Wai dawn opening

Wai will open at dawn, 6.53am September 19th 2012 at 516 Arts, 516 Central Ave SW Albuquerque,  led by Dr Te Huirangi Waikerepuru, as part of ISEA 2012 Albuquerque Machine Wilderness. All welcome.

 

There will also be a special session of ISEA, at OFFCENTER in Albuquerque from 12 to 1.45pm on Sunday23rd September. All welcome to that event too.

 

Later that same day, the 23rd, from 4pm till 9pm, the third Intercreate.org project for ISEA 2012 Machine Wilderness Bus garden will be presented as part of the Block Party on Central Ave.

 

 

 

Residency Proposal: Korou Dance

Ūkaipō

KOROU PRODUCTIONS LTD © UKAIPO_HYSLOP

Korou Productions is currently in the first phase of research and consultation for Ūkaipo – A new dance opera in Te Reo Māori.  SCANZ 2013 will be an welcome opportunity for the Ūkaipo kaupapa to connect with mana whenua and tangata whenua of the Taranaki rohe and attending interdisciplinary artists and scientists.

Ūkaipō Celebrates the divine feminine, the mother nurturer; mother nature.

In exaltation of the natural realms of Papatūānuku and Ranginui where earth meets sea and sky, we honour the sacredness of water, our relationship to the South Pacific, distant homelands of Hawaiki and new horizons. Cloaked in a korowai of sacred forest we re-connect to ancient consciousness in a new form.

Toitū te whenua, whatungarongaro te tangata.  Papatūānuku calls for tremendous healing.  Mankind continues to use the provisions of Papatūānuku in excessive amounts. People live and die, disappear, but land remains, what state are we, the current generations leaving our lands for future generations?

Ūkaipō Births a new art form, merging the traditional vocal genre of classical and Avant-Garde Opera, in Te Reo Māori with contemporary Māori dance theatre.  Envisaging the earthy creation of Rangi Mareikura: Heaven of the adorned sweet voiced singers.  Ūkaipō moves toward creating a celestial experience to affirm our physical, spiritual and intellectual interconnectivity with our intact but remnant environment.

Ūkaipō Will work within Māori and Tauira communities that promote environmental care and wish to expand their stories and their messages of resilience, conservation and sustainability.

Ūkaipō Will engage with allied art forms and artists that desire to share in the holistic and conscious approach to this new work including fine artists, body painters and special effects, sculptors, creators of taonga, adornment makers, glass workers and multi-media and computer graphics design.

Ūkaipō Is to be the first of its kind specifically designed to actively encourage a dedicated team of professional artists to engage in a Dance Opera in te reo Māori, and through wānanga outreach to communities in Aotearoa – both Rural and Urban.

Ūkaipō Is currently in Phase One Research supported by Creative NZ Te Waka Toi Arts Grant 2011.

Residency Project: Cecelia Cmielewski

What is wind?
The art based research brings my thirty year history of cross cultural communications together in this project in concert with the cross fertilization facilitated through the WITT Art Space.

I will research exchanges of different knowledge systems – comparing and contrasting Maori and Indigenous environmental concepts with each other and western scientific ‘descriptors’. This first exploration will be kept very simple and look at an everyday experience by asking people “What is wind?”

The work would consist of interviews and data gathering (many of which I would complete in Australia before arriving in NZ) and ideally range between older experts and the younger generation. I intend to include some interviews taken during my visit to Northern India in October.

The outcome would combine photographic documentation (a portrait) with some text from the interviews and perhaps an illustration by the interviewee.

The topic that I am researching and producing is one that has yet to be well realised in a multi and cross cultural approach in Australia. The rich intersections between different cultures and their knowledge systems will expand the creative opportunities for those who participate and those who engage with the work. This project is the first phase to refine the methods and ways of presenting differing cultural perspectives on a seemingly simple question “what is wind?”

I will seek and obtain formal permissions from the participants prior to the research beginning which will add to the body of knowledge of ethical approaches in the arts.

The public are welcome to attend and much of the cross fertilisation will occur, in terms of projects and discussion. I will present an overview of my experience at a Friday seminar at SymbioticA, which is open to all Perth residents, and will contribute to the blog that is part of the SCANZ program. I will also present at the SCANZ symposium which will be published by Leonardo Journal.

