digitaldeities

ART AND ELECTRONIC MEDIA

NEWEST ADDITION TO MY BOOKLIST:

Art and Electronic Media. London: Phaidon Press, 2009. 304 pages. ISBN 9780714847825

reBLOG from artelectronicmedia.wordpress.com

Art and Electronic Media by Edward Shanken is the freshest title in the Themes and Movements series published by Phaidon Press. This highly anticipated book demonstrates the formidable history of artistic uses of electronic media, a history that parallels the growing pervasiveness of technology in all facets of life. Over 200 artists and institutions from more than 30 countries are represented. The centrality of artists as theorists and critics is reflected in the focus on artists’ writings. The goal is to enable the rich genealogy of art and electronic media to be understood and seen – literally and figuratively – as central to the histories of art and visual culture.

Like other volumes in the Themes and Movements series, the book is divided into three main sections: Survey, Works, and Documents. The richly illustrated Survey provides an overview of the field beginning in the early 20th century and focusing on the period from the 1950s to the present. The Works section includes nearly 200 additional color plates with extensive, descriptive captions. The Documents section consists of theoretical writings, primarily by artists, that played an important role in defining various electronic art practices.

If you think it’s pretty on the outside, this Special Preview lets you see more of the juicy ideas, images, and graphic design inside the book.

In order to foreground continuities across periods, genres and media, author Edward Shanken has organized the book around 7 thematic streams that run through the Survey, Documents, and Works sections:

• Motion, Duration, Illumination
• Coded Form and Electronic Production
• Charged Environments
• Networks, Surveillance, Culture Jamming
• Bodies, Surrogates, Emergent Systems
• Simulations and Simulacra
• Exhibitions, Institutions, Communities, Collaborations

The volume also includes a section of biographies of the artists and authors whose work is included in the Works and Documents sections, a bibliography, and a comprehensive index.

Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction

Yury Gitman recommended I read this article and consider naming my thesis project along these lines -

Secure Yantra's in the 'Age of Mechanical Reproduction'

I went and read the entire article online and here below are the snippets that most resonated with me ... it is a lot of words to post, but worth the read.  He speaks about the transition from art being made as ritual and magic to art being made as politics and for monetary function.  It is my personal goal to bring the Sacred back into the making of fine art.

Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction

Walter Benjamin (1936)

An analysis of art in the age of mechanical reproduction must do justice to these relationships, for they lead us to an all-important insight: for the first time in world history, mechanical reproduction emancipates the work of art from its parasitical dependence on ritual. To an ever greater degree the work of art reproduced becomes the work of art designed for reproducibility. From a photographic negative, for example, one can make any number of prints; to ask for the “authentic” print makes no sense. But the instant the criterion of authenticity ceases to be applicable to artistic production, the total function of art is reversed. Instead of being based on ritual, it begins to be based on another practice – politics.

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Works of art are received and valued on different planes. Two polar types stand out; with one, the accent is on the cult value; with the other, on the exhibition value of the work. Artistic production begins with ceremonial objects destined to serve in a cult. One may assume that what mattered was their existence, not their being on view. The elk portrayed by the man of the Stone Age on the walls of his cave was an instrument of magic. He did expose it to his fellow men, but in the main it was meant for the spirits. Today the cult value would seem to demand that the work of art remain hidden. Certain statues of gods are accessible only to the priest in the cellar ; certain Madonnas remain covered nearly all year round; certain sculptures on medieval cathedrals are invisible to the spectator on ground level. With the emancipation of the various art practices from ritual go increasing opportunities for the exhibition of their products. It is easier to exhibit a portrait bust that can be sent here and there than to exhibit the statue of a divinity that has its fixed place in the interior of a temple.

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This is comparable to the situation of the work of art in prehistoric times when, by the absolute emphasis on its cult value, it was, first and foremost, an instrument of magic. Only later did it come to be recognized as a work of art. In the same way today, by the absolute emphasis on its exhibition value the work of art becomes a creation with entirely new functions, among which the one we are conscious of, the artistic function, later may be recognized as incidental. This much is certain: today photography and the film are the most serviceable exemplifications of this new function.

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Magician and surgeon compare to painter and cameraman. The painter maintains in his work a natural distance from reality, the cameraman penetrates deeply into its web. There is a tremendous difference between the pictures they obtain. That of the painter is a total one, that of the cameraman consists of multiple fragments which are assembled under a new law. Thus, for contemporary man the representation of reality by the film is incomparably more significant than that of the painter, since it offers, precisely because of the thoroughgoing permeation of reality with mechanical equipment, an aspect of reality which is free of all equipment. And that is what one is entitled to ask from a work of art.

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from this website: http://www.marxists.org/reference/subject/philosophy/works/ge/benjamin.htm

TANTRA, MANTRA, YANTRA

from the glossary of Art of Tantra:

Tantra - a text embodying Tantrik tradition, many Hindu examples being in the form of a dialogue between the ultimate Divine Couple, Siva and Sakti.  (Siva: the most important High God of Hinduism, Sakti: 'power', the great Goddess as supreme power)

Mantra - a Sanskrit syllable or group of syllables, used to concentrate cosmic and psychic energies

Yantra - a diagrammatic symbol for a field of energy

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Art of Tantra by Philip Rawson

Here are the most relevant quoted sections I found from Art of Tantra today

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page 64

Related to mantra is 'yantra', a word for which there is not even the remotest parallel in English.  The function of yantra in the sphere of the visible is analogous to that of mantra in the sphere of sound.    

