Gulf to Gulf
Aviva Rahmani
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 will address essential issues of biological diversity. Sound artists and media artists will present and discuss their work. And we will discuss the role that artists play in heightening awareness of environmental problems.
We will also experience 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.
Judson Church
55 Washington Square South
Free admission
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PROGRAM
Eco-Concerns, Music, Sound Art, and the World
featuring
Steven Feld...................Eco-composer, Professor of Anthropology/Ethnomusicology, University of New Mexico
Lillian Ball...........................................................................................................................Media Artist
John Rowden........................................................................................................PhD, Audubon Society
Rich Pell..........................Bio-Artist, Professor, Carnegie Melon, founder of The Center for Post-Natural History
Garth Paine......................................................................................................................... Composer
Boryana Rosa.............................................Bio-Artist and PhD candidate at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Aviva Rahmani...................................................................................................................Media Artist
and a performance of Olivia Block’s eco-compostion Biome
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Musician, author, ethnomusicologist, documentary sound artist, Steven Feld's research concerns the anthropology of sound and voice, music and aesthetics, and acoustics and ecology. His honors include a MacArthur fellowship and the Fumio Koizumi Prize. He is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and Professor at the Institute of Musicology at the University of Oslo, Norway.
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 a National Endowment for the Arts 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 Audobon Society, where he works to involve New Yorkers in the conservation of the birds populating urban landscapes.
Rich Pell
Artist Rich Pell, founding member of the Institute for Applied Autonomy, has co-developed GraffitiWriter, iSee and TXTmob, exhibited at the ZKM in Karlsruhe, Mass MoCA, Australian Center for the Moving Image, and the International Conference On Robotics And Automation, was awareded a Rockefeller New Media Fellowship for The Center for PostNatural History, and is Professor of Art at Carnegie Mellon.
Boryana Rosa
Bulgarian artist, curator and activist Boryana Rossa's work has shown at Steirischer herbst, Graz, The 8th International Biennial, Cairo, 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.
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
Gulf to Gulf is 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.
Lillian Ball
Lillian Ball will discuss 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 will be discussing 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
EMF will be presenting a performance of Olivia Block's Biome, a composition modeled after a healthy, biodiverse soundscape. Biome is based on theories of aural balancing mechanisms put forth by Bernie Krause and R. Murray Schaefer. According to Krause, birds, insects, and frogs, choose for their communications, probably for their survival, particular bands of the frequency spectrum that are not occupied by another species in a given landscape. The composition is based on animal and insect communication systems, which in turn generate a balanced aural ecosystem.
SITES
EMF :: Arts Electric :: EMF Productions :: Ear to the Earth :: CDeMusic :: EMF Media :: EMF Institute