The high level of international networking and collaboration, through working spaces and discussions, will produce opportunities that go beyond the time of the residency.

Residency Project: Josh Wodak


Image: >2 degrees before 2028, detail, photograph 45×65

My proposal for the residency is three-fold:

  1. – to participate in the Open Lab, in sharing perspectives and approaches to exploring environmental issues through interdisciplinary art+research
  2. – to participate in the low cost electronics workshop to build a rapid prototype of the LED light strip (described below)
  3. – to liaise with local community members and fellow participants to develop the following project, and to seek out potential participants for the project in New Zealand through SCANZ 2013.

‘Ocean Island’ is a series of staged video-portraits of 6 individuals from Tuvalu and Kiribati, now living in New Zealand in light of climate change effects on their islands of origin. Production would take place after SCANZ 2013, over two months, at locations determined by the participants.

The video-portraits symbolically depict futuristic sea level rise on today’s Pacific Islanders.

Each portrait is of a participant standing on shallow New Zealand sandbars with their body facing the camera, to appear to be figuratively ‘standing on water’, as they are filmed from the nearby shoreline with open ocean behind them. One arm is held outstretched, to symbolise the fable of King Canute holding back the rising tide. This stance and composition is illustrated in the photograph below.

A 3cm wide, 100cm long strip of 50 red LED lights is attached along their right arm, going from their fingertips to the their head. They stare at their fingertips for 2 minutes while the LEDs are lit up, from their fingertip and then increasing one-by-one to their head. This rising column of lights symbolises the sea level rising up their body, as per the sea level rise forecasted for the end of this century.

Staring at the fingertip while this symbolic flood height rises symbolises the cumulative passage of time and how each subject is metaphorically passing through the remaining 88 years of this century (represented by each successive LED light, like a growth ring on a tree or ‘lines of age’).

Speed and playback of each real-time 2 minute recording is manipulated to evoke the different ways sea level rise will occur if global temperatures increase more or less than 2 degrees by 2100. Each recording’s length will correspond to an equivalent temperature rise: e.g. Portrait A @1”45 seconds represents 1.75 degree increase, Portrait B @2”30 seconds represents 2.5 degree increase. Each video-portrait has a corresponding 2 channel sound collage of wind, rain, surf, thunder, hail and other weather phenomena (drawing on my practice in sound arts and classical training in music composition).

The video-portraits would be projected in vertical diptychs, with the left video projection showing a subject holding their right arm out and the right projection showing a subject holding their left arm out (like in photograph below). The exhibition would feature all 6 segments from 2 DVD players on a looping cycle, forming asynchronous relationships between neighbouring portraits, as their playback would shift in and out of phase with one another due to the slightly different length of each portrait.

 

Project proposal – Nigel Helyer

Nigel Helyer has been invited to develop an audio project utilising data sensors and Open Meshwork in Pukekura Park with a custom online data to audio translation. The system is permanently installed in New Plymouth’s botanic garden.

Currently, temperature, UV and people count data is collected. Other projects involve sensors monitoring tree voltage, the electromagnetic field, moisture and penguin data. Working out how to creatively utilise data is problematic and fruitful.

The system in Pukekura Park is the basis for a number of projects including Wai in Albuquerque for ISEA 2012. The Park Speaks established the system and was a collaboration involving Adrian Soundy, Andrew Hornblow, Julian Priest and Ian Clothier.

SCANZ2013:Balance-Unbalance

Balance-Unbalance: Arts + Science x Technology = Environment / Responsibility

Authors: Leah Barclay, Ricardo Dal Farra

Abstract

We are living in a world reaching a critical point where the equilibrium between a healthy environment, the energy our society needs to maintain or improve this lifestyle and the interconnected economies could pass more quickly than expected from the current complex balance to a complete new reality where unbalance would be the rule and human beings would need to be as creative as never before to survive.