As mantra is a nucleus of sound by means of which cosmic and bodily forces are concentrated into ritual, so yantra is nucleus of the visible and knowable, a linked diagram of lines by means of which visualized energies are concentrated.

Mantra and yantra complement each other, and are used in conjunction.  A yantra may look at first sight like an abstract design.  But what we may call its 'abstraction' is not the effect of its indicating an abstract concept for a mental class-relationship, but of its concentrating concrete, formulated energy.  Its 'patternness', like the stylized syllable of mantra, is the essential  element of its force; its spareness is not the result of generality, but of condensation of energy and content.  IT PROVIDES THE FOCAL FRAMEWORK FOR ACTS OF MEDITATIVE VISUALIZATION.

All Tantra art thus has in it a special element of yantra.  It provides the relatively 'gross' forms which point forwards and evoke the 'subtle' forms of mental imagery, and cannot be mistaken for anything but what they are.  

To use yantra thus involves a continuous meditative dialectic in which content and concentration drive each other to a higher pitch of intensity.  This is one of the ways in which the psyco-cosmic mechanism is worked.

AND IT IS ALSO ONE OF THE ASPECTS OF TANTRA ART WHICH APPEALS MOST TO PEOPLE WHO HAVE BECOME DISILLUSIONED WITH VAPID CONCEPTUALISM OF MUCH MODERN ART.  Tantra knows, and has long used, reductive methods and optical effects.  But it has used them synthetically, to concentrate an emotive and psychic content, not analytically, to refine abstractions whose only meaning is their relation to other abstractions.

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page 69

    definitions from Glossary in Art of Tantra : 

        Devata - Tantrik divine principles (cf. Deva)

        Deva - a divine figure; the root (div) means 'shrine'

        Sadhaka - one who performs acts of ritual, worship and meditation

        Puja - practical worship-cum-ritual

        Subtle body - the structure of channels and knots parallel to but not identical with the human body through which the latter is imbued with its sense of reality

Diagrammatic yantras are usually centered on a single point, the point upon which meditative concentration can gradually gather and fix itself.  'One-pointedness' of concentration is a necessary achievement of any sadhaka before he can even begin to make any progress.  But the yantras illustrated here are also icons, subtle bodies of devatas, bodies from which the gross physical resemblances have been eliminated in favour of the higher, more inclusive imagery of linked energies.  When the mantra-utterances of power inscribed on it are correctly recited the yantra itself becomes infused with the actual presence of devata; its own physical nature lost; the devata, so to speak, floats up to the surface of the physical object and expands within the mind of the sadhaka as a dense complex identity, the presence of which alters his whole nature.

Such yantras may be used alone on single occasions or in series during prolonged meditative rites.  They may be used to invoke the subtle bodies of devatas to receive puja, as an intermediate step between using the gross representational images of male and female and using purely internal images.  In practice, only extremely advanced sadhakas can grasp the true forms implicit in yantra and mantra.  For this reason most ordinary Westerners will not be able to grasp them intellectually; even in India the true nature of yantra is normally kept as a secret which can only be indicated verbally between sadhakas, and is never written down.  Perhaps the most subtle yantras of all are those which provide only a blank space on to which the meditaor has to project his own familiar yantra.

**this last underlined statement reminds me of something I read yesterday in We Make Money Not Art blog that I re-post here:  Once is Nothing, made of 'physically absent' artworks. Once is Nothing is based on a previous show, 'Individual Systems' part of the 2003 edition of the Venice Biennale . Devoid of any art piece, the room is nevertheless supposed to be 'full of memories and history.' The exhibition is a pertinent comment on the impossibility to replicate exactly one exhibition and on the pointless demand for innovation that characterizes most art biennials.  

Once is Nothing
Brussels Biennial 1
19.10.2008-04.01.2009

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page 70

There are, however, certain things which can be explained.  First is the obvious fact that it takes a great deal of time and effort to build up the content of the imagery stored in any yantra-mantra complex.  The realities referred to in condensed patterns of sight and sound can become readily available to the mind only after long practice.  To simplify, it is, in a way like learning an extraordinary complicated alphabet and vocabulary at once.  Then again when a yantra is to be used on any given occasion it takes extreme concentration over a long period of time to build up the presence of the devata by means of the mantra-schemes which are its subtle anatomy.  The subtle devata present in the sadhaka's body may be persuaded by a long yogic process to emerge in subtle form from his nostril, and take up residence in the yantra. 

Second, the general pattern followed by most, if not all, yantras tends to be constant.  Around the perimeters a square pattern of re-entrant 'gates'.  This represents the 'enclosure' within which the meditating self is shut (what Jung called the 'tenemos');  the successive 'sheaths' or stages of inwardness, the multiple outer petals or triangles being occupied by 'grosser' forms of energy, which are absorbed and further concentrated in the less multiplied inner circuits.  The centre is the point where all the original radiating energies are finally focused, usually in a single mantra such as 'Om' or "Klim'.  The mantra-identities in all the basic circuits may also be represented in anthropomorphic shape, as devatas.  In the great Sri Yantra, the most important of all Tantrik yantras, each of the outer triangles is occupied by the devatas, which represent the subdivided energy-self of the Goddess. 

