the land around it is eco-systemically redesigned to absorb the local carbon footprint of the village through the use of forest and meadow.

Part 3: In Defense of the city of Bristol is a three-minute video that proposes a defense and salvation from flooding for the city of Bristol. Part 4 consists of 3 large-scale maps and text panel, The Lea Valley: On the Upward Movement of Planning (in collaboration with APG architects) which takes issue with the existing development of the Thames estuary. The model shows this area covered by water, and proposes redesigning the l,000-square mile Lea Valley watershed, while at the same time suggesting how approximately one million people might be housed in ecologically provident high-rise structures with solar power, stilts, and hanging gardens, while also enhancing the water supplies of London.

The last component of the group is a large architectural model titled On Eco-civility: The Vertical Promenade (in collaboration with ATOPIA architects). Wherein the civil, social, and economic virtues embedded in a small town main street become the basis of design for a 150-story, 10,000-person, vertically-designed town, based on the concept of settlement, where eco-systemic thinking drives design as opposed to typical development models. Architects Jane Harrison and David Turnbull, from ATOPIA spoke at length about this model, their concepts and their collaborative process with the Harrisons during the creation of the work.

The Harrisons then moved into the smaller gallery of the two to discuss other works, dating as early as 1974; San Diego is the Center of the World demonstrating the long history of their engagement with the topic of global warming. A new work from 2009, Tibet is the High Ground, Part II: The Force Majeur is a 7 x 7 ft. map of the Tibetan plateau showing the seven rivers flowing from that plateau that nourish 1.2 bilion people in ten countries who are endangered by the rapid melting of glaciers in the plateau.

A brief question and answer session concluded the tour with comments by artists Aviva Rahmani, Betsy Damon, Joan Bankemper, Jackie Brookner and others. The event illuminated the Harrison's artistic process and history and exemplified the ways in which their art embraces a breathtaking range of disciplines. They are historians, diplomats, ecologists, investigators, emissaries and art activists. Their work involves proposing solutions and involves not only public discussion, but extensive mapping and documentation of these proposals in an art context. The talk was documented on video and will become available for viewing, please contact amy@ecoartspace.org for information.

Greenhouse Britain (greenhousebritain.greenmuseum.org/) was produced as an artist-led project by Helen Mayer Harrison and Newton Harrison and principles of the Harrison Studio and Associates (Britain) in collaboration with Tyndall Climate Center, Great Britain, designed by Westergaard & Harrison, and funded by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. Exhibited at the Rotunda at London City Hall, Greenhouse Britain toured across England in 2007-08).

Photos top to bottom: Newton and Helen Mayer Harrison with Amy Lipton at Feldman Gallery, "Tibet is the High Ground, Part II: The Force Majeur" 2009, "The Lea Valley:On the Upward Movement of Planning" 2008

Happy New Year 2009

Report from 48c Festival in Delhi, India

This was my first trip to India and I was filled with hesitation for various reasons. East Coast curator for ecoartspace, Amy Lipton, was originally invited to speak and decided last minute to pass due to scheduling conflicts, so I was to go alone. Most of all, it was a long way for me to travel (from San Francisco) to stay only for 5 nights. Plus, we were scheduled to stay in a nice hotel and after the Mumbai attacks, it felt a bit conspicuous. Despite all my reservations, I boarded Virgin Atlantic on 12/9 to London, where I was able to spend the day, and have lunch at the RSA Café with former Dartington Art and Ecology Professor, Alan Boldon; then a short walk over to the Tate Modern to see the Cildo Meireles exhibition, a series of full room installations, lush and immersive. Meireles is a Brazilian conceptual artist who was inspired by the Neo-concretism of the late 1950s.

After leaving London late that night, I arrived in Delhi the next day, Thursday 12/11, in the early afternoon. We were greeted with a dense fog that is typical in the month of December. At first I thought it was all pollution and then the pilot described it as fog. However, I later learned that it is associated with the winter monsoon (November – March/April), where there is no rain to wash pollutants from the air, and is referred to as the “Asian Brown Cloud“. This condition occurs when humidity forms haze, which carries airborne particles and pollutants from combustion (e.g. woodfires, cars, and factories). The cloud is said to cover India, Pakistan, and parts of South Asia, Southwest Asia, and China.