The arts could become a powerful tool of awareness and transformation in times of ecological threats, economic uncertainty and political complexity. Artists, scientists, economists, philosophers, politicians, sociologists, engineers, management and policy experts were sharing their knowledge, debating over different perspectives, exploring new projects and starting to build paths with the intent of engendering awareness and creating lasting intellectual working partnerships in solving our global environmental crisis during two conferences, one organized in Buenos Aires (2010) and the other in Montreal (2012). This panel explores outcomes and ideas from both conferences and introduces the framework for Balance-Unbalance 2013 (Future Nature, Future Culture[s]) hosted by Noosa Biosphere in Queensland, Australia.

 

SCANZ2013:liberation starts right here

SCANZ graphicArts Council logoGeon logoian clothier logo

 

A Pakeha social work view: liberation starts right here

Author: Lesley Pitt

Abstract

Social work by it’s nature is ecological; the role of a social worker is to consider the person in their environment. Social work is about the “connectedness of the world” (Payne, 2005, p. 154), integration, relationships, developing safe and caring communities and working towards social justice.

Pākehā social workers have a tendency to focus on the human part of the environment rather than attending to the physical world people inhabit. This leaves out a crucial aspect of the totality of a client/s lived experience. The political context in which social work is practiced in the 21st Century encourages a narrow approach: the priorities of neo liberal governments are for service delivery which is cost effective and does not challenge of the dominant order.

Social work is about social justice; the link between social deprivation, social exclusion and environmental damage and decay is a significant issue. This is evident in this community (Taranaki) as it is in other parts of the world. Neo colonialism has impacted in this area on all inhabitants but some feel the impact more directly and harshly than others. For tangata whenua this process has been on going on since the contact period and continues its unrelenting march. For some non-Māori there is instant gratification to be gained from ‘progress’ however for the most marginalised in our community the impact of capitalism and it’s use, and destruction of, the physical world has a direct impact on their daily lives and well being.

For people who are on the margins of society and socially excluded the ideas of critical theory and feminism encourage the use of consciousness raising, and education in the broadest sense, as a way of making sense of the world they live in, both the physical and social and as a tool of liberation. Exploring the link between the abuse of the environment, of which there are examples within this area, and the abuse and oppression of people allows ‘space’ for people to consider their own lives within their political, social and historical context. Making the personal, that is the lived experience, political, creates an emancipatory force which seeks change (Freire, 1993). The wisdom of critical thinkers and feminists can be drawn on to liberate ourselves, our communities and our environments.

SCANZ 2013: Wānanga-symposium second call

third nature logo




ian clothier logo
Matahiapo logo

Feb 1st–3rd, 2013

We know we have built a civilisation which is unsustainable. How are we developing today the new culture that will allow us to create a sustainable civilisation?
— Roger Malina, Astrophysicist and Editor of Leonardo

Second call for abstracts, due September 7th 2012

This is the second call for wānanga-symposium abstracts. From the first call we received proposals for presentations from the perspectives of Mātauranga Māori, art-science, culture and climate change, pre-Columbian sustainability, bio technology, creativity and the environment from the social perspective.

We are very interested in further proposals from tangata whenua, indigenous peoples, scientists, engineers, artists, thinkers and environmentalists. Our topic is important to this country, the planet and humanity and we all have a role to play in a positive future.

We are also interested in workshop proposals that meet our themes.

Following is a list of selected abstracts from the first call.

 

Author
Potential grouping and paper title
Mātauranga Māori, Science and Art
Dr Te Huirangi Waikerepuru Keynote 1
Alex Kmoch, Sheena Mannering-Tawera, Diane Bradshaw, Paul White and Hermann Klug A groundwater resources portal for New Zealand
Kura Puke and Stuart Foster The substance of experience
Nina Czegledy Keynote 2
Environment
Margaret Smith & Fiona Clark Sustaining Waitara Waterways 
Josh Wodak Comprehending Complexity: Art in the Anthropocene 
Ricardo Dal Farra & Leah Barclay Balance-Unbalance: Arts + Science x Technology = Environment / Responsibility
Society – human, animal, informational
Lesley Pitt A Pakeha social work view: liberation starts right here
Pinar Yoldas The very loud chamber orchestra of endangered species
Vanessa Ramos-Velasquez Digital Anthropophagy
Lenka Dolanova KRA – Kravín Rural Arts
With regard to indigenous cultures
Gabriel Vanegas Logics of nature-driven technologies in a place Called America
Leah Barclay SONIC ECOLOGIES: Practice-led intersections of sound art, science and technology in global communities
Ana Terry & Don Hunter Un Litro de Agua
Deborah Lawler-Dormer He Poi, pattern, collaboration and electronic art installation
Data and technology
Vicki Sowry Echology: Making Sense of Data
Brian Degger Make, Do, Mend and Hack (MDMH) the biotechnologies of the 3rd Nature
Elise Smith and Anne Scott Technology meets Ecology – Where have all the little blue penguins gone?