Images from Art of Tantra

cork + cuticle scissors

Experiments Brief
November 24th, 2008
Chris Prentice + Colleen Macklin

    My thesis project brings a harmonious focus point to the chaotic transitory space of modern airports.  By using the ancient symbology of yantras made with scissors confiscated from airport security procedures, my large scale installation art pieces both comfort and surprise viewers.  The artwork challenges the audience to question what the meditation symbols mean and how the multiples of scissors transform their individual identity into something much larger, more beautiful and cooperative.
    After my discussion with Chris on November 20th, 2008, I felt re-centered and motivated.  I am clearer about my intentions and the parts of my project I need to focus on before the end of the semester.  I will list them here and document some of the quotes I have read this week that support my intentions about the power of the yantras as meditation tools, centering devices and the semantic roots in sacred geometry and spiritual languages.
    Here is a list of ideas, questions and further explorations from my notes during my discussion with Chris, helpful reflection and further depth:
1.  security line as porthole
2.  parallel of the mental process of getting ready for a flight to preparing for your own spiritual journey (special packing, special clothes/shoes) –trip now and trip to the after life.  The tradition of cultures to send deceased owns to the grave with special swords, weapons and other sacred items to ward of evil spirits.  The photo came to mind of the12 items Gandhi owned before he died and compare it to how people pack for trip and what they bring nowadays.  The idea of simplicity, planning, discernment and how much do we really need to feel secure? - see photos below
              
3.  What is the power of multiples .. show other forms of repetition…  the role of multiplicity in art, design, nature, food, flowers
4.  Interview security line attendees or guards
5.  Write for other artists about my transition from making art from an emotional place to making it from professional place.
6.  Look for public spaces as a studio in spring. (research - swing space in NYC that uses empty office buildings for artists and performers)
7.  Find quotes that support the power of yantras, mandalas and symmetry.
8.  Project touches upon search or universal yearning for freedom – find other examples in movies and art that support this context.

QUOTES that I have found that support, bridge and express my belief in the value and function of yantras and sacred geometry:

The ancient astronomers designated the movement and position of celestial bodies through angular notation.  The varied angular positions of the sun, moon, planets and stars were related to the cyclical changes in the natural world, such as moon phases, seasons, tides, plant growth, human and animal fertility, etc.  It was the angle which specified the influences of celestial patterns on earthly events. (In this way we can appreciate the similar root of the words angle and angel.) Today the newly emerging science of heliobiology verifies that the angular position of the moon and planets does affect the electromagnetic and cosmic radiations which impact with the earth, and in turn these field fluctuations affect many biological processes.
Page 8 Sacred Geometry: Philosophy and Practice

    Yantras function as revelatory symbols of cosmic truths as instructional charts of the spiritual aspect of human experience.   All primal shapes of a yantra are psychological symbols corresponding to inner states of human consciousness, through which control and expansion of psychic forces are possible.  It is for this reason that a yantra is said to embody a 'function-principle' (Kriya-rupa). 
    By constant reinforcement in ritual worship the apparently inert yantra forms shake off their dormancy and act together as emblems of psychic power.  In this case, the yantra is said to move beyond 'form' and 'function' and emerges as a 'power diagram' endowed with a self-generating propensity to transform a mundane experience into a psychic one.  It is at this point that the yantra is said to be 'revealed'.   Although its outward meaning may be relatively easy to understand, the inner meaning that gives it its efficacy is difficult to grasp because its archetypal forms as basically concerned with the inner facts of psychic experience, gained through intuitive vision.

As the body is to the soul and oil is to the lamp, a yantra is to the deity.  Kularnava Tantra
    Every Yantra is a sacred enclosure, a ‘dwelling’ or receptacle of the chosen, tutelary, deity.  A yantra is a substitute for an anthropomorphic image of the deity.  A deity's yantra may bear no resemblance to the iconographic image, whose proportions and human attributes are fixed by the traditional canon.  The yantra is its 'trans-form' its abstract translation. A yantras retains the supersensible vitality of an image, expressing the sense and spirit of the original.
Page 12 Yantra: The Tantric Symbol of Cosmic Unity

"The Yantra is an archetypal unit, and in the making of every new yantra the archetypal activity and the divine revelations repeat themselves.  Each yantra's consecrated place acts as a dwelling for the gods, a space where movement from the level of profane existence to the level of profound realities is made possible. Symbol and meaning blend so closely that they are one reality, indistinguishable from one another."
Page 30 Yantra: The Tantric Symbol of Cosmic Unity

"…the circle represents the cyclical forces, the contraction and expansion of astronomical revolutions, and the round of cosmic rhythms.  Within this image lies the notion that time has no beginning and no end.  The farthest region of space and the innermost nucleus of an atomic structure are bound by the constant flow of life and the rhythmic energy of creation.  The circle may also be considered, in its concentrated form, as a bindu, or in galactic proportions as the expanding universe; its numerical counterpart is the zero."
 Page 32 Yantra: The Tantric Symbol of Cosmic Unity

The Flight of the Wild Gander: Explorations in the Mythological Dimensions of Fairy Tales, Legends, and Symbols by Joseph Campbell.  He suggests that the appearance of the mandala began after the passing of the hunting age and with the development of agriculture.