Driving from the airport to the hotel reminded me of time spent in Mexico City. Streets filled with people walking on dirt roads with baskets of goods. Except in India, many people wear turbans; some black, some white, some orange. Children run up to taxi’s begging for money to buy food (motioning with their hands cupped as if they were eating), many have limbs missing. When we arrived at The Park hotel, security was high with car inspections and metal detectors at the entrance. Men patted down by men and womens handbags were searched. After a long rest, I was up late for dinner and could not go back to sleep. I took this opportunity to work on my presentation. I was requested to give a talk providing multiple examples, a chronology of art and ecology from a Western perspective. The title of my symposium session was “Art in Public” and I decided to emphasize examples that had a performative aspect, which included works by Alan Sonfist, Mierle Ukeles, Christy Rupp, Agnes Denes, Buster Simpson, Dominque Mazeaud, Mel Chin, Kathryn Miller, Shai Zakai and Eve Mosher.

On Friday, all the symposium speakers met at The Park hotel (48c symposium venue) for lunch to familiarize themselves with each other and the presentation format for Saturday/Sunday. After lunch we were all invited to the opening ceremony at Max Mueller Bhavan/Goethe-Institut, where the kick off of the 48c Festival took place. Fellow Americans, including Mary Miss and American/Canadian artist Chrysanne Stathacos, were in attendance; as well as Ichi Ikeda (Japan), among many other talented international artists. Stefan Dreyer, Regional Director for South Asia with the Goethe-Institut, gave thanks to the organizers including festival curator/producer Pooja Sood, a Delhi independent curator and director of an alternative/residency space KHOJ, who was responsible for pulling together this international pool of artists for 48c, to create site-specific works along the Delhi Metro line, the first of its kind in Delhi.

Following the welcome and acknowledgements, participants were invited to head out with maps to visit any of the 31 project sites (25 artists) in New and Old Delhi. A group of us headed out together (Michaela Crimmin – RSA London, Clare Cumberlidge – General Public Agency London, Heinz Schuetz – curator and art historian Germany, and myself) by taxi to the closest Metro station at Cannaught Place. We went underground heading North about 15 minutes to Kashmere Gate Station to see four installations. It was dark and we relied on artists Sabine Haubitz and Stefanie Zoche, who had been navigating the city for the previous two weeks while creating their installations, to lead us to their site.

We were greeted with a very large stainless steel sculpture of a water pail on a pedestal created by one of India’s most prolific artists, Subodh Gupta, who lives and works in New Delhi. With this work, Gupta provides an icon for residents to consider their illusion of an endless supply of water. Adjacent to this work was a large tower made of bamboo symbolizing a media communications transmission station with a single projection of multiple still images onto a circular platform below, a metaphorical pond of water. This work entitled "The Yamuna Blues," by Sabine Haubitz and Stefanie Zoche, presented images of water use by humans along the Yamuna River. Their hope is to point out, make evident to residents, that deeply embedded Indian rituals performed along the waterways, have a direct impact on water quality (among other destructive activities which are compounded by monsoon flooding).

To the North of Kasmere Gate, Delhi based artist Atul Bahalla, who studied in the USA and was featured at the Frieze Art Fair in 2007, created a video projection sculpture entitled “Chabeel.” This work presented a very large, oversized white tiled replica of a white plastic water container, the kind carried by pilgrims to transport water from the Ganga River to hand out drinking water to passersby. This is something the artist remembered from his childhood. Inside the bottle sculpture is a " water station" where he requires participants to fill out a questionnaire: How long have you been in Delhi? When was the last time you saw the Yamuna? When was the last time you touched the Yamuna? The water bottle sculpture operates as a chabeel- a tradition in the Punjab practiced by Hindus and Sikhs that involves the distribution of water or, more often, a kind of lassi to the public for religious festivals. Stickers in Hindu and English were distributed that state "Have you ever seen the Yamuna? Have you ever touched the Yamuna?”

Adjacent to Bahalla’s work was Chrysanne Stathacos installation entitled “The Wish Machine.” Originally commissioned as an interactive public artwork for Grand Central Station in 1997-98 by Creative Time, a refabricated vending machine dispenses wishes to the public, wrapped in the image of a wishing tree from India (Banyan or Bodhi Tree). There was also a second machine at Cannaught Place.

With only a short time before we had to return to the Max Mueller Bhavan for dinner, we met up with Indian American artist Nitin Mukul, who then guided us to the next metro stop at Chandni Chowk Station (and Old Delhi Railway Station). Walking through highly populated narrow alley ways, we found Ichi Ikeda’s installation entitled “Waterpolis: Missing or Promising?” Ikeda from Japan has addressed water issues for many years. The site for his 48c installation was in the garden of the Town Hall in Old Delhi, where the last remaining Mughal water channel is located. The channel, currently sits with no water in it. Ikeda proposes in this work that all residents of Delhi should have access to water, and that this channel, which he has transformed into a sculptural vessel, is “rowing in the stream flowing between Metropolitan Mega Dream and Community Aspiration."

