|
International Competition of Environmental Art 2006 Selected Artists: Abigail Doan - USA - Italy, Stephanie Douet UK, Barbara Roux - USA, Carlotta Brunetti Italy & Germany, Herman Prigann - Germany Carole Driver – Australia, Francois Davin- French- Australia, Dodd Holsapple - USA, Richard Thomas – Australia, Suikang Zhao – China- USA, Lane Last - USA , Andreas Templin - Germany , Malgorzata Szandala- Poland Zach Pine- USA Abigail Doan USA - Italy, Lives and works in: New York, NY and Siena, Italy
EDUCATION: 1. White Sands Seed Project (2004) temporary, site-specific installation in New Mexico(USA) medium: collaged boxes with Hopi gourd seeds, encaustic, lace dimensions: 120 x 8 x 3 inches ; print of installation: 14 x 20 inches
Artist Statement EDUCATION
1975 - 78 History of Art B.A. Hons University of East Anglia
'Golden tree': gold leaf, camellia tree.2004. Exhibited as part of 'The Garden of Earthly Delights', Brockwell Park, London. The idea behind this work was to make something beautiful and artificial out of something beautful and natural, a Midas tree that, in becoming valuable, was made fruitless and perished. Actually after the exhibition it was pruned and nursed back to health.
Barbara Roux - USA "Fire in the Tree", 2005
Barbara Roux - Statement As an artist dealing with issues of
ecology, I am a hybrid. My installation projects are influenced by my
conservation projects to protect habitats and record incidents in
natural history. My conservation efforts stem from my respect and
fascination for the natural world. Carlotta Brunetti Italy & Germany Artist Biography Born in Milan, Italy in 1949
1969 - 1970 Studies art
history in Florence and Munich, Germany
S t a t e m e n t My wish as artist has for several years been to link my outdoor works with my interior installations. Pieces have come about that reflect man as a part of nature. Humans are not directly visible in my works, but appear in relics such as trash, footprints, etc., or in cultural associations. In the countryside I create my own spaces and take up the cultural givens of the respective region.
Carole Driver – Australia EDUCATION
1996-97 Academy of the Arts, Queensland
University of Technology
Necklace of Infinite Possibility – Computer aided video, 4 mins Necklace of Infinite Possibility can be seen as an exploration of a particular state of consciousness, the ’Eco-Noetic Self’ or the nature mystic experience. An experience of being the same consciousness as the plants and trees, seas and stars, of experiencing the consciousness of plant or tree or forest, whilst retaining the consciousness of the experiencing human being. As Ken Wilbur says ’in the nature-mystic experience, you are not a strand in the web. You are the entire web. You are doing something no strand ever does – you are escaping your ‘strandness’, transcending it , and becoming one with the whole display. This state is not a retro-romantic state, which is one of thinking that nature is spirit, but a recognition that consciousness is in everything, and that nature is a manifestation of that consciousness. The One in the Many and the Many in the One.
Francois Davin- French- Australia
Why site-specific art ? by françois davin I am a French artist creating exclusively FOR specific places, primarily in nature. Depending on the place and circumstances, I use different materials and techniques. Since 1991, I have not been making any transportable/commercially marketable objects. I started this approach at the beginning of the 1980s, immediately removing myself from the then very dominant land art, giving all my attention to the memory of places, principally to the traces of local mythology. In 1984, on a Mediterranean beach, I "rediscovered" one of Icarus wings by adjusting together pieces of driftwood in a long airy structure. In 1986, in the mountains of Greece, I "rediscovered" the Rock to which Prometheus had been bound. These two works are exemplary of what I refer to as my Mythical Archaeology, which I still sometimes use. I enjoy the excitement provoked by actually seeing and touching something that belongs to our most profound cultural archetypes, those beliefs which sometimes seem more real to us than "real" historic events. And it was with surprise that I watched the public reacting passionately to these experiences. Some of these were not even photographed, and none of them were maintained. The reason for this was the recognition that the essential part of art is in the act of art, the sacred endeavor, not in the piece of art. In 1990, after the forest fire that destroyed one-third of the mythical Forest of Broceliande (considered in the Latin tradition to have hosted the Arthurian cycle), I started to give birth to "possible myths"...myths that might have occurred. The "Golden Tree of Broceliande" was created in a small valley in the middle of the Forest at the limit of the burned area and featured a very old chestnut tree, burnt to death during the fire, standing in a circle of burnt oaks. I cleaned and treated the chestnut tree and then had it covered with gold leaf. To accomplish this, I embraced the project as a pilgrim, willing, for the first time, that no monetary payment (that is, any fee for materials or logistics) should desecrate such a quest.... I simply asked from those who were willing and able to give it, the help to achieve the project. About 250 people helped me, from the 30 local