Image Source: Flickr. By: Net Efekt.

The Cornell Lab of Ornithology is once again holding their annual Funky Nests in Funky Places contest.

What is this contest? Well, typically, a bird will build a nest in a tree, shrub, or other form of natural habitat; however, when it comes to urban areas, the birds have to be a bit more creative with their choice of housing. The main focus of the contest is on photos of bird nests in strange places, such as in an old shoe, sign, or traffic light (one bird had such a nest not far from here a few months ago).

They also encourage participants to get creative and put their artistic talents to use; feel free to paint, sculpt, sew, or even write about a funky bird nest. The best entries will be featured in a 2011 calendar.

Submissions will be accepted until July 1, 2010 and is open to everyone around the world. Check out the official site for more information on how to submit your work, rules, and tips on how to take caution around nesting birds.

By Heidi Marshall

you see a dumpster, I see a pool; photo by Kevin H (source: Flickr Creative Commons)

How do disillusioned, arty Manhattanites recycle without getting bored out of their ultra-hip, urban skulls? They smash it up.

New York artist David Belt has created a project called ‘Glassphemy!’ where patrons can at once recycle and purge their violent impulses by spectacularly smashing glass bottles into a massive Plexiglas structure. The bottle throwers are lifted on a platform above the 30-foot (6 meter) clear rectangle, where they can aim and fire at people standing on the other side of the bulletproof glass. The impact of the bottles triggers flashing lights, adding to the spectacle. It reminds me a bit of a restaurant in the Philippines I read about a few years ago, where customers can get their aggressions out by chucking crockery at a wall. Primal, but such a waste.

Glassphemy, on the other hand, has a bit of an eco-theme. After the bottles are smashed, the broken glass gets recycled on site into material for other art projects, such as sculptures. It’s a fun opportunity to release all that pent up rage that so many high-strung New Yorkers must harbor, but without any green guilt. At the same time, the throwers get to participate in a cool art installation.

From an article in the New York Times:

The immediate and visible reuse also helps counter the widespread suspicion that recyclables are just thrown out anyway. Though for logistical reasons, “Glassphemy!” will not generally be open to the public — the lot where it sits is hidden from the street — people who send good recycling ideas to the Macro Sea Web site, macro-sea.com, may earn an invitation with the address, Mr. Belt said.

Before making the Glassphemy installation, David Belt received notoriety for turning dumpsters into swimming pools – yet another artsy way for affluent New Yorkers to safely live out their squalid urban fantasies.

Watch a New York Times video report on Glassphemy here.

by Graham Land

Additional resources:

macro-sea.com

Green Diary – ‘Glassphemy!’ recycling installation lets people show their eco-aggression

Artist Joshua Allen Harris provides a social commentary on climate change via polar bears, one of the most commonly associated symbols. These bears are crafted out of plastic shopping bags, and are tied to grates, inflating when air passes through them. This creates a parallel with the effects of climate change on ecosystems and biodiversity, as these inflatable bears seemingly ‘die’ over and over again.

On the topic of polar bears and climate change, here’s what St. Louis Zoo has done to raise some awareness on the issue.

via Greenlaunches.com

Replace real polar bears with electronic ones.

One of the lines in the article which leapt out at me was, ”Will electronic proxies be all that will be left for the future generation to know about these majestic white bears?”

Think about it.

So there’s this giant community garden, right? And part of it is a huge plot filled with stalks of corn, but each ear is a can of spraypaint or a giant crayon or some sort of crazy crafty thing. The rest of the garden is full of regular plants, and there are people busily moving around, picking art and planting art and picking food and planting food. You look at it and you think to yourself “Wow, that’s some sort of amazing artgarden that spews fruit and beauty into the world. I want in on that!”

That’s how the SoS team envisions Worcester. It might not even be far from the truth. Worcester has quite a few hugely active community groups, whether they’re active in one neighborhood, the whole city, or throughout central Massachusetts. Last year, Summer of Solutions was one of those, working with gardens, spreading information on green job creation, and creating a Weatherization group that lives on to this day.

This summer, SoS 2010 is going to build on our old projects and pick up new ones. We will be continuing to partner with the existing Worcester groups interested in Community Gardening, we’ll expand our plots from last year, and we will create new plots and help foster communities of action around each of these gardens. We hope to work with the Regional Environmental Council – a group who does fantastic work within and around Worcester, especially with regards to community gardening – to make this set of projects run smoothly and integrate with extant projects.

On the art front, we have a vision of a city where empty spaces don’t stare vacantly at us. We want them to smile, to wave, to get a little chuckle from someone walking by or make them think for a minute. To that end, we’re going to focus on getting more art onto the streets of Worcester. Some ideas for projects this summer include putting up a temporary sculpture in Elm Park, working with local business owners to paint murals, to host a fully green recycled fashion show, and to have DIY workshops. Only the summer can tell which will happen, but we’ve got an inside tip that it will be “all of them and more.”