"The problem of existing as a mere fraction instead of as a whole imposes certain stresses on the psyche which no primitive hunter ever had to endure, and consequently the symbols giving structure and support to the development of the primitive hunter's psychological balance were radically different from those that arose in the settled villages."  Page 144 The Flight of the Wild Gander

"And we may ask, also, then, whether today, when that economy is giving way to one based on industry, and the cosmological image commensurate with an agricultural horizon has been shattered for us forever- whether today, in this next age of great transformation, the images generated in that earlier period of crisis still are of use, and if so for whom, and why?" 
Page 146 The Flight of the Wild Gander

    Evolution has programmed us to be oversensitive to symmetry.  Those that can spot a pattern with reflectional symmetry in the chaotic tangle of the jungle are more likely to survive.  Symmetry in the undergrowth is either someone about to eat you or something you could eat.   Our brains seem to be hard-wired to find meaning in symmetry.  This is why, in the early twentieth century, Hermann Rorschach developed his symmetrical inkblots as a means of unlocking a patient's unconscious mind.  He believed that humans are so compelled to find a meaning or a message when shown something symmetrical that the patient's response can reveal clues to their psychological state of mind.  Carl Jung also thought that symmetry was important in understanding the unconscious.  But rather than the butterfly-like inkblots of Rorschach, Jung was drawn to the symbolism contained in the mandalas of Hinduism and Buddhism.
    In Buddhist worship the mandala is a sacred diagram made from dyed sawdust or sand.  Mandala is Sanskrit for circle, and the diagram is an intricate network of intertwining circles representing a many-layered universe.  The complexities of the design are meant  to reflect the  turmoil of the human condition on the way to achieving the nirvana at the centre of the mandala.  Each symbol in the mandala's design has some specific meaning.  A diamond represents the mind, the eight-pointed wheel denotes the eightfold path to Nirvana and the 16-leafed lotus is Buddha or Nirvana itself.  The network of shapes acts as a story, guiding the worshiper in a lesson on meditation.
    The mandalas of Tibet are labored over by priests for days in an act of deep and concentrated worship.  The symmetry of the shape is meant to assist the worshiper in achieving a meditative state, yet once finished they are immediately destroyed - an important part of the mandala ritual.  The hands that have painstakingly worked for perfect symmetry pass over the sand, and the symmetry is lost.  It is a lesson n the impermanence of the world and the fragile nature of human existence.  Symmetry is hard to achieve, as those in the animal world with bad genes discover to their cost.  The destruction of the mandala also reinforces the Buddhist belief in the importance of non-attachment.  
Page 276-277 Symmetry: A Journey into the Patterns of Nature by Marcus Du Sautoy

Instinct is immediate.  It is an instant recognition of a pattern, essentially it is a pattern for survival.  Intuition is a force that deliberately extends those patterns of survival.  So instinct is a pump primer and intuition is negotiating and willfully extending those survival patterns.  The spur of creativity, the hidden catalytic is intuition.  The sharper and the more honed the intuition, the more creative the choices.  I feel that pattern is fundamental to; it is everything.
Essay H_edge1
by cecil balmond
Models: 306090 11 (306090)
by Jonathan D. Solomon (Editor)

helpful CV guidlines + Digital Mantras Book

Today I got an email form my CV contact... she says this:
you need to integrate what Parsons needs from you with what Samuel will
need in order for the project to be useful for the school.  It seemed that
having a list of what he would need as part of the end project would let
you be clear and then give you the space to play with what you do about
the process of it.

Samuel put together this list, noting that he reserves the right to add
bits later.

Mandala project
- list the 10 to 30 most traditional Hindu mandalas
- find books and literary references that discuss them (ie put together a
detailed bibliography, ideally with comments about every book, ie saying
exactly what's offered in the book)
- find the mathematical method to construct the mandalas: ie proportion
ratios, etc.
- possibly draw the mandalas, one way or another. SVG format (inkscape)

Guess it can be easier + more simple than sometimes I make it.
It helps to hear/have a list from him.  It is very doable. 

It is the foundation knowledge that I can build upon for my own art/ new media projects.

Zach Lieberman recommended this book.. I ordered a used copy on thursday.. it is on its way.. looks apropos.

        
Digital Mantras: The Language of Abstract and Virtual Worlds by Steven R. Holtzman

From Library Journal
Holtzman, who holds a doctorate in computer science, provides a highly stimulating discussion of the integration of music, art, and language with recent trends in computer technology. He traces the evolution of formal abstract structures as they exist in the music of Schoenberg and Boulez, the art of Kandinsky, and the language grammars of Chomsky. Since computers have the capability to manipulate structures, the author contends that we have reached new frontiers of unexplored artistic creativity; he foresees new worlds of creative expression-that is, "virtual worlds." This text wisely addresses the issues of dissonance in electronic music and human emotion and understanding in the creative process. Holtzman's journey into "virtual reality," sprinkled with a touch of Indian mysticism, is a totally intelligible, enjoyable venture. Recommended.  Joan Levin, MLS, Chicago

other readers at amazon say this:
If you are a musician, artist, linquists, or work with computers and you have ever wondered why you think the way you think, definitely read this book. It will open your eyes and broaden your horizons immensely. Caution: if you are looking for "how to" information, technical details, or references to the latest/greatest equipment, it's not what this book is about.

This beautifully written book offers interesting sections into the history of algorithmic thinking in the arts, and builds a concept of the computer use in art thereon, embedded in a context of indian mythology. It is the best book combining music and visual arts in this respect that I have read so far and its concepts will certainly and hopefully be quite influential on the producers of new media work.

power diagram

 page 12 from Yantra

Yantras function as revelatory symbols of cosmic truths as instructional charts of the spiritual aspect of human experience. 

All primal shapes of a yantra as psychological symbols corresponding to inner states of human consciousness, through which control and expansion of psychic forces are possible.

It is for this reason that a yantra is said to embody a 'functiona-principle' (Kriya-rupa).

