A Whole Systems Approach to Health, Art and Ecology

I am writing from Teufen, a small town in the Swiss mountains. I am here because of a unique health clinic called the Paracelsus Klinik. The Paracelsus Klinik is the home of biological medicine, a type of medicine that looks at the body as a whole system and embraces the cutting edge of alternative and scientific medicine. I am here because I have a bladder disease that is a mystery to mainstream medicine and I have lived in constant pain since 2001. The Paracelsus Klinik has had amazing success treating all sorts of “untreatable” diseases and they have an enviable record of curing cancer, tumours, inflammatory, autoimmune and degenerative diseases. In my life I am becoming increasingly interested in whole systems thinking. Systems thinking is a framework that is based on the belief that the component parts of a system can best be understood in the context of relationships with each other and with other systems, rather than in isolation. I am noticing the connections and the interconnections. It is easy to see however that in society there is a dangerous trend towards specializing. Doctors who focus on one part of the body, urology, gynaecology, podiatry, create the misconception that each part of the body is autonomous, whereas in fact a root canal can lead to arthritis or even heart disease, and the whole body is affected when one part is inflamed. In my body, in my art and in my work I am interested in how to embrace a whole systems approach.

So far this semester I feel like my understanding of new forms of contemporary art practice has expanded. I am particularly interested in dialogical art, ecological art and the trend towards interdisciplinary collaboration. As I look at my blood under darkfield microscopy and see the alkaline and acidic balance of my body, or a bacterial invasion, it reminds me of the water testing that I do for my work, noticing the total suspended solids or ammonia. In ecological wastewater treatment we look at the cycle of water and how the wastewater is a resource and when cleaned with micro-organisms in systems that replicate the kidneys of the earth, wetlands, the water can be returned to the toilets for re-use or become valuable irrigation water. With my thoughts often on waste products internal and external it is clear that all aspects of the cycle must be examined. In a river the source is as important as the sink and the cities and towns, the factories and fertilizers all take their toll. In the body our food greatly affects our health, 80% of the immune system is in the small intestines, the chemicals and toxins from food, water, air and stress slowly lead to illness.

In order to come into balance it is essential to address all the problems and to listen deeply. So the artist working in community or from a dialogical or whole systems approach does not begin from a place of knowing, but instead involves all the people, asks questions and from this process the art unfolds, so too in biological medicine health comes from addressing all possible weaknesses and boosting the immune system. When a doctor gives chemical medicine to hide the symptom the problem does not go away, sewage flowing into a river appears to disappear but in fact is doing great harm, public art about a subject which was not involved, can be alienating and ultimately less successful than art that comes out of dialogue. Grant H. Kester writes, “Throughout, the locus of expressive meaning remains the radically autonomous figure of the individual artist. A dialogical aesthetic suggests a very different image of the artist, one defined in terms of openness, of listening, and of a willingness to accept a position of dependence and intersubjective vulnerability relative to the viewer or collaborator.”

It is clear that the grave problems facing each of us personally, facing society as a whole and facing the environment do not have easy answers. In complexity we must use creative whole systems thinking, look outside of the box and involve people from all backgrounds, knowledge and skill sets. Here at Paracelsus I see a kinesiologist one moment and receive an intravenous drip of vitamins and homeopathic medicines the next. I am reminded of the artist Jay Koh who began with a focus on health even creating an interactive information system for patients to evaluate and read evaluations of doctors. Much of his work has involved interdisciplinary and intercultural dialogue. His organization “arting” focuses on art as a means for social and structural change especially centred on Asia. In writing about arting Kester writes, “Underlying many of arting’s projects is the recognition that complex social and political issues, like those raised by genetic research, cannot be adequately addressed simply by fabricating physical objects but require polyvalent responses that operate on multiple levels of public interaction.” In the Paracelsus Klinik I have learned about multiple contributors to my illness, elevated levels of mercury and arsenic, viruses and bacteria in the blood, food allergies.. likewise if an artist is looking to create substantial change it is important to observe, listen, here from different perspectives, be inclusive and use a variety of approaches. A painkiller is not a cure, a complex system needs a solution that can address its complexity, a wastewater treatment system must be sized to the population, it must be resilient and able to create multiple biological processes, any treatment, physical, social ecological needs to be kaleidoscopic in nature.

Finnish Island Planting

Finland Week Three:

The Biomatrix Islands are are primarily an ecological art project. We are aiming for a balance between man and nature, aesthetics and functionality. As an art project it might appear disappointing if the Islands was indistinguishable from the landscape, but we also want them to blend in gracefully with the natural surroundings. One way of highlighting the special beauty of this manmade island will be with the plants. The plants that currently grow around the lake are bull rushes and phragmites. We will include twenty different native species, many of which are flowering.