Beyond that, we’re happy to announce that we will continue working on weatherization with the Worcester Energy Barn Raisers, a group of working to raise awareness and host community barn raisings where people get together to weatherize needy houses, teaching skills and helping to create greener buildings. We’ll also be hosting potlucks, skillshares, movie screenings, community fires, and whatever other awesome events we can think of.

All of the organizers are super-excited by how this summer’s shaping up. We’ve made it through a slightly rough time for planning but applicants and ideas are rolling in. In the upcoming weeks, we’ll be holding more Information Sessions and another Visioning Confluence – a space where members of the community can share ideas and collectively design projects. Our first visioning session went fantastically well, and our next will really finalize our plans  for the summer; the date isn’t quite hammered out yet, but you should probably keep the evening of April 26th free if you’re around Worcester.

SoS will also be hanging out at Worcester Vegfest at Worcester State College on Saturday, April 17th, from 12-5pm; come say hi! The event’s free, and  wonderful vegan food will abound.

The sun’s out, trees and flowers are blooming, and we’re coming out of hibernation. In Worcester, the summer’s starting early – and so are the solutions.

Filed under: Summer of Solutions

Image Source: Screen capture from Gert.tv.

When it comes to plastic, many people are divided on the issue. Some absolutely refuse to buy or use any plastic products. Others have no problem with plastic, as long as it’s disposed of properly (reused or recycled). Given issues such as the Pacific Garbage Patch and the more recent Atlantic Garbage Patch, I don’t blame people for being upset about plastics.

However, whether people approve of plastic or not, it’s still a major part of our lives. It can be found in toys, storage containers, luggage, medical equipment, construction supplies, vehicle parts, furniture, and even clothing. There have been advances in the plastic world, such as attempts in creating sugar-based plastics, but there is still a long way to go before this excessively used product will appease everyone.

There is some good news in the world of plastic, though. Lately, there has been a bit of a surge in the use of plastics in art and design. Dutch artist, Gert de Mulder, has taken the dreaded plastic bags and turned them into building blocks, dubbed Recy-Blocks. Another Dutch-based design firm, Whim Architects, has developed an interesting plan, called Recycled Island. The idea would involve collecting all the plastic from the Pacific Garbage Patch and turning it into a sustainable home for climate change refugees.

There was also another recent project constructed in Taiwan. Named the Fashion Pavilion EcoARK, the moveable three-story structure is made from 1.5 million interlocked, recycled, Polli-Brick PET bottles. All of these designs have used (or plan to use) plastics in a useful and creative way. Rather than viewing plastic as a problem, try to see how you can turn it into part of the solution.

Have you ever created any useful item or product from recycled plastics? Feel free to share your story, if you have.

By Heidi Marshall

Image Source: Screen capture of sculpture.

Some people say art imitates nature. Other people say nature imitates art. And then you have people like Robert Cannon, who combines art and nature in some truly spectacular ways.

Cannon uses an interesting mix of concrete and mosses to create a variety of sculptures. These sculptures are perfect for a garden, home, office or hotel lobby, and many other places. Some of his more notable creations include: a large playable chess set, a gauntlet, a horse head, and a fireplace. There are also usable pieces of furniture, including tables and benches.

The artist refers to his work as “terraform sculpture”. What does terraform mean? Well, according to the website:

“TERRAFORM– v.t. (literally, “Earth-shaping”) The process of deliberate modification of the atmosphere, temperature, surface topography or ecology to be similar to those of Earth to make it habitable by humans.”

I’m not sure if any of his sculptures are for sale, but you can contact him about that directly through his website. Feel free to browse through his galleries and let his works inspire you to make your own earthy creations!

By Heidi Marshall

Which makes me wonder about the significance of such public displays when it comes to activism / awareness raising. Are actions, intentions, and reactions always in line?

Let me know your thoughts.

The cynic,
Eileen

Polar bears, polar bears, polar bears! At Inhabitat, we’ve seen these mascots of global warming used in all sorts of ways to call attention to environment issues: floating, dancing and swimming, but now to raise awareness, ecoideasnet is blowing them up and letting them fly away! Taking natural soap and helium gas, the Japan based eco/social-network created a set of white and cuddly polar bear shaped clouds and let them go where few have gone before.

Originating from behind a faux iceberg landscape in a Japanese park, the bearish clouds are brought into existence and then left to float up to the heavens. The aim of the display is to provoke the onlooker to consider a deeper, more environmentally dire meaning contained within each cloud: Are these, metaphorically speaking, endangered-animal souls being sent to heaven? Or are the forms simply a representation of how delicate and short-lived the state of our current bear population is? Whatever the answer, who would have thought a day in the park could be so profound?

Luckily the event’s intention is actually not to trouble you, but to draw your attention to ecoideasnet – a new medium for people to spread and promote their latest green undertakings.

By Moe Beitiks, from http://www.inhabitat.com/2010/04/03/eco-art-polar-bear-clouds-raise-spirits-and-awareness/

THE 19TH INTERNATIONAL CHILDREN’S PAINTING COMPETITION ON THE ENVIRONMENT

UNEP has launched the 19th International children’s painting competition!

