Outpost for Contemporary Art
1268 N. Ave 50
Los Angeles, CA

Saturday, March 20
3 – 4:30pm

Mike Wolf – Drift and Surge

“For the past four years, Mike Wolf has been an itinerant cultural worker, circulating in the upper Mississippi and Western Great Lakes parts of the Midwest, with a home base in Chicago. He helped to organize Mess Hall, an experimental cultural space in Chicago; and contributed to The Compass Group, a group of activists, artists and theorists working to unleash the decolonization campaign of the Midwest Radical Culture Corridor.

Wolf will present “Drift and Surge: How We Conjure A Radical Culture Corridor” where he’ll draw on images and anecdotes from various collaborative projects such as walking pilgrimages, exhibitions based on Midwestern wanderings, and the campaign to decolonize North America; experiences that brought him into contact with the broader landscapes of the Midwest, beyond the traditional urban cultural centers. He will also discuss the plans of The Compass Group leading up to the U.S. Social Forum, held this June in Detroit, and his encounters with other Midwestern-based groups like “Boggs Center To Nurture Community Learning” and “Unsettle Minnesota.”

[Cross-posted to The Data Stream.Text from Outpost Facebook invitation. Graphic from Google image search for "Midwest map.']

In Los Angeles on any given Friday, you could venture over to Farmlab’s Salon, tuck in a full-on organic lunch and listen to an amazing line-up of art/ecology innovators and activists. Last week I heard Wes Jackson of the Land Institute describe his 50-year plan to restore the depleated soils of America’s heartland.  Next Friday historian Robert Bichard presents over 100 images exploring the first movie studios in L.A. starting 100 years ago.

Farmlab, formerly Not a Corn Field, is the invention of artist/urbanist/philanthropist Lauren Bon.  It began as a multi-year project to restore a 35-acre industrial brownfield near downtown through the cultivation of corn- not only corn, but a social sculpture and nexus for community action and education.

Recently Bon has been working with a veteran’s hospital to create the Strawberry Flag project.

More images: (more…)

One of the most fascinating places I’ve been thus far is Manshiyat Nasser (Garbage City), a suburb of Cairo. Garbage City is home to more than 20,000 people (60,000 by some sources?), the Zabaleen (Arabic for “Garbage Collectors”). Daily, they gather about one-third of Cairo’s trash using carts and donkeys and bring it back to Manshiyat Nasser where the trash is systematically sorted and somewhere between 80-90% (!!!!!!) of it is recycled into raw materials or manufactured goods before being resold or reused worldwide.  Despite the piles, stench and animals, Garbage City is very organized and one of the world’s most innovative and efficient waste disposal models. There are many areas of specialization, from sorting plastics to making paper and beautiful quilts.

Photograph by Bas Princen, 2009.

Photograph by me, 2006.

Unfortunately, Garbage City has had to overcome two major obstacles in the past few years. The Egyptian government attempted to privatize the waste management system with multinational waste management corporations - trading the practically free services of the Zabaleen for a $50 million a year trash collection plan (with a 20% recycling rate).  Fortunately for the Zabaleen, the foreign companies’ trucks aren’t able to navigate the city’s narrow streets the way donkey carts can, so the Zabaleen continued to collect much of Cairo’s trash.  In 2009, Egypt ordered the mandatory slaughter of all pigs in a misguided response to the H1N1 outbreak.  Pigs have played an important role in Garbage City, eating food waste and being sold for meat to Coptic (Egyptian Christian) communities (under Islamic law, pork is forbidden).  Since all the pigs were killed, the Zabaleen stopped collecting organic waste because it serves no purpose for them.  “They killed the pigs, let them clean the city.  Everything used to go to the pigs, now there are no pigs, so it goes to the administration.” said Moussa Rateb, a Garbage City resident, in this New York Times article.

I generally support the Zabaleen and Garbage City and see the situation as a marginalized community which has found a creative way to contribute to society and make a living.  Are they intentionally “green” and working for the sake of the environment?  Not necessarily.  Is this an idyllic recycling community?  Definitely not.  There’s issues of  education, health, sustainability, modernization and the young age of many Zabaleen.

Photograph by me, 2006.

