Produced by
Electronic Music Foundation
Ear to the Earth 09

Eco-Concerns

The term biodiversity refers to the variety of life forms within a given ecosystem or biome. It also refers to the variety of lifeforms on our planet. The number of species of plants, animals, and microorganisms, the enormous diversity of genes in these species, the different ecosystems on our planet—such as deserts, rainforests, coral reefs—are all part of a biologically diverse Earth and contribute to the natural balance and health of the planet.

In this forum, artists, scientists, and conservationists addressed essential issues of biological diversity. Sound artists and media artists presented and discussed their work. And we discussed the role that artists play in heightening awareness of environmental problems.

We also experienced is a new identity for artists. That new identity is based on an engagement with the world, on respect for science, and on the felt urgency of communicating a vital message.

Saturday, October 10, 3pm
Judson Church
55 Washington Square South

Free admission


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PROGRAM

Eco-Concerns, Music, Sound Art, and the World

Participants left to right:

Natalie Jeremijenko
    Director of the Environmental Health Clinic at NYU

John Rowden
    PhD, Audubon Society

Lillian Ball
    Media Artist

Aviva Rahmani
    Media Artist

A glimpse of the public

Boryana Rosa
    Bio-Artist and PhD candidate at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Garth Paine
    Composer

and a performance of Olivia Block’s eco-compostion Biome

 

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

 

Natalie Jeremijenko
Natalie Jeremijenko, director of the environmental health clinic at NYU, and director of the xdesign Environmental Health Clinic, is an experimental designer who explores the opportunity new technologies present for non-violent social change. She is also a visiting professor at Royal College of Art in London and an artist not-in-residence at the Institute for the Future in Palo Alto.


Lillian Ball
Artist/environmental activist Lillian Ball addresses wetland preservation/restoration issues via photography, video, and interactive installation. Her awards include a New York State Foundation for the Arts Fellowship, a John-Simon Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship, and an NEA Grant. Her interactive installations GO Doñana and GO ECO exhibited in the 3rd International Seville Biennial and Queens Museum.

 



John Rowden
John Rowden received a Ph.D. in Zoology from Duke University. He has curated the Wildlife Conservation Society, and worked at the Bronx, Central Park and Auckland Zoos. He has served as an Adjunct Professor at Columbia University, and is currently manager of Citizen Science for the Audubon Society, where he works to involve New Yorkers in the conservation of the birds populating urban landscapes.

 



Boryana Rosa
Bulgarian artist, curator, activist Boryana Rossa's work has shown at Steirischer Herbst, Graz, Foundation for Art and Creative Technologies, Liverpool, Society for Art and Technology, Montreal, National Gallery of Fine Arts and Goethe Institute, Sofia, and the 2nd International Art Biennial, Buenos Aires. She also curated the exhibit Corpus Extremus (LIFE+) at Exit Art, New York City.

 



Garth Paine
Composer, media artist, and researcher, Paine is Senior Lecturer in Sound Technologies at the University of Western Sydney, Australia, and founder/director of the VIPRe research center. He was selected as one of ten creative professionals internationally for exhibition in the 10th New York Digital Salon and as a millennium leader of innovation by the German Keyboard Magazine in 2000.

 



Olivia Block
Composer, sound artist Olivia Block reconciles nature with artifice in the realms of music and sound. She has performed throughout Europe, America, and Japan, created sound installations at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago and at the "Echoes Through the Mountains" exhibit at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy. Block has recordings on the Sedimental, and/Oar, and Cut labels.

 



Aviva Rahmani
Ecological artist Aviva Rahmani is interested in the application of mapping analysis to explore potential solutions for urban and rural water degradation in large landscapes. She uses the internet to perform residencies, and she addresses global warming and geo-political conflicts by demonstrating, analyzing and interpreting the local impact of global warming at international real world sites.

ABOUT THE ART

Aviva Rahmani
Aviva Rahmani discussed Gulf to Gulf, a multi year, cross-media ecological artwork in progress. The project began in 2009. The goal is to observe the impact of global warming on the Gulf of Maine and the Gulf of Mexico with a focus on New Orleans. The end product will include several annual public performance presentations, stills and publications.


Gulf to Gulf

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Lillian Ball
Lillian Ball discussed GO Doñana, an interactive installation that illuminates the different land use perspectives regarding the Doñana National and Natural parks, important UNESCO wetland and dune sites, less than an hour south of Sevilla. Biodiversity has been maintained there for centuries, ever since it was formerly used as the King’s hunting preserve, but it has been threatened by a mining disaster, and water shortages. Specifically made for the 2008 International Bienial of Sevilla, GO Doñana’s ultimate goal is to introduce members of the public, including an art audience, to the complexities of these rare ecosystems.


GO Doñana

·

Boryana Rossa
Boryana Rossa discussed her exhibit Bootleg Garden, a long term research project that is embodied in a balcony garden and an installation that to raises questions about the current Bulgarian economic situation and its relationship with the global economy. This project addresses issues of bioethics in agriculture, focusing on the application of biotechnological advances in global food production, how it influences the local market, and how the influx of imported foods has affected locally grown produce.


Bootleg Garden

·

Olivia Block
EMF presented a performance of Olivia Block's Biome, a composition modeled after a healthy, biodiverse soundscape. Biome is based on theories of aural balancing mechanisms explained by Bernie Krause. According to Krause, birds, insects, and frogs communicate at frequencies that are not used by other species in a given soundscape. Olivia Block's composition, based on animal and insect communications, generates a musical model of a balanced aural ecosystem.