The theme for 2010 competition is Biodiversity: Connecting with Nature and it will focus on our beautiful earth, full of different life forms and what can we do to protect it. The children’s paintings will focus on concrete actions to preserve biodiversity such as tree planting, marine and animal conservation, restoration of coral reefs etc.

The selection process will be in two stages; the regional selection which will be done by UNEP Regional Offices and their partners, and the global selection which will be done by  UNEP and its partners, Foundation for Global peace and Environment (FGPE), Bayer and Nikon Corporation.

The Competition is organized annually by the UNEP and the Japan-based Foundation for Global Peace and Environment (FGPE), Bayer and Nikon Corporation. It has been held since 1991 and has more than 2.4 million entries from children in over 100 countries.

For more details on the Competition please visit www.unep.org/tunza/children or email children.youth@unep.org

Recent developments from YUNGA:

This is the International Year of Biodiversity and on the 12 August it will also be the International Year of Youth. So……………You have no excuse! Get involved, be active, create the change!

This year will be packed with activities and we will keep you up to date on all of them.

The first initiative is the biodiversity art competition -> take part and you could see your artwork all over the world.

For more information go to: www.fao.org/climatechange/youth/en/

But this month in Copenhagen, ‘green culture’ is everywhere you look.  Subways walls are plastered with signs urging negotiators to ‘seal the deal’, and every museum and city plaza has a special exhibit about climate change.

You can learn a lot about Denmark by how they have taken on their role as host for the climate negotiations known as COP15.  With so many art and cultural activities, Denmark is recognizing that sustainability will only catch on if it is linked to social and cultural identity.

Here is an overview of the few climate art exhibits in Copenhagen this week, many of which are also online or will soon travel to a city near you.

It’s a Small World

As a world leader in design, the soul of Denmark seems to lie in the Danish Design Centre. The exhibit “It’s Small World” offers a welcome concreteness at a time when the global stakes are so high and yet so amorphous. The exhibition is about reconsidering scale – from the small choices we make about what we buy, to big visions like widely adopted electric cars.

The worlds of public policy and design merge in an interactive video-exhibit about the future of energy in Denmark. The video features a conversation between designers and the charismatic lead negotiator of the COP15, Connie Hedegaard, Danish Minister for Climate and Energy.

The participants outlines a serious vision for Denmark in 2020– where half the countries energy comes from windmills that in turn power a new generation of electric cars.  With nearly 5,000 windmills currently powering 20% of the nation’s energy, Denmark is working hard to position itself as a leader and future exporter of sustainable innovation.

Sponsored by the Danish Ministry of Economic and Business Affairs and the Ministry of Culture, the exhibition will travel to the US and around Europe starting in February 2010.

100 places to remember before they disappear

Near the central subway station of Norreport, this outdoor photo exhibition puts a stunning human face to climate change. From archipelagos in the Pacific, to the hills of Caracas and the streets of Chicago, the pictures show 100 places on earth that are vulnerable to extreme climate change and other human influences on the environment.

While the photos are beautiful, they are also painful to look at; one can sense the vulnerability of the landscapes.  By offering pictures of the beauty that we have, the exhibit portrays a sense of wonder and value of exactly what is at stake.  One of the goals of the exhibition, sponsored by Care and CO+Life, is to put people living in poverty at the center of climate mitigation and adaptation strategies.

The website is a great learning tool, with an interactive map. The photographs are also available in a hardbound coffee table book.

Consequences

In a round dome just outside of the conference center, Greenpeace is also presenting a photo exhibit.During the opening Kumi Naidoo, Executive Director of Greenpeace International spoke about the importance of artists in fighting climate change, comparing it to the role of artists in fighting apartheid in South Africa.

“Artists are using their skills to communicate what is happening and that is a critical component that is coming together here at COP15,” said Naidoo. “We recognize the power of the images to cut through the crap of negotiations and show the face of the frontlines of climate change.”

Ranging from photos of Nenet reindeer herders in Siberia, to people in India living in the shadow of a coal disaster, all of the photos were shot within the past three months.  The exhibit was a collaborative project of ten photographers from the Dutch agency Kadir von Lohuizen with support from Greenpeace.  A slide show of the photos is available on their website.

~

With so many people in Copenhagen this week, the art is sure to reach many of the climate faithful, though probably not the government negotiators who are trapped behind closed doors until the late hours of the night.  Hopefully the exhibits will reach many more people as they travel the world, prompting the cultural shift necessary for change.

As one activist explained, climate change is about culture. If you listen to the speeches of negotiators from small islands like Tuvulu and Maldives (pictured above), projected to disappear within a generation, they are fighting for their lives.  They are thinking about how their children will grow up not knowing their own cultures.

More climate art:

The World is Yours: Contemporary art at the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art

Rethink: Contemporary Art and Climate Change, four large art exhibitions by Nordic and international artists

Everyday Miracles: an art installation by Presens, real-life climate solutions