farmers who joined me in carrying the golden tree a half mile into the forest, to those workers in southern France in the factory which developed the treating products, to the Parisian master guilders who covered the tree with gold leaf. All of them gave their services, not for monetary consideration, but for the pleasure of being a part of something surreal. Since then, I have devoted myself to creating site-specific pieces, involving the people who are "using", that is to say, participating in, and experiencing these sites. Since 1987 I have devoted myself full-time to my activity as an artist. In the past fourteen years, I have realized more than 100 public commissions in Europe, 2 in America, 6 in Asia, and 6 in Australia. I am a founding member and General Secretary of "Artists in Nature International Network". On January 1, 2000, I was knighted in France for my contribution to the arts. One of my greatest concerns, when looking at the global situation of art, is the limited way in which contemporary art reaches society. As a parallel to creating my art, I tried to discover the criteria that had allowed me as an artist to encounter unexpected passionate supporters... The search for these criteria has led me into creating experiences of encounters between artists and communities. "Act of Art, Work of Healing" (1993-94) was a platform of encounter between 12 artists of various disciplines and 40 doctors, medical researchers, nurses, healers and terminal patients. "Sculptors and Territories" in 1994-95, in poor and risky suburban areas, investigated the combination of public space, sculptors, and unemployed youngsters for an action on the visual aspects of such areas. In 1996, having moved from Paris to a farming countryside, I conceived "Le Vent des Forets" as an attempt to prove that a remote and modest farming community could, by itself, generate a thriving contemporary art experience and insure its continuance. This was brought about by transferring the ownership of the experience from the usual "art world" to the community itself. The area, in seven years, has hosted 110 artists who have each created a site-specific large-scale art piece in the forests around 6 small villages of 25 to 200 inhabitants. Since the initial installation, 250,000 visitors have come to visit this previously unknown area, resulting in a combination of positive impacts on the communities' self respect, identity, cultural awareness, and tolerance of others. Meanwhile, the participating artists have discovered and/or validated the functional and social value of their art. This approach has been adapted to more than 30 events in other parts of the world. I continue helping communities to implement this approach. Francois Davin
Dodd Holsapple - USA Holsapple1 Living sculpture from the "View Planter Series. 85" x 96" x 8" Contemporary urban yard and Earth awareness vehicle.
My work as a visual artist for over the past 15 years has centered around environmental issues and awareness. From the highly published Earth work series of living sculptures, bringing gardens into contemporary living situations to the thought provoking pollution awareness work like the Drain Strain sculpture, I have been very active in green community building and environmental rights developer. Herman Prigann - Germany
1942 born in Western
Germany. “ THE SCULPTURAL WOODS – Spiralhill and the skystairs.” This project is realized in the area of the city Gelsenkirchen / Germany. It is a former industrial site, a coalmine – 75 hektar large.
Herman Prigann The transformation of this area from a devastate site to a new kind of park was realized from 1998 to 2005. The “Spiralhill” is a artifical hill and from the top the people have a far view over the surroundings. The hill is 120 m high. The “Tower” on top is made from 36 peaces of old concretblocks from the former industrialarchitecture. It is in this case a place of rememberance of the old industrial history of this region – coal and steel. We have integrated the sucsession of natur and in this wilderness are situated some “Metamorphic objects and sculptural places”. This different sites gives the hole area orientation and attractions. Today the people use the parc as a recreation area. It is an example how we can integrate former industrial sites back in cultural landscapes.
Suikang Zhao – China- USA
Public Art Experience: Floating Poetry and Burning Green were commissioned by Djerassi Foundation, Woodside, CA 1996, and built upon the estate of the foundation. Both projects are out-door / site-specific. Floating Poetry deals with specific issue and memory of life and death on the site. The artwork is made by 68 floating objects that are installed along two miles of the creek at property of Djerassi Foundation. These objects are made of resin in different dimensions. Poetry of life, death and reincarnation in different languages are imbedded in these glassy floating objects. The objects are surrounded by woods and rocks and look like pieces of ice before sun comes upon the creek. When a spot of sunlight hits the water, it reveals the texts and also, in shadow, prints the image on the bottom of the creek or rock. Burning Green is rubber hand sculptures that are placed on huge burned redwood tree. The hand sculpture are itched by a poetry in both Chinese and English versions that associated my particular feeling and thought of the site and the time.
