Tag Archives: talk

Daily Ritual: virtual curatorial walk-though

Join me on Friday March 4, 2022 at 4pm US eastern time for a virtual curatorial walk-through of the Daily Ritual exhibition at Center for Book Arts.

Join the Curator and exhibiting artists of Daily Ritual for a virtual discussion about the themes of the show and the multimedia projects on view.

Register at Center for Books Arts site to receive the link.

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Pratt GAUD: Pratt Parallels

Please join the GAUD on Thursday, October 22 from 3pm – 5pm on Governors Island for the second andfinal event in this fall’s Pratt Parallels series: RE:DO. This event will bring together curator and writer Beatrice Galilee (founder and executive director of The World Around), curator Amanda McDonald Crowley (Swale Barge and Governors Island), and artist Jemila MacEwan (collaboration with New York Virtual Volcano Observatory) for a discussion moderated by GAUD Chairperson, David Erdman and GAUD MS Programs Coordinator Ariane Harrison. Using the two scales of alteration to existing structures and grounds across the island and encapsulated in the RE:Coring and RE:Grounding exhibitions, this talk will focus on environmental justice as it relates to the RE:DO. 
Re:Do gathers around the theme of curating, exhibiting and designing design in the face of human extinction. Alteration and adaptation point to both a conceptual shift in cultural production, away from newness and tabula-rasa thinking, and to an architectural strategy engaging materiality for its aesthetic, economic and social affect. In this context, Re:Do suggests that the act of revisiting, revising and returning to a given condition, can ground new cultural production; it also underscores the “doing,” the active remaking of the built environment with a concern for global co-existence.

These issues are proposed for discussion and highlight the role of curation and exhibition. Re:Coring proposes adaptation of historic houses with the inclusion of a new type of service core, one that allies ecological services (water capture, water filtration, air purification) with what would traditionally be conceived as building service core; these cores introduce multiple species into the domestic interior arguing for greater coexistence among species as a critique of the envelope as a enclose for humans only. RE: Grounding similarly dismantles human enclosure at the scale of Governors Island, exploring how machine vision sees the development areas of the island as patches of multi-species habitat. This work from the GAUD is brought into dialogue with work by Swale, which moves design onto the water, with a barge of biodiverse and edible surfaces among other exhibitions, and Jemila MacEwan’s work entitled ‘Dead Gods”: a series of living monumental sculptures that honor the Prototaxite – a gigantic prehistoric mushroom – as our mutual ancestor and the generator of life on earth.

These works stage a variety of responses to climate-crisis, actions that are fundamentally optimistic in light of apocalyptic conditions of flood, pandemic and wildfire occurring recently and simultaneously in North America. The context for “Re:do-ing” is therefore framed by discourse: Galilee’s The World Around engages design to adapt to the paradoxical scales of climate change. She orchestrates dialogues that challenge the bias of culture and data in design. Amanda McDonald Crowley focuses on research based practices that integrate art and technology with environmental themes such art and food including Agrikultura, in Malmö, Sweden, the exhibition food nostalgia, at Radiator Gallery in Long Island City, NYC, Circuit of the Senses, in Omaha, Nebraska, and GastroLabs, a program series developed with New Media Scotland for the Edinburgh Science Festival.

The event will be livestreamed on the School of Architecture Events Youtube Channel.