The planting process is cold and wet. It is essential that the plants have their roots in the water. We have filled the triangle shapes within the hexagons with flax linen and we are planting into this lightweight natural material. The leaves of the plants will die over the winter but the roots should take hold and new shoots will appear in the spring.

It is essential not to disturb the birds as they come to nest on the islands and therefore the planting needs to occur in the Fall.

Birds and Bolts

Finland Week Two:

Noisy flocks of geese fly low over the lake as we bolt the pipes together, creating the Biomatrix. The weather has been clear and cold and the students are becoming more fluent with the construction process and with English. The black hexagons are striking in the light as the islands take shape; I am beginning to get a sense of the final outcome. There are two levels of height to the big island, which we are creating using large pipes underneath the matrix. We are attaching these pipes using rope and stainless steel strapping. The extra buoyancy of the large pipes will support the gravel and rocks while the regular matrix will be planted with wetland plants. The height difference will make the islands appear more natural.

I have been filming the connection of the hexagons to form the Biomatrix and I would like to create a short video piece in which the process is speeded up so that it is possible to see the island take shape in one minute.

A Blending of Art and Science in Finland

Biomatrix Large Island Design

Materials Arriving at the Site

Beginning Work Assembling the Biomatrix

Jackie Brookner Creating Fake Rocks

Me and My Husband Galen Fulford

Week One: An Introduction to the Project

In Salo, Finland there is a lake that is polluted by a nearby sewage treatment plant. This bright green lake is a key place for migrating birds. With a team of artists, limnologists, ornithologists and college students I am working on creating three floating islands, which will serve multiple purposes. The Islands, the largest of which is 30m diameter, will have local wetland plants growing in the water on which millions of microorganisms will flourish. Patented media below the islands will also provide surface area for these micro-organisms. Aerators will create an aerobic environment encouraging the growth of these positive micro-organisms, which eat the contaminants in the water. On the largest island we will create a protected environment for birds to nest on rocks and gravel.

The project is funded by a 1% for the arts grant from Salo City. It is part of Halikonlahti Green Arts Exhibition which features the work of many Finnish and international artists working within the eco art movement.

Students from the local vocational college studying house building are an important part of the team, giving their muscle power to putting together the HDPE pipes and planting the plants. Jackie Brookner, an ecological artist from New York City is currently making large fake rocks that will be light enough to float on the islands and strong enough for birds to rest. She is working with an expert on nanotechnology to use secret lightweight nanotech concrete.

On the first day a large truck delivered all the materials and we gathered to begin assembling the pieces. The structure, called a Biomatrix, works with the principles of biomimicry, replicating the strongest forms in nature: that of the ice crystal, and the honeycomb. This hexagonal shape is both beautiful and hardy enough to withstand the cold Finnish winter and the ice that will form on the lake.

Treatment process within Biomatrix systems can effectively:

• Reduce COD & BOD loading.
• Reduce TSS.
• Improve the clarity of the water.
• Reduce pathogens.
• Reduce nutrient levels including Nitrogen and Phosphorous.
• Breakdown organic compounds.

I am excited to be involved in this project which is blending art and science. I work with my husband and father in The Ecovillage Institute, an ecological design and engineering partnership based in Findhorn. Together we offer consulting for wastewater treatment using natural systems. This project is especially interesting to me because of its primary role as an art project.

After Nature

In a recent visit to New York City I had the privilege of getting to see a relevant and disturbing exhibition at the New Museum called “After Nature”. Over ninety contemporary artists envision an extinct world or one on the verge of extinction. The show was inspired by "Lessons of Darkness", a video by Werner Herzog of the 700 Kuwaiti oil wells that the Iraqis burned in the wake of the Gulf War. Six million barrels of oil were burned a day and the footage of the smoke, fires, fireman, trucks and wasted landscape looks like the end of the world.

Faced with the overwhelming fact that the Earth’s Ecosystem is out of balance due to human population and the dramatic abuse of fossil fuels, we are forced to imagine scenarios of global catastrophe. We are already experiencing more severe storms, floods, draughts, and hurricanes than ever before. Many scientists predict that runaway global warming is inevitable and as humans warm the planet, the ice caps melt and sea levels rise creating as many as 600 million refuges from rising seas (The International Institute for Environment and Development). As glaciers melt less water is stored as snow creating flooding and lower water tables. Water shortages along with population growth spell disaster. We have been living in a time of unnatural abundance by burning ancient sunlight that has been stored for millions of years. The exhibition “After Nature” is a timely look at our potential lack of future if dramatic change does not take place soon.