It came to my attention recently that a documentary came out in 2009 called Garbage Dreams by Mai Iskander, followowing three teenage boys “born into the trash trade.”  It’s received a lot of international press and will be broadcast nationally on Independent Lens in April.  Here’s a clip:

Tipitina’s Uptown
501 Napoleon Avenue
New Orleans, LA
ph. 1.504.895-TIPS

February 28 | 1 – 3:30 pm
Sunday Music Workshop Series
Featuring The Johnny Vidacovich Trio

“Resurrecting a program that was popular in the early ’90s, the Tipitina’s Foundation proudly announces the Sunday Music Workshop Series, the brainchild of Stanton Moore and Johnny and Deborah Vidacovich. These free workshops take place every other Sunday fro, when students have the opportunity to play with and learn from the best musicians in the city.

Sunday Music Workshops offer young, aspiring musicians from all walks of life the unique opportunity to play with and learn from some of the area’s most experienced and celebrated musicians. Each workshop offers students a hands-on, improvisational approach to music education. Students should bring their instruments! Each child will have their own chance play with the veteran musicians or solo on the famed Tipitina’s Uptown stage. Usually, workshops close with a jam session mixing students and veteran musicians together for a real Tip’s concert experience! As many of the city’s various music programs have been put on hold since the storm, these workshops are serving a vital need in the rebuilding process: passing on the musical traditions to a younger generation. Featured artists so far have included Stanton Moore, Johnny Vidacovich, Kirk Joseph, and Theresa Anderson. The free on-stage workshops are only for students, but all members of the public are welcome to attend.”

[Text from Tipitina's website. Photo from NolaFunkNYC. Cross-posted to Signal Fire.]

Nevada Museum of Art
160 West Liberty Street
Reno

Center for Art + Environment

Lucy Raven: China Town

“Begun while working as an artist-in-residence at the Center for Land Use Interpretation, Lucy Raven’s video “China Town” traces copper mining and production from an open pit mine in East Ely, Nevada to the Yangtze River in China, where the semi-processed ore is sent to be smelted, refined, and spun into wire and used to electrify the nation. The video consists of an animated sequence created from more than 7,000 photographs, along with ambient sound that Raven recorded along her journey across the globe. China Town offers a stunning view of the relationship between the industrial landscapes of two countries, whose economies are intimately linked due to China’s increased demand for resources and electricity.”

Through May 9

Matt Coolidge, Center for Land Use Interpretation Director, will be part of CCAI’s March 2010 Nevada Neighbors project, and will give a public talk on Wednesday, March 31 at 7 pm at the Carson City Library.

[Text from Museum website. Graphic from Mass MoCA web site. Click on image to enlarge.]

A new documentary, Coal Country, directed by Phyllis Geller and shot by Jordan Freeman, tells the story of how coal mining has permanently deformed the Appalachian landscape and society. Here’s the trailer.

The film focuses on the modern mining practice of Mountain Top Removal (MTR), which involves coal companies blasting off the tops mountains to reach the coal underneath. MTR is a cheap and convenient way of getting at the resource, but causes pollutants to spew into the air and spill into the water, poisoning miners and the general population. The film shows the civil strife between miners wary of losing their jobs and anti-mining activists, some of them former miners themselves, who want to preserve the environment and protect human health. The battle continues.

In debates about the developed world mitigating the effects of climate change, sometimes it is forgotten that the necessary dismantling of our carbon-intensive economy can’t happen simply with confident utterances, but rather in the excruciating uprooting of thousands lives and livelihoods. Science says that curbing the most disastrous consequences of climate change means the immediate cessation of carbon emissions. After seeing what’s happening in West Virginia, however, I wouldn’t hold my breath.

“Worried about Climate Change? Don’t sweat it.” That’s the motto of Survivaball, the world’s first personal survival orb, designed specifically for safeguarding whoever can afford it from the calamities of climate change. Its creators promise it will “ensure human continuity for generations to come.” Here’s a promotional video.

The Survivaball cools, heats and hydrates its occupant with a fluid recycling mechanism. The inflated ball is suited for all weather extremes, from floods to droughts, the kinds of catastrophes a warming world will bring. The Survivaball is an ingenious device indeed, sure to bounce off shelves as soon as it’s ready. Here’s a cross section of the remarkable invention:

Here’s  a safety card describing the Survivaball’s capabilities.