By constant reinforcement in ritual worship the apparently inert yantra forms shake off their dormancy and act together as emblems of psychic power.

In this case, the yantra is said to move beyond 'form' and 'function' and emerges as a 'power diagram'  endowed with a self-generating propensity to transform a mundane experience into a psychic one.

It is at this point that the yantra is said to be 'revealed'. 

Although its outward meaning may be relatively easy to undestand, the inner meaning that gives it its efficacy is difficult to grasp because its archetypal forms as basically concerned with the inner facts of psychic experience, gained through intuitive vision.

A yantra is a substitute for an anthropomorphic image of the deity.... a deity's yantra may bear no resemblance to the iconographic image, whose proportions and human attributes are fixed by the traditional canon.  The yantra is its 'trans-form' its abstract translation. A yantras retains the suprasensible vitality of an image, expressing the sense and spirt of the original.

As the body is to the soul and oil is to the lamp, a yantra is to the deity.
Kularnava Tantra

       

Yantra: The Tantric Symbol of Cosmic Unity by Madhu Khanna and Ajit Mookerjee

 

CWOMC - cwomC - CWoMC

CONFISCATED WEAPONS OF MASS CONSTRUCTION

*cwomC  see

airports represent flying
reaching higher levels of consciousness with meditation is kinda like flying
*flying dragons, white eagles*
making meditation symbols out of confiscated not quite weapons is great
many layers to explore

if you open up the scissors then you have two straight edges of a triangle.. which are everywhere in sacred geometry and yantras... arrange LARGE quantities in circles and mandalas and WOW... now we are talking.

many possible large venues to exhibit in - with lots of traffic all over the world... some with meditation rooms even :o)

I could make art for x-ray machines.. so the photographs seen through suitcases can be a new fine art art form

the book NON-PLACES was recommend by colleen macklin today in thesis studio.. I will give it a read.

       

Non-Places: Introduction to an Anthropology of Supermodernity (Cultural Studies) by Marc Auge and John Howe

construction reminds me of construction paper
which reminds me of the little plastic colorful handles scissors
which reminds me of airport security which takes anything sharp

I made wings years ago .. I like flying in my dreams when I am sleeping .. and now sometimes the expansiveness I feel in meditation is supreme.... or hiking in the desert... that helps for feeling expansive.

I titled them ascendant-see that when one rises above ordinary life you can see the whole picture. (less grasping, more comforting) ..they are painted acrylic on a meta screen with googly eyes epoxied on, ranging from very small to quite large...

they turned out unintentionally to be life sized.. well sort of.. larger than life really... 9 feet tall.. but when I put a stool up and stood in front.. I have wings.

botany of desire -IMPLANTS- UBS gallery

look what I found ..
listed in the New York magazine ..
a show that is just what I was imagining ..
how relevant and perfect..
just wish it was in a few months so I could be part of the visual conversation
I will go see the show this week

..Ranging from botanically accurate sculptures and paintings, to abstract gestures inspired by flora, to conceptual works suggesting artist/plant collaborations, each work is furthered by the artist’s personal connection with plants.

full text from UBS website
UBS Gallery website
A new exhibition at The UBS Art Gallery (1285 Avenue of the Americas, New York City) will investigate the intimate bond between artists and plants through the perspective of contemporary art. On view from August 7 through October 31, 2008 and organized by The Horticultural Society of New York, Implant will present the work of 45 artists, including Felix Gonzalez-Torres, Pipilotti Rist, Peter Coffin and Tacita Dean. Ranging from botanically accurate sculptures and paintings, to abstract gestures inspired by flora, to conceptual works suggesting artist/plant collaborations, each work is furthered by the artist’s personal connection with plants.

Curated by Jodie Vicenta Jacobson of The Horticultural Society of New York, Implant will feature works in a wide variety of media, including photography, painting, works on paper, sculpture, video, film and sound, dating from 1865 to 2008. Influenced by horticultural writer Michael Pollan’s book, The Botany of Desire, Jacobson’s exhibition concept exposes the plant’s power to infiltrate the artist’s psyche, eventually immortalizing itself as a work of art.

Implant is made possible by UBS.

first PARSONS paper .September 1

here is my first assignment

Download NectarCorridors_CarrieMaeKreyche.pdf

treelets (jill bliss + shinpei)

one inspiration I have is this book of digital images of nature and fantasy eco-systems that have a spark.  they are sweet, clever and interesting.   I found these images below .. but I will soon scan in a few of my favorite pages ...   they seem to capture a delicacy of how nature works and the subtle and playful connections that are made among plants and the environment.  I bought my copy of this book a few years ago (2005?) at the SF Museum of Modern Art. 

       

Treelets

by jill bliss and shinpei

jill bliss website here:   www.blissen.com

ARBORETUM AMERICA by Diana Beresford-Kroeger

I found this article today in the NY Times.  Quite interesting!

Advocating an Unusual Role for Trees

Colin Rowe for The New York Times

Diana Beresford-Kroeger

 

By JIM ROBBINS

Published: August 11, 2008

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/12/science/12prof.html?ex=1376452800&en=94a6911aa41463df&ei=5124&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink

Diana Beresford-Kroeger pointed to a towering wafer ash tree near her home.

The tree is a chemical factory, she explained, and its products are part of a sophisticated survival strategy. The flowers contain terpene oils, which repel mammals that might feed on them. But the ash needs to attract pollinators, and so it has a powerful lactone fragrance that appeals to large butterflies and honeybees. The chemicals in the wafer ash, in turn, she said, provide chemical protection for the butterflies from birds, making them taste bitter.