Participant Bios:
Beatrice Galilee
 is a curator, critic and cultural consultant specializing in the field of contemporary architecture and design. Beatrice is internationally recognized for her worldwide experience in curating, designing and conceiving original and dynamic city-wide biennales, museum exhibitions, installations, conferences, events and publications, bringing together the world’s most important institutions with cutting edge practitioners. Her research and writing has been published in journals, newspapers and magazines.
She is the founder and executive director of The World Around, a New York-based conference and platform for cultural discourse whose critically acclaimed first event took place in January 2020. Between 2014-2019, Beatrice was the first curator of contemporary architecture and design at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York where she organized exhibitions and installations on the Met Rooftop, and public programs of contemporary architecture, art, photography, film and design , launched the acclaimed public program for architecture, In Our Time: A Year of Architecture in a Day, as well as acquisitions and collections research. Beatrice was Chief Curator of the 2013 Lisbon Architecture Triennale, Close, Closer an exhibition that examined the plurality and diversity of contemporary architectural practice; co-curator of 2011 Gwangju Design Biennale, Design is Design is Not Design; co-curator of 2009 Shenzhen Hong Kong Bi-City Biennale of Architecture and Urbanism, City Mobilization. She curated the 2019 Designs of the Year exhibition at London’s Design Museum, and the experimental performance design projects Hacked and Afrofuture at Milan Design Weeks 2011 and 2012. Between 2010-2012 she launched and co-directed The Gopher Hole, an experimental exhibition and project space in London
Amanda McDonald Crowley is a cultural worker, curator, and educator who works at the intersection of art, science, and technology. Amanda also supports public art platforms that bring together professionals and amateurs from varied disciplines to generate dialogue and create space for audience engagement. Amanda is currently working with Mary Mattingly on Swale; Ligorano Reese on School of Good Citizenship; has advisory roles on artist-led projects including Vibha Galhotra’s S.O.U.L Foundation, Delhi; Juanli Carrión’s OSS Project NY; Di Mainstone’s Human Harp, UK; and in 2019 curated Amy Khoshbin’s TinyScissors pop-up tattoo parlor for Detroit Art Week, and in 2021 has been commissioned to curate the exhibition for SLSA2021 at U Michigan. Amanda has held leadership positions with Eyebeam in NYC, Australian Network for Art and Technology, ISEA2004, Helsinki, Adelaide Festival 2002, and has done curatorial residencies at HIAP (Finland), Santa Fe Art Institute (USA), Bogliasco Foundation (Italy), Sarai (India), and Banff Center for the Arts (Canada).
Jemila MacEwan is an interdisciplinary artist based in New York. MacEwan is known for their intimately interwoven earthworks, sculptures and performances that build mythological narratives around meteorites, volcanoes, and glaciers. These stories engage with the emotional complexity of being human within the Holocene extinction. MacEwan is a recipient of The Marten Bequest Scholarship. Their work has been presented globally, including; ARoS Museum (Denmark), Australian Consulate-General, Pioneer Works, The Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts and Skaftfell Center (Iceland). Notable residencies include; the BANFF Center, NARS Foundation, and Ox-Bow School of Painting. They have received grant awards from Australia Council for the Arts, Dame Joan Sutherland Fund, and Ian Potter Cultural Council.
Their work ‘Dead Gods’  honors the prehistoric mushrooms that play a significant role in the origin of life on earth as sacred ancestral deities. In a moment when we are collectively grappling with the likelihood that one million species will become extinct within decades, the work addresses ancient terrestrial fungi that gave rise to the vast diversity of plant and animal species that exist today. The impact of mycelium as the one of the greatest shapers of the living world can be seen enmeshed throughout all ecosystems on our planet. During past extinction epochs that occurred through dramatic atmospheric changes that darkened the skies, mycelium acted as a life-raft species as they are one of the few life forms that do not require sunlight to survive. Perhaps even more profound is the way early plants and their fungal partners changed our atmosphere over deep time by lowering carbon dioxide and increasing oxygen composition.

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NEoN: symposium spotlight

In November 2019, I spoke at Re@Ct: Social Change Art Technology Symposium – a three day expanded programme of international speakers addressing the social and political potential of digital art, taking place from Wednesday 6 – Friday 8 November. Re@Ct was one of the featured highlights of the 2019 NEoN digital arts festival in Dundee, Scotland.

I spoke with Ana Hind for a symposium spotlight.

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ArtFoodTech talk at Parrish Art Museum

Parrish Art Museum, Mildred C. Brinn Terrace, © Hufton + Crow

Parrish Art Museum, Mildred C. Brinn Terrace,
© Hufton + Crow

ArtFoodTech

I will be presenting at the Parrish Art Museum, in Watermill, Long Island on Friday, November 6, 2015- 6:00pm, as part of their Friday Nights Talks series.

Technology is changing the way we think, approach, and eat food at an unprecedented rate. These changes are already popping up along the food chain–from smart tractors and irrigation-monitoring drones, from grocery delivery to connected kitchens, from wearable nutrition monitors and robot bartenders. I will be leading a discussion on how artists are interrogating the future of our food systems.

A press release, issued by Parrish Art Museum is available here: Parrish Art Museum, ArtFoodTech Press Release.

 

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FERMENT YOURSELF, with Ferment Lab

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As part of STWST48, I will be co-hosting a Sunday Brunch with artist Agnieszka Pokrywka of Ferment Lab, local farmers and food activists aboard the Eleonore in Linz Harbour.

During the Ferment lab’s august residency at Station Messschiff Eleonore, artist Agnieszka Pokrywka seeks local farm produces for fermentation and holds workshop with Linz locals to observe the process of fermentation.  She notes the information hidden in micro life of bacterias and further reapplies the fermentative process to consider the macro culture of our societies.

During her two weeks’ residency, 14 raw vegetables are jarred and matured over time.  The Sunday brunch serving the fermented vegetables brings together the artist with cultural worker/curator Amanda McDonald Crowley, local farmers, food activists and pubic members to engage in dialogues about food, tech, bacteria and cultures. In the program are also: fortunetelling based on study of personal bacterias, changing the taste of bread by the thoughts thought during kneading the dough, and possibly other oddities. All of these in the surrounding of balloons pumped up by yeast feed on sugar.