As we made our way back to Chandni Chowk Station, it was noted that the graphics and signage were highly visible, with bamboo stations sitting near each site and arrows on the floors of the metro leading you out to see the public art works. Also of note, while riding the metro, which is new and very smooth, the demographics at night are probably 90% male. This presented a delay for our male symposium speakers and artists who had to negotiate a very long line, probably 50 or more men at a time, to get through security to ride the trains.


Saturday, December 12th, the first day of the two-day symposium

In the morning session, entitled “City Space and the Everyday,” Clare Cumberlidge of General Public Agency in London, gave the keynote talk on developing a public art plan. She gave examples of projects outside London (Thurrock) and in South Africa (Ivory Park, ecocity) and emphasized her work in creating multiple layers of data/portrait maps when doing research to develop a Master Plan. Her respondent, Dunu Roy, a social scientist and political ecologist from Delhi, talked about how Delhi strives to be a world class city and that there are 14,500 parks in Delhi, which equals 1 park per 1,000 people! Roy also talked about how the waste program is illegal because an official program would legitimize waste renewal. He discussed how slum projects develop and how they are removed to prevent them from becoming legal space. And, he proposed the phrase “Every Day, No Where People” describing those who navigate this illegal system.

Provocateurs, AGK Menon, an urban planner, and Bart Vandeput of FoAM in Brussels, presented additional ideas. Menon proposed the question, “How do you plan for all people in such a diverse environment, rich/poor, multiple religions, male and female?” This was something I considered before going to Delhi and then experienced while I was there. We take the public space for granted in America. Depending on what time of day it is and in what location, women and men have specific places that they are allowed or not allowed, and different religions as well. There are many boundaries of social space, on many levels. It will be interesting to see how this festival is perceived by the populous of Delhi in this regard. Vandeput talked about how the economy is part of the environment and not the other way around. He also presented how technology can be utilized to promote peace and gave the example of solar powered water pumps distributed in isolated areas. Overall, this session captured the struggle to meet all the needs of economy, scale and community, when designing a sustainable city.

In the afternoon, I gave the keynote for the “Art in Public” session. The session Chair was Geeta Kapur, Art Critic and Art Historian in Delhi. The respondent, Nancy Adjania, Curator and Art Historian from Mumbai. And following, four provocateurs including: Heinz Schuetz, curator and historian from Germany; Mumbai artist Navjot Altaf, who was in the American exhibition Groundworks in 2005, and Michaela Crimmin from the RSA in London with the Art and Ecology Centre, as well as Delhi 48c artist Ravi Agarwal. The format was a little confusing to me, as no one really responded to each other's talks, which made it hard to connect the dots (this was due to not enough pre symposium dialogue I suppose). Because the chair requested that I present multiple examples of ecoart from a western perspective, my lecture was primarily a historical voyage through the earth art, land art and early ecoventions through to the late 1990s. Since I was also encouraged by the chair to make a strong argument while offering these examples, I came to a solid conclusion that historically, most of the well-known or successful projects, had been self-initiated and privately funded, and that having a public agencies support, was not really needed. SILENCE.

Believe me, I do not think that public art agencies should not support this work. It is that there are boundaries that public agencies may or may not be able to permeate with regard to liability, risks that deeper pockets than an individual artist are willing to take, especially historically. I also made the case for actions over objects with the immediacy of environmental concerns. I gave the examples of Eve Mosher’s HighWaterLine and Preemptive Media’s AIR project, both which display how artists are employing scientific knowledge and technology to empower individuals rather than externalize fears in the form of object making. I was told to make emphatic arguments . . . . it is Indian I am told! (And, I'm also very interested in working on infrastructure projects with engineers, planners, and architects).

The following responses ensued, although not in response to the arguments I made: Nancy Adjania proposed a study of the political implications of public art in India and questioned if there is really such a thing as public art or simply artists who create work in the public sphere? She also stated that she felt there was no “unmarked” space in India and that the blurring of boundaries of the white cube and the environment was moot. She feels that working outdoors is not always radical and proposed ephemera as tools for dialogue. In India, she feels that public space is a place for opposing views, but not simply to acknowledge differences, more of a place to “heal.” She proposed a performative citizenship (which is where my talk also led), in a hybrid space of public domain versus public sphere. Feel free to comment on this Nancy, did I interpret you correctly?