Many similar unseen chemical relationships are going on in the world around us. “These are at the heart of connectivity in nature,” she said.

Ms. Beresford-Kroeger, 63, is a native of Ireland who has bachelor’s degrees in medical biochemistry and botany, and has worked as a Ph.D.-level researcher at the University of Ottawa school of medicine, where she published several papers on the chemistry of artificial blood. She calls herself a renegade scientist, however, because she tries to bring together aboriginal healing, Western medicine and botany to advocate an unusual role for trees.

She favors what she terms a bioplan, reforesting cities and rural areas with trees according to the medicinal, environmental, nutritional, pesticidal and herbicidal properties she claims for them, which she calls ecofunctions.

Wafer ash, for example, could be used in organic farming, she said, planted in hedgerows to attract butterflies away from crops. Black walnut and honey locusts could be planted along roads to absorb pollutants, she said.

“Her ideas are a rare, if not entirely new approach to natural history,” said Edward O. Wilson, a Harvard biologist who wrote the foreword for her 2003 book, “Arboretum America” (University of Michigan Press). “The science of selecting trees for different uses around the world has not been well studied.”

green belt - greenways - and soon to be nectar corridors

nectar corridors will soon be as familiar a term as these below.

I first interacted with greenways in Scotttsdale, Arizona .. and the concept was first introduced in my environmental biology class at Yavapai College back in 1998.  We talked about isolated islands of animal species that change when they have no possible way to reach other groups throughout a region.  As urbanizations spreads .. greenways leave small spaces for these species to keep their gene pools larger and then have a better possible chance of surviving through diversity.  This simple concept left a strong impression upon me years ago. 

Nectar corridors offer local plant pollinators a designed route to follow in an urban environment.  This corridor allows for a maintenance of healthy balance of flora and fauna in rapidly expanding urban areas.   Many species of insects, bats, butterflies and birds feed off of nectar  and pollinate myriads of food producing plants.  As US cities reach unprecedented high population and more people now live in urban areas than rural areas, it is up to urban planners and informed city dwellers to keep plant and pollinator diversity alive and thriving. 

**side note about my interest in this project and concept**
I am not into the nuts and bolts of the engineering of this project and how exactly the balance would be struck in urban environments.  I am interested in the poetry in motion and the images and marketing of this concept.  I love that nectar is the drink of the gods and it helped them overcome death.  It is perfect to keep alive the pollinators and their diversity.  I want to make images galore ((maybe even mandalas)) of birds and bats and bees and flowers and nectar and honey and pathways through cities and streets and porch gardens.  I can make circular routes that take viewers on an inspired journey through my thesis visions.  hhmmmmm.... so how does that equate into prototypes and papers?  I guess I have to do a bit more experimenting this week.

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NECTAR Etymology (nek- death, -tar overcoming)

Nectar is derived from Latin nectar "drink of the gods", which in turn has its origins in the Greek word νέκταρ (néktar), presumed to be a compound of the elements nek- "death" and -tar "overcoming". The earliest recorded use of its current meaning, "sweet liquid in flowers", dates back to 1609

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Green belt

A green belt or greenbelt is a policy or land use designation used in land use planning to retain areas of largely undeveloped, wild, or agricultural land surrounding or neighbouring urban areas. Similar concepts are greenways or green wedges which have a linear character and may run through an urban area instead of around it.

Purposes

In those countries which have them, development in green belt areas is heavily restricted. The stated objectives of green belt policy are to:

• protect natural or semi natural environments;
• improve air quality within urban areas;
• ensure that urban dwellers have access to countryside, with consequent educational and recreational opportunities; and
• protect the unique character of rural communities which might otherwise be absorbed by expanding suburbs.

The green belt has many benefits for people:

• walking, camping, and biking areas close to the cities and towns.
• habitat for wild plants and animals.
• cleaner air and water
• better land use of areas within the bordering cities.

The effectiveness of green belts differs depending on location and country. They can often be eroded by urban rural fringe uses and sometimes, development 'jumps' over the green belt area, resulting in the creation of "satellite towns" which, although separated from the city by green belt, function more like suburbs than independent communities.

See also

• Land use planning
• Community separator
• Urban rural fringe
• Urban growth boundary
• Open space
• Urban sprawl
• Prime farmland
• Development Supported Agriculture

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Greenways

A greenway is a long, narrow piece of land, often used for recreation and pedestrian and bicycle traffic and sometimes including multiple transportation (streetcar, light rail) or retail uses. The land may be newly developed, but usually it is redeveloped, having been formerly occupied by a railroad, highway, or other transportation route. Many greenways in urban centers or developed areas are linear parks. Greenways often are defined by municipal governments as having the following characteristics: vegetated, linear, and multi-purpose.^[1]

The term greenway comes from the "green" in green belt and the "way" in parkway, implying a recreational or pedestrian use rather than a typical street corridor, as well as an emphasis on introducing or maintaining vegetation, in a location where such vegetation is otherwise lacking. Some greenways include community gardens as well as typical park-style landscaping of trees and shrubs. They also tend to have a mostly contiguous pathway, allowing urban commuting via bicycle or foot.

Greenways are located internationally such as the Trans Canada Trail in Canada, the East Coast Greenway in the United States, the Vías Verdes in Spain, the Gold Coast Oceanway in Australia or the EuroVelo cycle routes and the European Greenways Association routes throughout Europe.