Imagine an ethnographic museum full of the remnants of human civilization. Here artist Pawet Althamer created a self-portrait made up of all his clothes and belongings wrapped in plastic. Next to this is “Pawet and Monika” two people frozen in a glass box with cameras and cell phones, yet their insides are made of straw. This is a poignant reminder that we may feel detached from nature yet we are in fact one and the same. Berlinde De Bruyckere has made a wax body that is melted and scared, lying in a glass coffin. Next to this can be viewed “The Magnificent Seven” distorted ceramic heads on metal poles by Thomas Schutte, a sculpture that made me think of warfare, both primal and chemical.

Another artist imagined a world in which nature outlived humanity, shown by photographs of Kudzu vine devouring buildings in the US South. These were both sad and strangely beautiful, showing the Earth’s ability to heal and erase signs of human life. It made me think of ancient ruins from past civilizations such as the Incans and Mayans that were discovered hidden in the jungles of Central and South America. Diego Perrone also used photography to take pictures of large holes in the Earth with humans interacting with the spaces. He says about his work “ I wish to speak for nature”.

George Bush has tried to fill our minds with religious views of good and evil and the idea that the “axis of evil” exists in the Middle Eastern states. Inspired by this image of paranoia Roberto Cuoghi has sought to create a psychogeography of this evil empire through black glass, lead and ink maps of imaginary “dark” landscapes. In perhaps one of the most distressing of the show’s art pieces Maurizio Cattelan’s equestrian sculpture shows a taxidermied horse hanging with its’ head missing into the wall. The feeling is one of fear and madness.
Although this show “After Nature” is frightening and heavy I left the New Museum encouraged. Finally artists are involved in creating art about ecological issues. Ecological art is not a tiny movement on the edges of the art world, but entering into large museums and influencing the public to wake up and realize the extent of the change that needs to happen if we are to avoid global catastrophe.

Alpine Sow Thistle

On precipitous ledges and cool gullies in the Eastern Grampian Mountains of Angus and South Aberdeen there lives a rare alpine plant called Cicerbita alpina or Alpine Sow Thistle. This plant has survived since the last ice age but is currently classified as vulnerable. The Eastern Grampian Mountains are its only stronghold within the UK and Alpine Sow Thistle has gradually been forced into the most remote places where it is protected from sheep, deer and mountain hares. It can be found in only four locations within these mountains between 600m and 1000m. It usually lives on North facing ledges or ravines where snow is plentiful and provides water in the spring to nourish new shoots. It is unfortunate that the plant has been forced into such extreme sites for protection as the current populations suffer from the exposure and the plants appear battered with browning leaves. There is concern that with climate change the habitat for Alpine Sow Thistle will be reduced resulting in further losses. Other threats are rock falls, and population isolation, which can lead to seed infertility. The Alpine Sow Thistle presents us with a frightening look at the impact of grazing on Scotland’s wildlife, in which many plants can only survive in the most remote and precarious locations.

Bibliography:

Alexander, L. Action Plan Research on Alpine Blue Sowthistle, C. alpina. Report to Scottish Natural Heritage.

Lusby, Philip and Wright, Jenny. Scottish Wild Plants: Their History, Ecology and Conservation. Mercat Press, 2001.

Norwegian Specklebelly

Pseudocyphellaria norvegica or Norwegian Specklebelly is a lichen that has gone extinct in Wales and lives in only one location in England and five locations in Scotland. It survives in ancient woodlands on hazel, ash, sallow, elm, oak and willow. Due to their interesting symbiotic relationship between fungus and alga (with the fungus providing water and minerals and the alga photosynthesis) lichens are tough and able to survive in extreme climates. They are however very sensitive to air pollution and are sometimes used as bio-indicators of air quality. The Norwegian Specklebelly suffers from over acidity due to air pollution and this contributes to its decline in the UK. It is also at risk from deforestation, as it does not grow on young trees. This interesting lichen is mostly brown in color with white on the upper surface of the thallos. It is considered to be leafy and lobed and prefers sheltered humid locations near the coast.

Bibliography:

Black, B & Raymond J. Glen Nant Caledonian Forest Reserve Regeneration Plot Annual Reports 1992-2005, Forestry Commission Scotland.

UK Biodiversity Action Plan.Species Pseudocyphellaria norvegica. http://www.ukbap.org.uk/UKPlans.aspx?ID=537

Matted Bryum

It is easy to appreciate a vintage wine or a precious antique for their age and value. On Earth terms however with the planet being over 4.5 billion years old modern human species (originating with Homo Habilis the first of the Homo genus line) is young having existed only 2.2 to 1.5 million years. The first land plant species are bryophytes and have existed for 400 million years. This alone should be cause to value these incredible plants. Bryophytes are made up of three distinct groups, mosses, liverworts and hornworts. Scotland has over 920 species of bryophytes. They are ecologically important as they absorb water, maintaining humidity in the soil over dry periods and preventing flooding in wet periods. They are pioneers meaning that they often will sprout first enabling other plant species to follow them. Many animals and invertebrates live on bryophytes.