In case it isn’t clear yet, this Survivaball thing is a joke. It’s the work of The Yes Men, a troupe of artists dedicated to “impersonating big-time criminals in order to publicly humiliate them. Targets are leaders and big corporations who put profits ahead of everything else.” A recent spoof website of theirs skewered the Canadian government’s sluggish response to climate change and they punked an entire conference full of Halliburton big-wigs by bringing out Survivaball’s as a real option for confronting climate change. Here’s the result an article on their website details. A picture of one of Halliburton’s suckers actually wearing a Survivaball is below:

It’s both unbelievable and unsurprising that these corporate types didn’t realize that something was up. Nevertheless, Halliburton rarely misses an opportunity to display greed and cowardice. So I guess this prank was a success for everybody.

Gallery Poulsen in Copenhagen hosted an exhibit of Survivaballs during the CoP15. I was lucky enough to wear one, a prototype. It’s basically an air-tight bag with a fan inside that keeps the ball inflated. Here’s what I looked like.

So there you have it, the Survivaball. Were it cheaper and, well, a real thing, its invention might be good news. Unfortunately, this is not the case and the take-home message remains a humorous but bittersweet one. Sadly, the Survivaball only serves to reveal how venal corporate lunkheads can be.

Berkeley, California.

Bicycle boulevards are lightly-trafficked streets that prioritize bicycles. Although many routes have no bike lanes, bicyclists are free to use the middle of the street, sharing road space with cars. Motorists on these routes expect to see bicyclists and therefore travel with caution. Designated streets should be distinguished with uniformly colored signs and bold pavement markings.

more

[Text and graphic from Livable Streets Initiative website. Photo Credit: "Berkeley Bike Boulevards - Streetfilms."]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Copenhagen Spoof Shames Canada; Climate Debt No Joke
African, Danish and Canadian youth join the Yes Men to demand climate justice and skewer Canadian climate policy

COPENHAGEN, Denmark – “Canada is ‘red-faced’!” (Globe and Mail) “Copenhagen spoof shames Canada!” (Guardian) “Hoax slices through Canadian spin on warming!” (The Toronto Star) “A childish prank!” (Stephen Harper, Prime Minister of Canada)

What at first looked like the flip-flop of the century has been revealed as a sophisticated ruse by a coalition of African, North American, and European activists. The purpose: to highlight the most powerful nations’ obstruction of meaningful progress in Copenhagen, to push for just climate debt reparations, and to call out Canada in particular for its terrible climate policy.

The elaborate intercontinental operation was spearheaded by a group of concerned Canadian citizens, the “Climate Debt Agents” from ActionAid, and The Yes Men. It involved the creation of a best-case scenario in which Canadian government representatives unleashed a bold new initiative to curb emissions and spearhead a “Climate Debt Mechanism” for the developing world.

The ruse started at 2:00 PM Monday, when journalists around the world were surprised to receive a press release from “Environment Canada” (enviro-canada.com, a copy of ec.gc.ca) that claimed Canada was reversing its position on climate change.

In the release, Canada’s Environment Minister, Jim Prentice, waxed lyrical. “Canada is taking the long view on the world economy,” said Prentice. “Nobody benefits from a world in peril. Contributing to the development of other nations and taking full responsibilities for our emissions is simple Canadian good sense.”

Thirty minutes later, the same “Environment Canada” sent out another press release, congratulating itself on Uganda’s excited response to the earlier fake announcement. A video featuring an impassioned response by “Margaret Matembe,” supposedly a COP15 delegate from Uganda, was embedded in a fake COP15 website. “Canada, until now you have blocked climate negotiations and refused to reduce emissions,” said “Matembe.” “Of course, you do sit on the world’s second-largest oil reserve. But for us it isn’t a mere economic issue – it’s about drought, famine, and disease.”

(The video was shot in a replica of the Bella Center’s briefing room, at Frederiksholms Kanal 4, in the center of Copenhagen. Matembe was actually Kodili Chandia, a “Climate Debt Agent” from ActionAid, a collective of activists that push for rich countries to help those most affected by climate change for adaptation and mitigation projects. The “Climate Debt Agents,” with their signature bright red suits, have been a ubiquitous presence in Copenhagen during the climate summit.)

Then it was time for Canada to react. One hour later, another “Environment Canada” (this one at ec-gc.ca) released a bombastic response to the original release. This one quot ed Jim Prentice, Canada’s Minister for the Environment, decrying the original announcement: “It is the height of cruelty, hypocrisy, and immorality to infuse with false hopes the spirit of people who are already, and will additionally, bear the brunt of climate change’s terrible human effects. Canada deplores this moral misfire.”