Heinz Schuetz, who curated a Performing the City: Actionist Art in the Urban Space 1960s/1970s, talked about how the term public art developed and how artists became more conscious of their movement as art, as an evolution of the ego. A process of discovery, if you will. He noted three elements of public space. One, is the site itself. Two, is the context of the site. And, three, is the social/political forces at the site. Schuetz brought up that ecology is an exchange system between man and nature, and that there is not a nature versus ecology debate. Humans are a part of nature. And, he completed his talk with the idea that it is NOT necessary to use the word ART for this type of work in the public sphere and that we need to invent a new word!

Navjot Altaf advocated for more long-term projects where community dialogue can have a lasting affect, rather than short-term projects. She advocated for active listening when working with communities and felt that building relationships is a part of the art. Ravi Agarwal brought up the crossover of arts and activism and felt sometimes it is difficult to distinguish the two. He also talked about institutions mediating artists’ installations and that this is problematic. Michaela Crimmin presented projects that the RSA supports, like inviting Danish artist Tue Greenfort to address waste disposal for the Frieze Art Fair in 2008. Crimmin has been collaborating with KHOJ in Delhi since 2007, to develop residencies and workshops in India with artists from the UK (including Kayle Brandon and Heath Bunting).

After a full day of sessions, Ravi Agarwal invited our panel to see his 48c installations, so we headed out in a taxi to take in as many site works as we could before having dinner at the Norwegian Embassy, the sponsor for the symposium.

Directly across from our hotel, The Park, was a designated protest area where Delhi artist, Amar Kanwar created a text/film installation. It was executed beautifully with painted signage panels and billboard lighting, and a video monitor playing a complex narrative film in Hindi at the end of a long fence. Here people could officially gather to interact about Indian Parliament, in anticipation of the winter session that would take place at the end of 2008. Kanwar received an honorary doctorate in Fine Arts from the Maine College of Art (USA).


Next we ventured to the Mandi House Metro Station to see Ravi Agarwal’s multiple site works addressing the endangered white-backed vulture, indigenous to India. The work entitled “Extinct?” consisted of stretched architectural screens with video projections of vultures located in the center of a medium-sized roundabout/park. There were also photo-based billboards stills on the exterior of the roundabout, and sites inside the adjacent National Museum of Natural History. With this work, Agarwal, attempts to revive the memory of the vulture in the city, where its presence some 15 years ago was normal. They are now 97% extinct. Vulture Walks were planned as events with the public and scientists to promote conservation (most likely rodenticide education).

We piled back in the taxi and headed to Barakhamba Road, at Barakhamba Metro Station, where we encountered two works addressing the expansion of the road into a wide boulevard, and the transition in this area from residential housing to high-rise development. "Crane + Tree" by Bangalore-based Kaishnaraj Chonat, is a very dramatic, Smithsonesque, dead, hanging tree, above an abandoned residence in a commercial area. For this installation, he uses nature as a metaphor to symbolize the conflict between urban and semi-urban and rural sectors who struggle for space as the city expands. It felt violent and the tree violated. I wonder how the public will respond to this work; if such a dramatic spectacle will help the situation?

Immediately off the Road in front of the Crane + Tree installation was a two-channel video projection entitled "BARAKHAMBA" by Navjot Altaf. The footage is previously captured interviews with local community members soliciting responses to the changing landscape of Barakhamba Road, on a continuous loop. This work was very popular with passersby as a big screen video projection is hardly common. There was also a live feed on a separate screen of the audience watching the taped interviews, where viewers become a part of the art.

Sunday, December 13th, the second day of the two-day symposium

The first session of the second day focused on Sustainability and how Delhi should strive to be more “green.” The keynote speaker was Chi Tinan of Chi Ti-nan Architects. Chi is Taiwanese, although currently resides in Norway, where he is getting his PhD in architecture. He presented on micro urbanism, a combination of fengshui and social activism, in developing a holistic landscape. Provocature Frederica Miller with Gaia Architects, also in Norway, talked about how “conscious construction” can help prevent climate change. And, Provocature American artist Mary Miss, discussed a wide range of opportunities for artist participation on design teams in developing master plans, as well as the draw backs, which she knows all too well.

NOTE: I have to admit that on this day, I was fighting jet lag really badly and did not take notes. I cannot remember the outcome of this or the following panel. In fact, I left early this day and went straight to bed for a nap . . . . (sorry).

On Sunday evening we were invited to Dr. Stefan Dreyer’s home for dinner (typically served around 9-10pm). So, we headed out to view one more site work because many participants were scheduled to leave the next day. We walked from the hotel over to Palika Bazaar in Connaught Place, where Copenhagen-based LEARNING SITE, Rikke Luther and Cecilia Wendt (co-founders of N55 and creators of the N55 Manual – one of my all time favorites), created a paper mache replica of a concrete dome (the original adjacent in the park) with hand painted images and text, somewhat glyph like, entitled "Poster Dwelling for Land, Market and Economy.” This highly didactic work (in mostly English), although made from recycled paper, links the park setting (nature) with the local market (economy) and historical origins (land-use). More comments to come here, check back.


