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The Ecoartist.org e-News letter  -  Issue #2  -  Oct, 2007 What "Working Green" really means. Our second issue has been 4 months in the making and I'm not happy about it. Aside from the everyday grind of surviving and finding time where there never seems to be any, issue two was a struggle for another un-nerving reason. I had a really hard time finding content for it. This says to me that there are still not enough artists out there "Working Green". I have found hundreds of people calling themselves "Eco" because their work focuses on environmental subject matter and dialog (which is awesome! I'm not condeming.), but just a handful who have made the jump to the next logical level of working with materials that really make a difference to the fight they speak of. I hate to be militant about it, but to me, this falls into the "put up or shut up/ walk the walk" catagory. If you don't at least TRY to work "Eco" then you simply are NOT. You don't have to make a complete change over either. One piece at a time, or maybe just one piece EVER is fine. It's the idea that matters. It's what that one piece will stand for that will live on and inspire others. That's what art does! Why is it so hard for so many artist to do? Maybe it's fear? Fear of the unknown? Fear of trying something new? Fear of breaking with the norm? Fear that thier work will appear cheap to the masses and critics? If these are the reasons then I'd like to interject a few of my fears and then leave it up to you to decide which side is really to be feared. I fear that one day I will wake up to a world where there is no trash removal system left fuctioning and we will be over ridden with vermin and disease. I fear that the climate of our Earth will rise to inhospitable temperatures before we ever begin to teach our children what thier "Carbon footprint" is. I fear that true revolutionary creativity will not win the battle over brainwashed consumerism and corporate greed. I have made my choice, because I have found that in life, it is better to make your own choice than to have one made for you. I'm hoping more will do the same, but I'm not so sure right now... Until this becomes an undeniable steamroller of a movement, I'm going to keep trying. Here's what I did find. If you find anthing else out there that we need to know about, please send it in and keep this ball rolling. Scott Hill ARTIST OF THE MONTH Steven Siegel Artist Steven Siegel broke new ground in 1998, when he was given an opportunity to do an outdoor piece for the Snug Harbor Sculpture Festival in Staten Island. Says he "resisted it at first". but then it "forced" him into a "new direction." Staten Island is the location of the world's largest landfill. His work in scientific geological studies had led him to contemplating the hidden materials and substructures of land. His encounter with Staten Island turned out to be a kind of revelation. "If they're putting all of this junk down into the earth," went Siegel's thinking, "what's under there is a new geology that we've created." Working in three dimensions and within what he terms "a very simple set of parameters," Siegel began to materialize this concept of the New Geology. A series of time bound structures, built of post consumer wastes such as plastics and rubber and newspaper, formed from the same old earthly operations intrinsic to the mystery of matter. The first piece, "New Geology #1," was his contribution to the Snug Harbor Festival, but he did not feel it was an aesthetic success. With the realization of "New Geology #2," however, Siegel could see he was "onto something." Since then he has continued to push further into new forms and expressions for both outdoor and indoor display, but has never lost sight of the deeper questions his art is ment to provoke.What's behind these natural processes of accumulation and decay, tension and compression? What do they mean in and of themselves? And what do they mean for people, how we live, what we use and what we lay to waste? More about Stevens art: More info at:  http://www.stevensiegel.net/ FOLLOW UP REPORT The Fate of The Philly Reuses Exchange "Garbage In, Art Out" is a 1998 artical by Deborah Scoblionkov that Ecoartist.org featured in Issue #1 that was concerned with the fate of the "Please Take Museum" in Philadelphia. It seemed that the project was dead until I recieved these links from a reader who did a little bit more reaserch. It seems that the "Please Take Museum" has been re-vamped into www.PleaseTake.org. with the tag line "Helping to Improve the Greater Philadelphia Region through Inspiring Creative Reuse". The site is now being run by the same people who co-manage Phillyfreecycle. They are currently working to recreate the materials exchange at the Phactory(tm) building in the Richmond section of Philadelphia, PA. Please visit and contact them to donate or volenteer. http://www.pleasetake.org/ There's also another great 2004 artical about the how the project works called "Don't Throw That Away: Philly Reuses It!" by journalist Adam Reger available at Philadelphiawriters.com. http://www.philadelphiawriters.com/articles/06_2004/phillyreuses.htm INFORMATION SPOTLIGHT Online book: Ecovention by Sue Spaid In keeping with Steven Siegel's outdoor inspirations we have a great oppertunitty for you to delve deeper into the growing art land reclamation and green architecture movement by reading Sue Spaid's book "Ecovention, Current Art to Transform Ecologies" free online. It was first published on the occasion of Ecovention and exhibited at the Contemporary Arts Center of Cincinnati. The Online version is brought to us by our friends at http://www.greenmuseum.org/ ARTIST RESOURCE Ecoartspace is one of the leading international organizations in a growing community of artists, scientists, curators, writers, nonprofits and businesses who are developing creative and innovative strategies to address global environmental issues. They promote a diverse range of artworks that are participatory, collaborative, interdisciplinary and uniquely educational. Their philosophy embodies a broader concept of art in its relationship to the world and seeks to connect human beings aesthetically with the awareness of larger ecological systems. Founded in 1997 by Tricia Watts as an art and nature center in development, ecoartspace was one of the first websites online dedicated to art and environmental issues. New York City curator Amy Lipton joined Watts in 1999, and together they have curated numerous exhibitions, participated on panels, given lectures at universities, developed programs and curricula, and written essays for publications from both the East and West Coasts. They advocate for international artists whose projects range from scientifically based ecological restoration to product based functional artworks, from temporal works created outdoors with nature to eco-social interventions in the urban public sphere, as well as more traditional art objects. http://www.ecoartspace.org/ ARTIST IN ACTION My Adventures as an Eco Artist by Jo Hanson Jo Hanson journals her life as an ecoartist from lowly frustrated sidewalk sweeper to art revolutionary. This is a must read for anyone who has doubts about the validity of the movement. Thank you so much for writing it Jo. More info at:  http://www.landviews.org/la2003/adventures-jh.html ECOARTIST.ORG NEWS Ecoartist.org at Myspace We have decided to use Myspace.com as our social networking platform. If you have a Myspace profile, please add us by clicking the link below. All Ecoartist.org newsletters will be mirror published in our blog and special events will be promoted though our bulletins and on members comments. Thanks for helping us get the word out! More info at:  http://www.myspace.com/ecoartistorg SEND US YOUR IDEAS FOR THE NEXT ISSUE! Help us keep Ecoartist.org interesting As you may have noticed by now, Ecoartist.org is all about changing the way that artist and patrons think of their consumption of materials in relation to art. We have started with our own ideas, but we want you to help too. If every issue is only about what we find interesting, then it's going get stale fast! We love to network with other artists! So, if you have any news, ideas, promotions or links to your eco-art, please send it to us. (Please try to submit all time sensitive promotions information like gallery/public showings at least one month in advance.) And we'll include you in the next issue. Thanks for helping us get the word out! email: ecoartistorg@yahoo.com [ Ecoartists ] -  [ Database ] -  [ e-News letter ] -  [ Links ] -  [ Join ] -  [ Contact ]