 

Thematic framework

Integrating indigenous perspectives with creative, environmental, scientific and academic views on reality is essential to a sustainable future. At the same time, computing and digital media are changing our relationship to culture and the environment.

On the one hand digital technology allows us to analyse and display data in new ways, as when anthropologists use language databases to shed light on the movement of culture.

On the other hand digital technology adds to our senses, and extends them beyond the body to the forests and the land. Scientists, artists and others are transforming the environment into an organism, as Maori and indigenous peoples have always known it to be.

SCANZ 2013: 3rd nature will bring together diverse people to discuss how to approach working together across culture, discipline and media. We must work together to resolve the issues emerging at the boundary between fresh knowledge and deep knowledge, beginning with sharing knowledge and projects.

Presentations and projects which highlight cross cultural interchange and/or computing and electronics projects and/or the hybrid arts are sought. The ensuing discussion and presentations will then be shared in a special edition of Leonardo Electronic Almanac, the online publication of Leonardo – the leading Massachusetts Institute of Technology journal. Abstracts are due September 7th 2012.

 

Who should attend?

Tangata whenua, indigenous peoples, scientists, artists, environmentalists, academics, philosophers, educationalists, musicians, teachers, technologists, and those concerned about sustainability, the future of Earth and humanity. Tangata whenua –people of the land – are indigenous to Aotearoa New Zealand.

The first day of the hui will be held at Owae marae. Keynote speakers are Dr Te Huirangi Waikerepuru (Aotearoa New Zealand) and Intercreate International Research Fellow Nina Czegledy (Canada & Hungary). The second and third days are to be held in Te Piere o te Rangi on the Western Institute of Technology at Taranaki campus.

 

Presentations

There are four types of presentations which will be reviewed by robust process: peer reviewed, panel presentation, solutions and individual.

Peer reviewed

Papers can be put forward for peer review and inclusion in a special edition of Leonardo Electronic Almanac. The process will be rigorous. A peer reviewed paper could be based on a presentation made as a panel, a solution or as an individual.

Panel presentations

An important aspect of the hui and symposium will be themed discussions lead by interdisciplinary teams. These presentations will be an hour long, with panelists giving a concise 6 minute presentation (each) on their work, and then leading a discussion. Panelists will define a series of questions and then develop a position on the questions as preparation for the discussion. Panel teams can be proposed, applicants can simply indicate they wish to be part of a panel, or they will be invited.

Solutions

Solutions are 20 minute presentations about a completed project that crossed one or more of  boundaries of the following: art/science (or any other Western discipline)/computing and/or indigenous awareness. This may involve reporting on projects or activity that involved a negotiation of cultural borders, with an attempt made to preserve some values from both cultures;  or a computing project that put fresh light on culture, nature, the environment, science and/or art.

Individual

These are fifteen minutes duration, with a presentation of 10 minutes followed by 5 minutes of discussion. These presentations are drawn from disciplines across the spectrum. What are the health, environmental, psychological, culinary, audio, scientific, historical, engineering, business, construction, farming and/or creative implications of engaging across cultural borders or with electronic media? Presentations in this category can be from the perspective of a single discipline, but must involve engaging across cultural borders or involve electronic media. Individual refers to discussing one project, or by one presenter.

Workshops

If you are submitting a workshop, please include the word ‘Workshop’ as the first word in the title field. A workshop involving drumming would be titled ‘Workshop: Drumming’ for example.