  Notable greenways

• Capital Area Greenbelt, a twenty mile greenway connecting neighborhoods, parks and opens spaces in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
• Carrall Street Greenway, currently under development in Vancouver
• The River Ring, a system of connected greenways encircling St. Louis, Missouri
• East Coast Greenway, a trail being constructed along the Atlantic coast of the United States
• Ohlone Greenway, in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area
• Greater Grand Forks Greenway, large public park on the banks of the Red River and Red Lake River in Grand Forks, North Dakota and East Grand Forks, Minnesota
• The Greenway, foot and cycle path in East London, England
• Manhattan Waterfront Greenway, a circumferential foot and cycle path around Manhattan Island.
• Maryville Alcoa Greenway, an eight mile long foot and cycle path extending from Maryville Intermediate School in Maryville, Tennessee to the end of Springbrook Park in Alcoa, Tennessee
• Midtown Greenway, five-and-a-half mile pedestrian and bicycle path through Minneapolis, Minnesota
• Mountains to Sound Greenway, a 100-mile stretch of Interstate 90 between Seattle and Thorp, Washington protected from logging and development
• Rose Kennedy Greenway, a series of parks and open spaces in Boston, Massachusetts
• Monadnock-Sunapee Greenway, 50 mile trail in southwestern New Hampshire
• South East London Green Chain, a set of connected parks and open spaces in London, UK

 See also

• Cycleway
• Esplanade
• Foreshoreway
• Oceanway
• Riverwalk
• Trail
• Rail trail
• Right-of-way (railroad)
• Towpath
• Segregated cycle facilities
• Greenbelt
• Landscape architecture
• Landscape planning
• List of municipal parks in the United States
• Park system
• Public park
• Urban park

References

• Smith, Daniel S. & Hellmund, Paul Cawood. (1993) Ecology of Greenways: Design and Function of Linear Conservation Areas. University of Minnesota Press
• Fabos, Julius Gy. and Ahern, Jack (Eds.) (1995) Greenways: The Beginning of an International Movement, Elsevier Press
• Little, Charles E. Greenways for America (1990) Johns Hopkins University Press

 

www.homebiome.com

I would like to be in charge or take the initiative of social marketing of the idea of vertical farming or into my further niche ... saving the pollinators.  They are quite amazing creatures and NECTAR is from the GODS .. so I will be combining my skills of technology, my love of nature and sacred things.  My biggest inspiration in this world has been the perfection found in nature.  I want to help urbanites to say - YES, I WANT THIS IN MY BACKYARD - OR CITY BLOCK!!  I will contact Dr. Despommier below .. soon.  This week after I have had more brainstorming and clarity by answering my list of thesis questions.  Exactly what direction I want to promote.

This evening I had a brief chat over dinner with a lady from SF who, after I started talking about this idea, mentioned the Natural History Museum in San Francisco is just completing a rolling green roof top.  I will research and look it up. 

article in previous posting in NY Times:
Architects' renderings of vertical farms — hybrids of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon and Biosphere 2 with SimCity appeal — seem to be stirring interest. "It also has to be stunning in terms of the architecture, because it needs to work in terms of social marketing," Dr. Despommier said. "You want people to say, 'I want that in my backyard.' "

Tonight I am working on my VENN diagram to answer the thesis question: Make a Visual Map the domains/fields of study that your thesis exists in. I just went back and looked on the posting of the pdf pamplet that I made for Nectar Corridor final presentation to see who was the presenter of the workshops that I listed.  It is Andrew Faust.  I just went to his website and WOW.  Quite a resource!  I will write him tonight and share my ideas and project.  He feels like a great city contact .. and he homesteaded in West Virginia, how about that.  Those are my roots. 

INFO from his website below:

The Center for Bioregional Living
                       The Center for Bioregional Living
                       302 Bedford Ave. PMB#22
                       Brooklyn, NY 11211
(917) 584 -4588

www.homebiome.com

  Links

 

                                                                                 Permaculture Activist Magazine
The Ecologist Magazine
Earth Island Institute
The Weston A. Price Foundation
Adbusters Magazine
      Worldwatch Institute
Gaia University
New Internationalist
International Society for Ecology and Culture
Organic Consumers Association
Third World Network
Whole Earth
World Nuclear News
Microwave News ~ EMF/EMR Directory
Trinity Atomic Web Site
The National Academies Advisors to the Nation on Science, Engineering and Medicine
                              

                                                                      

                                           Articles & Essays

 

                                            Articles and Essays from the Center for Bioregional Living on Educational Philosophy, Bioregional Design, Permaculture, Regenerating Local Ecologies and Economies.
                                       
                                        Artistic Ways of Living by Andrew Faust

                                        Bioregional Design:  Regenerating local ecologies and economies by Andrew Faust

                                          Cultural Perspectives and Land Use:  Bioregional Permaculture Designs                                           by Andrew Faust

                                          Trading 'standard of living' for quality of life The Pocahontas Times

                                       

                                                                    

   
             Suggested Reading

 