BIO: 
Agnieszka Pokrywka (PL/FI) is a multimedia explorer interested in participatory, collaborative and open source practices while digging into topics of fiction, unconventional storytelling and interactive, networked narratives. Her current activities are conducted mostly in connection with Pixelache, a transdisciplinary platform for experimental art, design, research and activism in Helsinki where she embodies different roles too.

STWST48 Curation: Shu Lea Cheang and Franz Xaver

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Spring 2015: SFAI 140

DurinSFAI140g my residency at Santa Fe Art Institute I will be participating in the Spring 2015 SFAI 140. SFAI presents these evenings as a combination of resident artists and thinkers, alongside a compelling group of local presenters. 1 evening; 20 speakers, 140 seconds each: a marquee event for Santa Fe’s creative community.

Talks from the evening are now available on the SFAI vimeo feed.

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critical dialogue series, tyler school of art

On October 8, 2014, I participated in the critical dialogue series, at the Tyler School of Art, Temple University, presenting on art, technology and collaborative practice.

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YES IS A WORLD – 2014 National Council of Arts Administrators Conference

YES-header5-1

yes is a world
& in this world of
yes live
(skillfully curled)
all worlds

from “love is a place” by E.E. Cummings

 

I’m honored to be invited by Mel Ziegler to speak at the 42nd annual gathering of the National Council of Arts Administrators in September, alongside a truly amazing line up of speakers: Richard Lloyd, Stephen Tepper, David Owens, Saralyn Reece Hardy, Pablo Helguera, Jon Rubin and Ruby Lerner.

From their web site: “The world is the new studio. Artists are involved in an ever-expanding production involving constituents beyond the art world and beyond the market place. As educational institutions, how do we respond to this massive shift in artistic attitude? Is there a balance to be found between 19th and 20th century models and the new 21stcentury practice centered around global and social interconnectedness? This conference will investigate the expanding field of art by exploring the influences of globalization, art education, and integrated practice. We will carefully look at our role as educators of creativity, influencers on our institutions as a whole, and members of our local and global communities.”

I’ll be speaking on the topic “The Art and Science of Collaboration”. Visuals from my presentation are available here on Prezi.

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Foodycle

In May 2013, I was invited to be one of Pixelache’s food-info-activism micro-residents. During my time in Helsinki, I spent time with several members of Pixelache, Ruoan Tulevaisuus, and Pixelache’s earlier food-info-activism resident, Seungho Lee, developing ideas for the Foodycle event. In September 2013, I was granted a HIAP residency to return to Helsinki. The timing was planned so that I could continue my Art/Tech/Food research, while in residency at HIAP’s incredible Suomenlinna facility, and the timing was in part planned to coincide with Foodycle on 12-13 September.

Day One of the event will take place at Viikki, outdoors on the Library square, University of Helsinki Viikki campus (Viikinkaari 11) – MAP

It will include a farmers market and some really fantastic practical workshops. (I’m certainly attending Lorenzo Ciatti’s sausage making workshop, and ordering veggies from Herttoniemi Co-op).

Day two of the event, will tale place at: Happi (Sörnäisten rantatie 31) & Pixelache (Kaasutehtaankatu 1/21) – MAP

I will present on my research at the intersection of Art/Tech/Food. In the talk, I will map historical and contemporary trade routes of food and how they affect our cultural landscape and well being, by presenting the work of a range of artists addressing these issues. I’ll also be moderating a panel on Food Culture.

Check my scoop.it aggregator page for links to a broad cross section of artist projects, reading lists, and exhibitions.

My presentation will be online shortly.

Panels were streamed and archived live on Pixelache’s Bambuser pages:

Foodycle Panel 1: MEAT (Seungho Lee, Anne-Maria Pajari, Anna Alm / Moderator: Atte Penttilä)

Foodycle Panel 2: WASTE (Arto Sivonen, Miina Porkka / Moderator: Andrew Paterson)

Foodycle Panel 3: CULTURE (Johanna Mäkelä, Aleksi Neuvonen, Saly Wade, Porridge & Potatoes, Moderator: Amanda McDonald Crowley)

Foodycle Lightning talks.

 

On the previous Sunday, a number of the organisers and speakers joined me at my HIAP studio on Suomenlinna:

2013-09-08 18.19.56 2013-09-08 18.20.11 Foodycle planning, Kitchen, HIAP studio

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On the way to HIAP studios. Photo: Sari Kinnula

On the way to HIAP studios.
Photo: Sari Kinnula

On the way to HIAP studios. Photo: Sari Kinnula

On the way to HIAP studios.
Photo: Sari Kinnula

Sand Pies by Porridge and Potatoes youngest member. Photo: AMC

Sand Pies by Porridge and Potatoes youngest member.
Photo: AMC

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Rogue Troopers: ISEA2013 panel

ISEA2013Teresa Dillon invited me to be part of a panel she curated for ISEA2013 in Sydney Rogue Troopers: Designing functional and fictional disruptions. The panel was part of the conference program stream: Resistance is Fertile. (The title of the panel referred to the Rogue Trooper character in the 2000 AD comic, alluding to his underground resistance status!!)