 

Submission process

Abstracts will be submitted using Easy Chair, a conference management system. Instructions for using this system are the following:

  1. Go to: http://www.easychair.org/conferences/?conf=scanz2013
    This is the Easy Chair SCANZ 2013 log in page.
  2. Get an Easy Chair log in. You will need a working email address that you can use at the same time, as confirmation emails will  be sent.
  3. Log in as an Author once you have your log in details.
  4. Then click the link at the top which says ‘New submission.
  5. Enter your submission. In the appropriate boxes, enter your name and contact details. Provide a title. Write an abstract (maximum 500 words, 350 preferred). Select the category you are applying under. Enter at least three keywords with each word separated by a line (the page does remind you to do this). You must enter at least three keywords. Check the ‘Abstract only‘ check box. Papers for those submitting them are submitted later.
  6. To edit your submission. You will be able to change your submission until the deadline of September 7th 2012. To change a submission, log in as an author. Click the link with the ‘Paper’ and a number. Click the ‘update information’ link on the right side of the page. Change details as required and then click the Change information button at the bottom of the form. You can also submit a new version, update authors and withdraw using the same page.

Note: If you have any queries, please contact us at ian.clothier@intercreate.org or trudy@intercreate.org.

 

SCANZ 2013: 3rd nature – hui and symposium

SCANZ 2013 logoArts Council logoGeon logoian clothier logoMatahiapo logo

Feb 1st–3rd, 2013

Call for abstracts, due September 7th

 

We know we have built a civilisation which is unsustainable. How are we developing today the new culture that will allow us to create a sustainable civilisation?
— Roger Malina, Astrophysicist and Editor of Leonardo

Integrating indigenous perspectives with creative, environmental, scientific and academic views on reality is essential to a sustainable future. At the same time, computing and digital media are changing our relationship to culture and the environment.

On the one hand digital technology allows us to analyse and display data in new ways, as when anthropologists use language databases to shed light on the movement of culture.

On the other hand digital technology adds to our senses, and extends them beyond the body to the forests and the land. Scientists, artists and others are transforming the environment into an organism, as Maori and indigenous peoples have always known it to be.

SCANZ 2013: 3rd nature will bring together diverse people to discuss and celebrate how to approach working together across culture, discipline and media. We must work together to resolve the issues emerging at the boundary between fresh knowledge and deep knowledge, beginning with sharing knowledge and projects.

Presentations and projects which highlight cross cultural interchange and/or computing and electronics projects and/or the hybrid arts are sought. The ensuing discussion and presentations will then be shared in a special edition of Leonardo Electronic Almanac, the online publication of Leonardo – the leading Massachusetts Institute of Technology journal. Abstracts are due September 7th 2012.

The SCANZ 2013 program includes co-located project presentations and a discussion from European artists/environmental activists living and working in Belgium, Austria, Germany, Spain and the Czech Republic.

 

 

Who should attend?

Tangata whenua, indigenous peoples, scientists, artists, environmentalists, academics, philosophers, educationalists, musicians, teachers, technologists, and those concerned about sustainability, the future of Earth and humanity. Tangata whenua –people of the land – are indigenous to Aotearoa New Zealand.

The first day of the hui will be held at Owae marae. Keynote speakers are Dr Te Huirangi Waikerepuru (Aotearoa New Zealand) and Intercreate International Research Fellow Nina Czegledy (Canada & Hungary). The second and third days are to be held in Te Piere o te Rangi on the Western Institute of Technology at Taranki campus.

 

Presentations

There are four types of presentations which will be reviewed by robust process: peer reviewed, panel presentation, solutions and individual.

Peer reviewed

Papers can be put forward for peer review and inclusion in a special edition of Leonardo Electronic Almanac. The process will be rigorous. A peer reviewed paper could be based on a presentation made as a panel, a solution or as an individual.

Panel presentations

An important aspect of the hui and symposium will be themed discussions lead by interdisciplinary teams. These presentations will be an hour long, with panellists giving a concise 6 minute presentation (each) on their work, and then leading a discussion. Panellists will define a series of questions and then develop a position on the questions as preparation for the discussion. Panel teams can be proposed, applicants can simply indicate they wish to be part of a panel, or they will be invited.

Solutions

Solutions are 20 minute presentations about a completed project that crossed one or more of  boundaries of the following: art/science (or any other Western discipline)/computing and/or indigenous awareness. This may involve reporting on projects or activity that involved a negotiation of cultural borders, with an attempt made to preserve some values from both cultures;  or a computing project that put fresh light on culture, nature, the environment, science and/or art.

