- Posts tagged Arty
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BBC series on maps
I'm really loving the BBC series on maps... (http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00s5m7w_ ) I've always been overly-interested in maps, poring over medieval maps which document the Christian known world and the strange, beast-ridden lands further afield, to Google Earth which in one click allows me to see my front door, or search the jungle ruins of Angkor Wat just before I visit them, from my iphone! Maps have helped us make sense of the world, and communicate the world view of the humans who made them; they've been tools for propaganda, showing the way to Heaven, exerting control; navigation, understanding how to deal with poverty, disease, populations... and so fascinating to see what the maps of different societies, over thousands of years, reveal about the political and cultural forces that created them.
Here are some important maps everyone should know about.
Here's Tupaia's navigation map from the British Library. He's always been thought of as a mere interpreter on Captain Cook's expedition, but in fact his role was crucial and they would have probably been killed and eaten without him - Polynesians saw him as the expedition leader.
Addressing climate change though art
I like this organisation. George Monbiot, Mark Lynas, Herbert Giradet are all on the board. They give funding to organisations applying with specific projects addressing climate change. Eg, Trees For Life. http://www.treesforlife.org.uk/groves/ape.html
Here's their website and vision:
http://www.apeuk.org/who-are-we
Through music and the arts, APE aims to achieve permanent reductions in greenhouse gas emissions to levels that minimise further degradation of ecological systems and human livelihood.
APE recruits internationally known musicians and artists through albums, concerts, art exhibitions and art related projects to raise awareness of climate change and funds for campaigns and disaster relief.
Our Mission
We identify both the opportunities that enable people, especially in the world's richest countries, to reduce their emissions and the obstacles that hold people back. We devise innovative and effective ways of communication that encourage people to share this experience. We recognise that individuals cannot make the required changes on their own. We aim to create a powerful and vocal community of people working together to move technology, government and business forward to reduce emissions and make real and lasting changes to the way we live. All our projects will demonstrate that our vision of stabilizing greenhouse gas emissions is practically attainable. APE believes that the many of the solutions are within reach, if only we have the will.Fun with my stamp collection
I've never purposefully collected stamps but somehow I seem to have ended up with a collection of thousands. There's no way I'm going to sort through them, though they all seem fascinating, from hundreds of different countries, some very old. Who knows what their value is. Collections are worth much more when they're displayed properly. So, I sorted them into colours and I have started to make my own displays, see below. But it's not just the aesthetics that please me, it's what they represent...
Global Saliva
Hundreds of tiny pieces of paper and ink passing through thousands of hands into mine..Doesn't it make you think? How many people? How many lives? Each stamp has journeyed through time and space to be here now...How far, where from, how old? Where were you made? By whom? The stories we'll never know - the contents of a letter long ago - lost now. A collection of ghost fingerprints and global saliva... I am their keeper. From Russia, Vietnam, the Congo, you name it. From professors, and perhaps lovers daughters and friends and colleagues. Collected for me by my family, also long gone. Mama, and Zizzie, and Ronnie Grandpa, me here now. Digging them out of an attic to jumble and reassemble and examine and stare and appreciate and feel ...and touch the people, once important. Found, lost, found, lost, remembered, forgotten
This is me. This is humanity, actually.
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videos to Explore
http://www.explore.org/videos/library/
explore is a multimedia organization that documents leaders around the world who have devoted their lives to extraordinary causes. Both educational and inspirational, explore creates a portal into the soul of humanity by championing the selfless acts of others.
explore’s growing library consists of more than 250 original films and 30,000 photographs from around the world. We showcase our work at film festivals, on over 100 public broadcast and cable channels, and on numerous online destinations including explore.org, Snag Films, Hulu and TakePart.
“At explore we are archivists,” explains founder Charles Annenberg Weingarten. “We strive to create films that allow the viewer to join us on our journey as we go on location and experience what unfolds. It’s like the viewers are traveling with the team.”
explore features a wide range of topics—from animal rights, health and human services, and poverty to the environment, education, and spirituality. Delivered in short, digestible bites, explore films appeal to viewers of all ages, from children learning about other cultures for the first time to adults looking for a fresh perspective on the world around them.
explore films include: a woman in Mumbai who has dedicated her life to rescuing young women from prostitution, a priest in Los Angeles who helps gang members reintegrate into society, a project to protect wild mountain gorillas in Rwanda, and an environmental university in Costa Rica that focuses on sustainable development.
Individuals and organizations featured in many explore films also receive explore funding in the form of Annenberg Foundation grants. To date, over $15 million has been awarded to more than 100 non-profit organizations worldwide.
explore.org, the online portal for explore, is a community destination where people share thoughts, engage in dialogue, view and email films and photographs, and embed their favorites on blogs and social networking sites.
Children of Laos
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Artists, Art and Climate Change
In the last few months I've been thinking about studying and documenting the way artists are now engaging with climate change, and the organisations, exhibitions and websites springing up around this. For example, I've just been asked to come to a meeting of Meld (http://www.meld.cc/#/why/) , a group of artists and filmmakers who've started a "collaborative catalyst" for social change...
(to tell you the truth, I have something else to say about the THOUSANDS of collaborative catalysts for social change that exist now, but not here!)
Art engaging with climate change interests me because like other flurries of interest, no-one seemed to be doing it and now everyone is, it seems - the wave of consciousness again. Having said that, I was surprised at the Venice Biennale 2009 how few artists were actually engaging with the topic of climate change. Envrionmentalist artists particularly appeal to me. Artists have a new take on it all, and it's refreshing. It's not preachy, as you might have thought, and some of it is very entertaining..
So I've been to visit the Royal Academy's exhibition -
Earth: Art of a changing world
3 December 2009 - 31 January 2010
The Royal Academy of Arts presents GSK Contemporary 2009, the second annual contemporary art season at 6 Burlington Gardens. Opening this December, Earth: Art of a changing world will present new and recent work from more than 30 leading international contemporary artists, including commissions and new works from the best emerging talent. Some of my faves: I'm going to have to put these in later.. After this, Cape Farewell's expeditions to the Arctic are well worth a look too. http://www.rethinkclimate.org/exhibition http://www.artsandecology.org.uk/your-space/directory http://www.ecoartsonline.org/about_ecoarts.phpFavourite Photographers: Yann Arthus-Bertrand
Everyone likes this one. He's been documenting our planet and people for years and his photos are life-affirming, shocking, breath-taking.He also founded a not-for-profit organisation devoted to sustainability.
http://www.goodplanet.org/en/
www.yannarthusbertrand.org
Lofty Visions
I thought, maybe I could have a lovely light and airy loft one day, with painted white floorboards and lots of old furniture - it could be my art studio / office.
My stained glass window
I found some an old front door glass panel with painted victorian glass in it in a junk shop, so gave it to the local stained glass man in my street, and we designed it into a couple of window panels for my front door. Tried to keep it traditional, and I wanted lots of red. It was an interesting process to design, much harder than I expected.
OLD DOOR - yuk! NEW DOOR - phew!
- Posted from 0°0'N, 0°0'E


