The panel linked to a workshop she also ran during the conference on synthetic biology methods for general lay person when working with students, designers, citizens: Synthetic Scenarios and Stories.

It was a great discussion, and Teresa is also currently considering the possibility developing a publication further exploring the topic.

Chair
Teresa Dillon: Polar Produce / Science Gallery, Trinity College, Dublin, UK

Panelists
Paul Granjon: Z Productions, Wales, UK
Peter Hall: Griffith University Queensland College of Art, Brisbane, Australia
Amanda McDonald Crowley: Public Art Action, New York, US

ABSTRACTS

Rogue Troopers: Designing functional and fictional disruptions addresses the question: What role can artists, curators, writers and designers play in crafting subversive uses for existing technologies and imagining alternatives?

In bringing together practitioners who are working across the field of critical and contemporary media art, resistance will be discussed in relation to practices of hacking, civic change, mapping, activism and technological appropriation.

Presentation 1: Teresa Dillon   Rogue Troopers: Designing functional and fictional disruptions

According to Oliver Sacks (2012), in order to survive human beings need to transcend the everyday, we need to see the overall patterns of our lives and we need freedom, or at least, the illusion of freedom. But what enables this sense of freedom? It could be argued that resistance as a mode of action and expression enables us to rise above our immediate surroundings by providing a sense of autonomy and control. Resistance in this way operates as a release mechanism or a form of action, which enables individuals to address the tensions that reside within and between communities of power and governance.

Reflecting on my role as curator for HACK-THE-CITY, a three-month exhibition which took place at the Science Gallery, Dublin in 2012, I will provide examples of how the exhibition and its associated program could be read as a site for resistance. Drawing on specific events within the program and selected artists’ works, I will discuss how independent curators, artists and institutions can play a role in catalysing civic change. This analysis will be contextualised within contemporary discourses on hacking and critical media art practice.

Presentation 2: Peter Hall   Mapping the intangible

Writing in the 1990s, the critic Fredric Jameson argued that the postmodern condition, with its vast global networks in which we are “caught as individual subjects,” calls for “an aesthetic of cognitive mapping”. Over the subsequent two decades, Jameson’s hypothesis was effectively tested in the wave of cultural activity around mapping, partly enabled by the accessibility of two formerly military technologies: satellite navigation and the internet. Mapping and information visualisation were relinquished from the tight grip of professionals into the spheres of amateur, open source and experimental practice.

More recently, the geographer Jeremy Crampton has analysed contemporary mapping practices, arguing that it is a “field of knowledge and power relations” being pulled in several different directions.  Crampton describes a pull toward ‘securitization’ on one side, countered by ‘resistances’ on the other. ‘Securitization’ emerges from post-war efforts to rid cartography and GIS of any association with art and propaganda and render it ‘post-political’— a position that the resistance side generally finds untenable. The resistance side is characterised by critical cartography, map art and the open source movement; millions of amateurs and novices using hitherto inaccessible mapping technologies to construct a vast ‘geoweb’.

In co-opting former military technologies, the recent wave of locative media practitioners exemplifies an emergence of disruptive, resistant practices. With smart phones, space is annotated and re-stitched together and new networks are galvanised. Drawing from a range of writers and theorists, this presentation explores the functional and fictional possibilities of this activity.

Presentation 3: Paul Granjon   Collaborative Manufacturing Units Against the Black Box

The pervasiveness of contemporary technology goes hand in hand with opacity. Users generally have little or no knowledge of how the objects and networks they depend on work, becoming black box operators. As a visual artist working with technology, I am investigating ways of reducing this ignorance. I run durational collaborative manufacturing units where technological items are broken and recycled in creative ways. The participants engage in learning, making and sharing an experimental process that disrupts the disempowered consumerist attitude towards technological items. The talk explores some of my projects, as well as recent initiatives by other artists and activists.

Presentation 4: Amanda McDonald Crowley   Open Cultures: cultivating collaboration

“We are a cultural laboratory re-imagining possible futures at the interstices of art, science, nature, and everyday life.” [foam]

Artists are increasingly working in collaborative ways to develop work that moves beyond conventional gallery spaces and into the world, and our lived experience. Through the lens of recent curatorial research into ArtTechFood, Urban Research, and Open Culture, I will look at the history of artist labs as spaces to work creatively and build community. I am especially interested in how artists are currently making significant contributions to open source movements, mapping, sharing, collaboration, DIY, knowledge sharing, and skills transfer to explore open knowledge and build open utopias. What are the possibilities and pitfalls of curating this kind of research and process?

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