Individual

These are fifteen minutes duration, with a presentation of 10 minutes followed by 5 minutes of discussion. These presentations are drawn from disciplines across the spectrum. What are the health, environmental, psychological, culinary, audio, scientific, historical, engineering, business, construction, farming and/or creative implications of engaging across cultural borders or with electronic media? Presentations in this category can be from the perspective of a single discipline, but must involve engaging across cultural borders or involve electronic media. Individual refers to discussing one project, or by one presenter.

Workshops

If you are submitting a workshop, please include the word ‘Workshop’ as the first word in the title field. A workshop involving drumming would be titled ‘Workshop: Drumming’ for example.

 

Submission process

Abstracts will be submitted using Easy Chair, a conference management system. Instructions for using this system are the following:

  1. Go to: http://www.easychair.org/conferences/?conf=scanz2013
    This is the Easy Chair SCANZ 2013 log in page.
  2. Get an Easy Chair log in. You will need a working email address that you can use at the same time, as confirmation emails will  be sent.
  3. Log in as an Author once you have your log in details.
  4. Then click the link at the top which says ‘New submission.
  5. Enter your submission. In the appropriate boxes, enter your name and contact details. Provide a title. Write an abstract (maximum 500 words, 350 preferred). Select the category you are applying under. Enter at least three keywords with each word separated by a line (the page does remind you to do this). You must enter at least three keywords. Check the ‘Abstract only‘ check box. Papers for those submitting them are submitted later.
  6. To edit your submission. You will be able to change your submission until the deadline of September 7th 2012. To change a submission, log in as an author. Click the link with the ‘Paper’ and a number. Click the ‘update information’ link on the right side of the page. Change details as required and then click the Change information button at the bottom of the form. You can also submit a new version, update authors and withdraw using the same page.

Due Date: Call for abstracts close September 7th

Note: If you are having trouble with the Easy Chair system, please contact us at ian.clothier@intercreate.org or trudy@intercreate.org.

 

Uncontainable-second-nature

Uncontainable-second-nature (Te Kore-Rongo-Hungaora)is curated by Ian Clothier with an advisory panel of Nina Czegledy, Trudy Lane and Tengaruru Wineera, for ISEA 2011 Istanbul. The exhibition crosses cultural and discipline boundaries.  A cultural bridge has been constructed, providing a framework of both Maori and European knowledge. Five themes from within European and Maori world views were located.

Given the intercultural bridge, works from art and science are recontextualised as cultural texts symbolic of belief systems. Discipline is not fixed, but fluid in a transformational environment. In the exhibition, digital and post-digital exist in a state of hybridity.

Included are works by Julian Oliver, recipient of the Golden Nica at Prix Ars Electronica in 2011, Lisa Reihana, Julian Priest, Sonja van Kerkhoff, Sophie Jerram and Dugal McKinnon, Rachel Rakena, Jo Tito, Associate Professor Mike Paulin (Zoology), Paul Moss and Te Huirangi Waikerepuru.

The show opened at Dawn on September 14th at Cumhuriyet Art Gallery Taksim Square Istanbul and ran to October 12th as part of ISEA 2011 Istanbul.

Below are a few photos of some of the works, to remind people of the show. These are just some quick point and shoot images, further formal documentation will be added later.

 


Te Huirangi Waikerepuru stands before his chart of Te Taiao Maori – the backbone of the project


The psworld computer by Julian Oliver


Jo Tito’s kohatu (stone) Mauri Wai Mauri Ora between speakers playing breathing audio by Sophie Jerram and Dugal McKinnon


An image from Whanaunga by Lisa Reihana


Paul Moss’s Photo Astronomy images were embedded into star shapes, and the stars placed on the floor in the formation of the Southern Cross


Looking through to the second space, with part of Julian Priest’s Information comes from the sun on the cylindrical plinth and the exterior of Kāinga a roto Home within by Sonja van Kerkhoff, Sen McGlinn and Toroa Pohatu in the background.


Mike Paulin’s Computational Visualization of the Electromagnetic Sensory World of Sharks.


Julian Priest’s Information comes from the sun


One man is an island by Rachel Rakena


Looking from beside Kāinga a roto Home within toward works by Julian Priest (right) Mike Paulin and Rachel Rakena