+ sophie munns : visual eclectica +

'Rose Window' by Jennifer Cecere (2009)

'Rose Window' by Jennifer Cecere (Socrates Sculpture Park, 2009) 

'Ins & Outs' installation by Jennifer Cecere (Rockland Center for the Arts, 2010)

These three images and story of the artist Jennifer Cecere were found at the wonderful blog of Abigail Doan,  writer, editor, and environemntal artist.

 Quoting the artist Abigail Doan she says of her work:  "My eco-textile and art farming projects are a means to create sustainable solutions and key visual links to the global challenges we collectively face."  Below are artworks of Doan.

THE LAND - an art site. (above and below)

REgeneration / REseeding

Paper Seed Trails.

on another tangent....found through Abigail Doan's blog was the blog: free-soil which had great listings of all kinds of projects and information.... like

12 Sep 2007 UNIDEE in Residence Italy

"UNIDEE in Residence is an international residence program open to students and graduates of various university faculties, to artists and to professionals from any country in the world. It operates in synergy with the other Cittadellarte offices and is based on the following declaration by the artist Michelangelo Pistoletto: “Art is the most sensitive and comprehensive expression of thought, and the time has come for the artist to assume responsibility for establishing communication between every other human activity, from economics to politics, from science to religion, from education to behaviour, in brief all areas of the social fabric” (Progetto Arte manifesto, 1994 - see the complete pdf version)."

 - I know there's a bit of reading here...but if you dive in you will, I promise, go on a journey of the mind! I love how people are getting energised and no longer waiting for the great "they" to do something.

CALL FOR FUTURE

A call for pioneering initiatives both in and for Berlin

What if there was one more hour in the day … how could we make good use of this 25th hour? The ÜBER LEBENSKUNST project got underway on April 21, 2010 with a global call for groundbreaking ideas that bring together culture and sustainability. The CALL FOR FUTURE was published in 10 languages and is geared towards everyone who wants to take seemingly impossible ideas and turn them into a reality both in and for Berlin - whether individuals, residential communities, citizen initiatives, associations or families. 

The overwhelming response to the CALL FOR FUTURE is evidence that there are already many ideas and models that encourage people to reshape their day-to-day lives and think about the future in their actions. More than 850 local initiatives and individuals – often together with international partners – submitted their project ideas. The applications came from around the world: Paris, London, Barcelona, Helsinki, New York, Lithuania, Australia, Canada, Taiwan, Poland, Mexico, South Africa, Japan, Israel, Hungary, Thailand, ...

ÜBER LEBENSKUNST wants to support these unconventional thinkers, create a network for them to exchange ideas and make them visible to a broad audience. The motto is: Everyone's a part! The more people that get involved, the more exciting the quest for sustainable lifestyles will be and the more likely success is.

An international jury selected 14 projects. These projects will receive both conceptual and financial support of up to €20,000. It is important to ÜBER LEBENSKUNST to firmly anchor these projects in the city itself and give all Berliners the opportunity to see and experience them.

Here are a few initiatives that were chosen to roll out.

POWER THE CITY! DIE STROMAKTIVISTEN
Generate Your Own Power!
Project Holders: Martin Keil, Henrik Mayer / Reinigungsgesellschaft

In a Berlin gym adolescents are given the chance to generate electric power through muscle power which is then fed into the local power grid. The goal is to initiate an open discourse on equal opportunities and equal participation of unprivileged and marginalized young people. At the same time, the project contributes to an alternative power generation.

SOCIAL SEEDS – On Life Diversity in Community Gardens in Berlin
Project Holders: Alexandra Becker, Britta Pichler

Through the cultivation of old, rare and regional useful plants in community gardens in Berlin, new agro-socio-biotopes will be created in which social and biological diversity can thrive.
SUSTAINABLE SUSHI
A Restaurant as Art – On the Politically Correct Interpretation of a Japanese Delicacy 
Project Holders: Max Schumacher / post theater (new yok / berlin / tokyo)

Regional and sustainable sushi will be served in a temporary restaurant. The interrelation between food and ecology will be presented to visitors in a sensual way.

I like the SOCIAL SEEDS one... and not just because of the obvious link to my interests but because I have been musing on the link between bio-diversity and social diversity for some time.

Read more about the intitatives:

ÜBER LEBENSKUNST also wants to bring the themes of culture and sustainability to schools. TheÜBER LEBENSKUNST.Schule educational program, which was jointly developed with the Future Institute of Berlin's Free University, will prepare 18 selected artists and creative individuals from throughout Germany for their work with students. The 10-month program begins in September 2010.