Poetic Science: Artistic-Scientific Approximations about El Yunque

From Fred Swanson...
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September 8th, 2016 until March 31st, 2017 

POETIC SCIENCE: artistic-scientific approximations about El Yunque, is an interdisciplinary project created by the Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Puerto Rico, in alliance with the USDA Forest Service - International Institute of Tropical Forestry. The project unites art and science for the purpose of celebrating Earth, the resources that Earth provides, and the resources protected under the Wilderness Act, enacted in 1964 in order to establish the National Wilderness Preservation System. The project commenced in March 2013, with an artistic residence in the El Yunque National Forest, organized together with the Aldo Leopold Wilderness Research Institute and the Colorado Art Ranch. Said residence was the first of a series of collaborations that took place in six different ecosystems in the United States throughout 2013.

The residence that took place in Puerto Rico resulted in an innovative project that creatively depicts the value and ecosystem of El Yunque National Forest and the collaboration that took place between the invited artists and scientists from the Forest Service. POETIC SCIENCE presents, for the first time, the artistic and scientific projects born from that collaboration. The exhibition title refers to the oeuvre of the scientist, philosopher and poet Aldo Leopold, considered in the United States to be the father of wildlife conservation. Leopold was the first to articulate, early in the 20th century, the concept of the “land ethic”, and who formulated a new way of thinking and acting towards the land that is still greatly relevant. To this artist/scientist, the true substance of conservation lies, not on physical projects sponsored by the government, but within the mental processes of the people.

For that reason, in addition to revising the relationship between art and science, one of the goals of this project is precisely creating awareness about the natural world and the importance of natural resources in our lives. Art and science are both the product of curiosity and awe; of the experimentation with different perspectives in order to create new forms of seeing and grasping the meaning of what surrounds us. We invite the public to initiate this personal process of exploration through the work of this group of artists and scientists that have proposed a new understanding of our Puerto Rican land.

More.

The Time of the Force Majeure...

The Time of the Force Majeure: After 45 Years, Counterforce is on the Horizon

This book offers a 21st-century manifesto from the pioneers of the eco-art movement. Since the 1970s Helen and Newton Harrison have been creating art inspired by the earth. They established a worldwide network among biologists, ecologists, architects, urban planners, politicians, and other artists to initiate collaborative dialogues about ideas and solutions which support biodiversity and community development. This definitive survey traces an influential joint career that has lasted nearly half a century. Organized chronologically, it features works from each decade, from their earliest installations to their continent-traversing work of the 1990s; and their most recent works both educating people about global warming and designing large scale responses to the phenomena itself.

Helen and Newton Harrison's work demonstrates the surprising power of art to change society and influence or even create environmental policy. The scope and impact of their work is astonishing and transcends typical art boundaries. For example:

• 1974- Crab Farm. First people in the world to discover how to get a mangrove crab to reproduce and survive in captivity. As a result first artists ever awarded a Sea Grant by Scripps institute. 
• 1981- Baltimore Promenade. Citywide redesign centered on rebuilding the decaying promenade system in downtown Baltimore creating the cultural corridor. $15 million dollar work was incorporated into the city plan. 
• 1989- Sava River. Long-term environmental recovery plan for Sava River, the largest tributary of the Danube. Adopted by Croation Water Department prior to breakup of Yugoslavia. Plan survived the Civil Wars and was expanded to neighboring Drava River system. Awarded Nagoya Biennale prize. 
• 1994-2001 Greenheart Vision. Worked with a team of planners in Holland to save the 800 sq km “Greenheart” of Holland from a $220B destructive development plan. Transformed regional development. Awarded Groenveld prize. 
• 2005-2007 Greenhouse Britain. 3-year collaboration with the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs to increase climate awareness in England. Large-scale community work successful at democratizing the planning process. Awarded CIWEM prize.

Ars Biotica

From Ariane Koek:

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Ars Biotica is a long term art and science collaboration between the Finnish society of Bioart, and Kilpisjarvi Biological Station which belongs of the Faculty of Biological and Environmental Sciences of the University of Helsinki. It has fostered interdisciplinary work since 2008, hosting arts and science activities as well as an artist in residency programme. The focus of the work is on Arctic nature, biology and ecology, with a special interested in the biology of war, snow and ice, environmental and climate change, and the relations between nature and culture perceived
through the lens of art and science.

Since 2010, around 40 artists from Finland and abroad have participated in the Ars-Bioarctica artist residency programme.

They have also hosted a biennial art and science field lab called Field_Notes that took place in 2011 and 2013. These labs were about supporting artistic fieldwork as a catalyst for other environmental
investigations.

Currently the majority of collaborations between the artists and the scientists have been initiated by the artists.

http://bioartsociety.fi/ars-bioarctica
http://bioartsociety.fi/ars-bioarctica-residency
Blog... http://www.bioartsociety.fi/residency/

Balance-Unbalance, 2016

Balance-Unbalance (BunB) is an International Conference designed to use ART as a catalyst to explore intersections between NATURE, SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY and SOCIETY as we move into an era of both unprecedented ecological threats and transdisciplinary possibilities.

The theme for BunB 2016 was “Data Science + Eco Action”.

How can we extract knowledge from large volumes of environmental and related data? How that can be used in benefit of the human society? What should we change in our thinking and in our behaviour? Individual vs community vs global: What matters? Why big or complex data is so relevant to our daily life? How the capture, analysis, curation, sharing, storage… and control of large data could rapidly change our world? What positive sides does it have? What not so positive, and even risks does it have? What data science has to do with humanitarian organizations? And with electronic art?

We want to inspire explorations of how artists can participate in this major challenge of our ecological crisis. We need to use creative tools and transdisciplinary action to create perceptual, intellectual and pragmatic changes. We want to discuss our proposals for the future from a diversity of cultural perspectives and socio-economic situations with open minds.

If you want to know more about Balance-Unbalance and its associated projects, please download:

Breaking Paradigms: Electronic Arts & Humanitarian Actions 

Past BunB conferences:

• BunB 2015 – Arizona, United States
• BunB 2013 – Noosa, Australia
• BunB 2011 – Montreal, Canada
• BunB 2010 – Buenos Aires, Argentina

(Thanks to Ariane Koek for the reference)