My last day in Delhi, Monday 12/15, I hired a car for the entire day. I had scheduled a video interview with Mary Miss in the morning at her site in Roshanara’s Garden. Entitled “Roshanara’s Net,” this work is located several blocks North of the Pulbangash Metro Station, an area where there was a real sense of community around the garden, outside of the city center. Miss decided to integrate both patterns from textiles and ancient information about ayurvedic plants in the form of a landscape bathed in colors and plant life, as a reminder to those who have lost access to this information. Each generation loses this connection with nature living an industrialized life style in Delhi.

Two other works in Roshanara’s Garden were "Floatage” by Vivan Sundaram of Delhi, with a sea of pink bottle tops in the shape of a swimming pool (the same Himalayan water I would drink each day bought at The Park hotel). And, the other, a brilliant work by Mumbai-based Ashok Sukumaran (MFA - Architecture degree from UCLA) in collaboration with Shaina Anand, a filmmaker, who together founded the collaborative CAMP. Entitled "Motornama Roshanara" the artists created a bicycle rigshaw tour of the immediate neighborhood, which is known as the motor industry of North Delhi. Although I was not able to take the tour myself, this is the type of work that inspires me. I think it is important for the locals to take this tour and see their own community with new eyes.













I left Roshanara’s Garden at 1pm and heading south to see Humayun's Tomb and go to Dilli Haat outdoor craft bazaar to buy scarves and bedcovers as gifts. Then, colapsed in my bed for the night. Tuesday morning before I headed to the airport, I made one last jaunt to see the Gurdwara Bangla Sahib, the most prominent Sikh gurdwara in Delhi (within walking distance of The Park hotel). You must cover your head and remove your shoes . . . and you get to eat something warm and yummy when you leave the temple.

Overall, it was a good trip. I’m just sorry it had to be so short and that I did not have the time to go see the countryside, to visit the farms, or see the Taj Mahal in Agra. I would really like to thank Nita Soans for all the time she spent making travel arrangements and for working to keep the symposium participants happy! And, Geeta for making sure that the audience would benefit from the presentations. Special thanks to Nancy Adjania, who responded to my keynote with an enlightening talk sharing her keen understanding of the Indian public sphere. And, Pooja Sood, a big congratulations. You should feel good about this festival, being the first of its kind, it was very impressive. I hope to see you all again soon! Tricia

Helen and Newton Harrison to speak in NYC

Ecoartspace NYC, Solar One and Ronald Feldman Gallery are pleased to present an Artist's Talk with collaborative team and Eco Art pioneers Newton and Helen Mayer Harrison. The Harrisons are two of the most influential living artists working today on ecological issues and they will speak in New York City at the Ronald Feldman Gallery on Tuesday, January 13th at 6pm in conjunction with their new exhibition which opens on January 10th 2009. The Harrisons have worked together for almost 40 years with biologists, ecologists, architects, urban planners and other artists to initiate collaborative dialogues to uncover ideas and solutions which support biodiversity and community development.

The Harrison's concept of art embraces a breathtaking range of disciplines. They are historians, diplomats, ecologists, investigators, emissaries and art activists. Their work involves proposing solutions and involves not only public discussion, but extensive mapping and documentation of these proposals in an art context.

The exhibition at Feldman Gallery is titled Global Warming, The Rising of Waters, The Warming of Lands, The Upward Movement of Peoples and will include the Harrison’s recent project Greenhouse Britain, which toured the UK in 2007. The installation addresses Global Warming from an artist's perspective. The work proposes an alternative narrative about how people might withdraw as waters rise, what new forms of settlement might look life, and what content or properties a new landscape might have in response to the Global Warming phenomenon. It also demonstrates how a city might be defended.
Other works in the exhibition look at Global Warming from the perspective of Europe: The High Ground, The Tibetan Plateau and The Sacramento/San Joaquin Drain Basin.

Greenhouse Britain was exhibited in 5 venues, the final one in London City Hall and was created in collaboration with UK artist David Haley. The exhibition was produced by Chris Fremantle with architect Gabriel Harrison, and scientist Dr. Robert Nicholls.

Helen Mayer Harrison and Newton Harrison, who have collaborated since 1971, are Professors Emeritus at the University of California San Diego and have exhibited at the Feldman Gallery since 1974. Their work will be included in Art and Architecture for a Changing Planet 1969-2009 at the Barbican Art Gallery in London in 2009. www.theharrisonstudio.net