Lane Last - USA Education: 1991
M.F.A., University of Wisconsin - Madison Teaching/Workshops:
2005-2006 Associate Professor, University of Tennessee at Martin,
Martin, TN
Artist Statement The basis of most of my work as an artist is my fascination with the natural processes of growth and adaptation in our world, both macro and localized, and its’ primordial elements. The perceptions most humans have about their environment are colored by social, cultural, and educational factors. Unfortunately these are not constants across borders or peoples. My work encourages the viewer to experience nature as it lives and breathes, a potent force within our view and world. In “Luddite Garden”, I have metaphorically challenged the notion of technological progress planting and tending native plants to the region to overtake a symbolic relic from mediated reality, a satellite dish. Artists and art itself are often seduced by the myth of progress. I feel it is important to use my work to turn the gaze from the artificial back to the power and beauty of wildness.
Andreas Templin - Germany
Born 1975 in Germany,
lives and works in Berlin, Germany Crashed Satellite
Urban Legends / Crashed Satellite The proposed artwork "crashed satellite" consists of two imaginative outlines: Applying the concept of the "urban legend" to an artwork and, resulting, the way most people would imagine a crashed satellite to look like. This interplay of the sculpture as an object instantly fulfilling the Urban legend idea (something which is very uncommon as rarely any urban myth or legend was ever proven) describes for me in a very immediate way of addressing and performing a work of art in the public space. My intention with this artwork is to offer a direct connection for the passerb. As this work unfolds his meaning to most viewers in an immediate manner (Did this satellite really crash? What if it fell on my head?) it acts as a pointer putting the attention to the moment and the image of the crashed satellite in the street / square / public Richard Thomas – Australia
Biography / Education
STELLAR BOTANICUS ::: Tolarno Galleries ::: Melbourne, Australia October 1995 50 tonnes earth, 220 brachicomb multifida, chalk, stones, 21 x 7 metres Constellations of high magnitude visible over a point opposite Melbourne were represented using a species of daisy that would have been indigenous to the gallery site prior to European settlement. Each white flower corresponded to a star which would be visible if one were to look through a hole in the earth to the heavens below. A series of spatial equivalences: day = night, down = up, earth = space, gallery = garden. This installation was initially realised at Galerie Torch, Amsterdam, 1994
Toppled: Afternoon, Stinson Beach, California. Toppled rock tower. 7/27/05. I have made thousands of rock towers. Some people comment that they look fragile, while others tell me they look “timeless,” as if they would stand forever. As I built this tower, I could feel that it was very vulnerable, especially in the middle. I decided to show that vulnerability in my photo: I held my camera with one hand, and with the other I threw a pebble at the base of the tower. As it wobbled and fell, I took a photograph, showing the top stones falling near the base while the tower bent in half. As it fell, so did the wave behind it. Like breaking waves, all our buildings eventually come down – even the ones that seem “timeless.”
Malgorzata Szandala- Poland
substitutesfor reality [graphics,photos, installation] Sunset, horizon, wave etc are phenomena
which can’t be described as easily as “plain” things such as an apple
,a face, or a tree .They are more like concepts , they don’t exist in a
fully explicit way. As concepts they also exist in our minds. Everybody
knows what the sunrise looks like or what is the horizon, but as
phenomena they are rather complex images. On a certain level of translating the visual reality into the image/sign language the differences between : 1. an image of the object 2. a word describing or naming the object 3. the object itself disappear and became convertible. You can substitute one for another. The graphics i am working on are always accompanied by a series of outdoor photos which fulfills my idea of creating and APPLYING the substitutes. Graphics are placed in the spots which devoid of phenomena my works represent. Many of the pictures were taken in the ruins of an old coal mine in my home town – Gliwice/ Upper Silesia which is one of the most industrialized and polluted regions of Poland. I would like to present the original graphics together with printed photos [it could also be a projection of slides ...] because it is necessary to give them the correct context / also the short printed texts or comments could join the graphics & photos.
|