Because almost none of the resulting news coverage even mentioned Uganda or “Matembe’s” response, a fourth release was sent from the second website (ec-gc.ca).

Meanwhile, in the real world

The real Canadian government’s reactions were almost as strange as the fake ones in the release. Dimitri Soudas, a spokesperson for the Canadian Prime Minister, emailed reporters and blamed Steven Guilbeault, cofounder of Quebec-based Equiterre. “More time should be dedicated to playing a constructive role instead of childish pranks,” said Soudas in a first email, while misspelling Guilbeault’s name.

Guilbeault demanded an apology. “A better way to use his time would probably be to advise the Canadian government to change its deeply flawed position on climate,” said Guilbeault.

Soudas and Guilbeault were seen exchanging angry words in the hallway outside of Canada’s 3:30pm press conference, which did not start until 4:30pm, and at which the Canadians refused to answer any questions about the flurry of false releases.

More raised voices were heard when Stephen Chu, the US Secretary of Energy, refused to pose for a photo with his Canadian counterpart, Jim Prentice. After Steve Kelly, Prentice’s chief of staff, begged for 10 minutes, the US guy finally asked why a photo was so important. Kelly replied that “we were carpetbagged this morning by [environmental non-governmental organizations] with a false press release. I gotta change the story.”

Why Blame Canada?

The only country in the world to have abandoned the Kyoto Protocol’s emissions and climate debt targets, Canada also has the most energy-intensive, destructive and polluting oil reserves in the world. The Alberta tar sands, according to The Economist, are in fact the world’s biggest single industrial source of carbon emissions.

“By not agreeing to emissions reductions, Canada is holding a loaded gun to our heads, and seems ready to pull the trigger on millions of us around the globe, ” said Margaret Matembe aka Kodili Chandia of the “Climate Debt Agents.” “They leave us no choice but to see them as criminal.”

At last year’s climate summit in Poznan, Poland, over 400 civil society organizations voted Canada worst of all nations in blocking progress towards a binding climate treaty. Will Canada take the dubious prize again this year in Copenhagen?

“The Canadian government is not listening to its citizens,” says Sarah Ramsey, a resident of Alberta who has seen the destruction of the tar sands firsthand. Ramsey traveled to Copenhagen to give voice to a generation of young Canadians. “We are discouraged and demoralized by our government’s position on climate change. We decided to lend our government a hand, and show them what good leadership looks like.”

In solidarity with the delegates from the G77 Bloc of nations, today’s intervention was also meant to highlight an issue at the heart of the ongoing talks—the issue of climate justice, and the climate debt that the developed world owes the developing world. Seventy-five percent of the historical emissions that created the climate crisis came from 20% of the world’s population in developed countries, according to the UN, yet up to 80% of the impacts of the climate crisis are experienced in the developing world, according to the World Bank.

“I meant every word I said,” says Kodili Chandia, a spokesperson for the Climate Debt Agents, who spoke out as a member of the Ugandan delegation. “This debate isn’t just about facts and figures and abstract concepts of fairness—the drought we are seeing right now in East Africa is directly threatening the lives of millions of people, including farmers in my own family. We have not created this problem but we are living with the consequences. That’s why I still say: It’s time for rich countries to pay their climate debt.”

- 30 –

More dream announcements coming soon! Come make your own or stay tuned at good-cop15.org.

[Text from Yes Men press release, reprinted in its entirety. Screen grab from YouTube video. Caption: "Angry Canadian delegate at the UN climate conference in Copenhagen responds to the fake announcement that Canada would reduce emissions by 80 percent and pay the climate debt of developing nations. He doesn't think its funny! Watch him spit teeth!" Cross-posted to The Data Stream.]

Nevada Museum of Art
160 West Liberty Street
Reno

Center for Art + Environment
Art and Infrastructure: Patricia Johanson and the Petaluma Wetlands Park

“Art, ecology, landscaping and functional infrastructure meet in Patricia Johanson’s collaborative project – Petaluma Wetlands Park. Using constructed and natural wetlands Johanson created a multi-purpose public landscape providing three miles of recreational use, educational programs and nature study alongside a facility that simultaneously processes human sewage, while also generating crops and creating wildlife habitats.”

Through January 10, 2010

[text and graphic from NMA website. Caption: Ellis Creek Water Recycling Facility, Petaluma, CA, April 2008. Image courtesy the City of Petaluma, California." Cross-posted to The Data Stream.]