                                                                                    Pfeiffer, Ehrenfried.  The Biodynamic Treatment of Fruit Trees, Berries and Shrubs.
    Hawken, Paul, Amory Lovins and L. Hunter Lovins.  Natural Capitalism:  Creating the Next Industrial Revolution.
    Lowdermilk, W. C.  Conquest of the Land through Seven Thousand Years.
    Bolgiano, Chris.  Living in the Appalachian Forest:  True Tales of Sustainable Forestry.   
    Nearing, Helen and Scott.  The Good Life:  Helen and Scott Nearing's Sixty Years of Self-Sufficient Living. 
    Huggett, Frank E.  The Land Question and European Society since 1650.   
    Ward, Diane Raines.  Water Wars:  Drought, Flood, Folly and the Politics of Thirst.
    Magazine articles from:  New Internationalist, The Last Straw:  The International Journal of Straw Bale and Natural Building, The Whole Earth Review, and Third World Resurgence.
     Meyers, Norman.  Gaia:  An Atlas of Planet Management.
    Diamond, Jared.  Guns, Germs and Steel:  The Fates of Human Societies.
    McNeil, J.R.  Something New Under the Sun:  An Environmental History of the Twentieth-Century World.   
    Hillel, Daniel.  Out of the Earth:  Civilization and the Life of the Soil.  
    Mcluhan, Marshall.  The Medium is the Massage and The Gutenbery Galaxy.
    Jung, Carl.  Man and His Symbols.
    Illich, Ivan.  Deschooling Society.
    Krishnamurti, J.  On Learning and Knowledge.
    Kahn, Hazrat Inayat.  The Music of Life.
    Pearce, Joseph Chilton.  Evolution's End:  Claiming the Potential of Our Intelligence. 
    Mander, Jerry.  In the Absence of the Sacred:  The Failure of Technology and the Survival of the Indian Nation.
    Magazine articles from:  Adbusters:  Journal of the Mental Environment, Earth Island Journal:  News of the World Environment,
    Mollison, Bill.  Permaculture Designer's Manual,
    Fukuoka, Masanobu.  The One Straw Revolution. 
    Pfeiffer, Ehrenfried.  Compost and Preparations.
    Storl, Wolf.  Culture and Horticulture. 
    Shiva, Vandana.  Stolen Harvest.   


                              

                                                                    

   
             Maps & Data

 

                                            Links to find out about the ecological impact and true costs here at home of the industrial war machine economy.

                    U.S. Environmental protection Agency
                                  West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection
                                   U.S. Food and Drug Administration

   Links for physical characteristics of an area you're interested in.                                   

USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service
                                   U.S. Geological Survey
                                                                         U.S. Department of Agriculture

Contact

               We'd love to hear from you!

Send us an e-mail:

   

Contact at Homebiome.com

 
or give us a call:    (917) 584-4588    

VERTICALFARM.COM

ALL THIS INFORMATION IS TAKEN DIRECTLY FROM www.verticalfarm.com

        The Problem
   

   

        By the year 2050, nearly 80% of the earth's population will reside in urban         centers. Applying the most conservative estimates to current demographic trends,         the human population will increase by about 3 billion people during the interim.         An estimated 10⁹ hectares of new land (about 20% more land than is         represented by the country of Brazil) will be needed to grow enough food to feed         them, if traditional farming practices continue as they are practiced today. At         present, throughout the world, over 80% of the land that is suitable for raising         crops is in use (sources: FAO and NASA). Historically, some 15% of that has been         laid waste by poor management practices. What can be done to avoid this         impending disaster?    

   

        A Potential Solution: Farm Vertically

   

        The concept of indoor farming is not new, since hothouse production of tomatoes,         a wide variety of herbs, and other produce has been in vogue for some time. What         is new is the urgent need to scale up this technology to accommodate another 3         billion people. An entirely new approach to indoor farming must be invented,         employing cutting edge technologies. The Vertical Farm must be efficient (cheap         to construct and safe to operate). Vertical farms, many stories high, will be         situated in the heart of the world's urban centers. If successfully implemented,         they offer the promise of urban renewal, sustainable production of a safe and         varied food supply (year-round crop production), and the eventual repair of         ecosystems that have been sacrificed for horizontal farming.

   

        It took humans 10,000 years to learn how to grow most of the crops we now take         for granted. Along the way, we despoiled most of the land we worked, often         turning verdant, natural ecozones into semi-arid deserts. Within that same time         frame, we evolved into an urban species, in which 60% of the human population         now lives vertically in cities. This means that, for the majority, we humans are         protected against the elements, yet we subject our food-bearing plants to the         rigors of the great outdoors and can do no more than hope for a good weather         year. However, more often than not now, due to a rapidly changing climate         regime, that is not what follows. Massive floods, protracted droughts, class 4-5         hurricanes, and severe monsoons take their toll each year, destroying millions         of tons of valuable crops. Don't our harvestable plants deserve the same level         of comfort and protection that we now enjoy? The time is at hand for us to learn         how to safely grow our food inside environmentally controlled multistory         buildings within urban centers. If we do not, then in just another 50 years, the         next 3 billion people will surely go hungry, and the world will become a much         more unpleasant place in which to live.

Contact

                                                

Dr. Dickson Despommier, Ph.D.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  Email ddd1@columbia.edu     Phone (212) 305-1494     Fax (212) 342-1952     Mail Attn: Dr. Dickson Despommier   Environmental Health Science            of Columbia University     60 Haven Ave. Room 100   New York, NY 10032

PASTEL MANDALA (prototypes)

After I made my veggie mandala I decided to play with pastels.  I am inspired by the cloud forms used in Tibetan Buddhist Scroll Paintings.  I have this book from the brooklyn library

       

The Mandala by Martin Brauen
and on page 62 there is this image that I like.

After I began drawing my mandala .. I used the inspiration of these swirly clouds in this image to create my own colorful mandala.

prototype #1 beginning


prototype #1 end


prototypes #2-9 hue/saturation manipulation through photoshop .. so much fun!