Bryum calophyllum known as Matted or Blunt Bryum is an endangered bryophyte moss that lives on coastal moist sand dune slacks. It has become extinct in all but four locations in Britain and exists only in one location in Wales and the remainder in Scotland. It currently can be found in West Ross, Islay and Bettyhill. It is threatened by habitat destruction. In several sites it has gone extinct due to golf course development and the construction of holiday homes. It is also at risk from trampling, motorcycle dune joy riders, eutrophication of water supplies due to chemical fertilizers used on nearby golf courses or farms and drainage. Other threatened bryophyte mosses are Petalophyllum ralfsii or Petalwort, a liverwort which survives in only one location on the West Coast of Scotland, Bryum neodamense or Long-leaved Thread-moss which exists in one location in Scotland and Bryum warneum or Warne’s Thread-moss which exists in only five locations in Scotland. It is important to protect this ancient species and limit coastal development, golf courses and chemical agriculture in Scotland.

Bibliography:
Holyoak, Dr. David. Looking After Rare Mosses and Liverworts in Coastal Dune Slacks. Back from the Brink Management Series, Plantlife, 2003.

Pale Butterwort

Wetlands and bogs are under appreciated. Since the land is unusable for grazing and farming, bogs are often drained and destroyed. In reality they serve a valuable purpose and many think of these lush wet places as the kidneys of the Earth. The plants and micro-organisms that live in bogs and wetlands clean and supply water to rivers and lochs. Bogs also store carbon in the form of peat. If drained the carbon, which has been stored for thousands of years, is released into the atmosphere contributing to global warming. The destruction of wetlands and bogs leads to greater pollution, risk or flooding and loss of species. One rare and beautiful bog species in Scotland is the Pinguicula Lusitanica or Pale Butterwort. Found in West Sutherland, West Ross, Inverness-shire, Argyll and the Hebrides, the Pale Butterwort thrives on wet, open peat or mineral soil. This plant is carnivorous and eats small flies and other insects. The curled leaves trap the insects which are then broken down by the digestive enzymes in the leaves. It is striking in appearance with red veins in pale green leaves. The blossoms are pink with throats of red and yellow stripe. The Pale Butterwort is at risk due to drainage, peat-extraction, moor burning, eutrophication and trampling.

Bibliography:
Lusby, Philip and Wright, Jenny. Scottish Wild Plants: Their History, Ecology and Conservation. Mercat Press, 2001.

Scottish Primrose

The bright purple Primula Scotica or Scottish Primrose is found only in Northern Scotland and exists nowhere else in the world. It can be found on the north coast of Scotland between Cape Wrath in Sutherland and Dunbeath in Caithness and on the larger of the Orkney islands. This beautiful plant is very sensitive to environmental factors and can only live on four types of habitat: grassland, maritime heath, coastal limestone and calcareous sand dunes. It thrives on mild winters but interestingly global warming is one of the main threats to this plant. The reason is because latitudes above fifty degrees north have consistently been getting colder since the 1950’s, with stronger winds and storms. Light grazing benefits Scottish Primrose and areas in which rabbit populations have been reduced the plant disappeared or declined. Heavy grazing by sheep however also leads to declined populations. On the island of Hoy in Orkney the Scottish Wildlife Trust has a conservation project that is lightly grazing Shetland sheep on areas of land that have Scottish Primrose. On one of these sites the population has doubled. Scottish Primrose is part of Scotland’s natural heritage and it would a terrible loss if this unique plant were to become extinct.

Bibliography:
Lusby, Philip and Wright, Jenny. Scottish Wild Plants: Their History, Ecology and Conservation. Mercat Press, 2001.

Living the Disconnected Life

“Internal and external forces are at work urging us to look away from the reality of what is happening. Television, iPods, cell phones, and all the newest electronic games and gadgets engulf us with distractions and mind-numbing entertainment. The use of antidepressants, substance abuse, and suicide rates, especially among young people are dramatically on the rise. The World Health Organization reports that depression has reached epidemic proportions and is predicted to be the second leading cause of death by 2020. Nearly four million people across the globe have plugged into Second Life, a virtual world in which to live and buy property far from the global crisis of our fractured Earth. Many of us seem to be doing everything we can to shut off awareness of the real world’s plight” (Macy, 18).

During the last month I have been living the disconnected life. More specifically I have been living in the world of other peoples’ disconnection. Almost everyday I have photographed a person from my local area in a scene of his or her particular form of zoning out. I have also been talking non-stop about the project and constantly recruiting new participants. Just now I returned from Tescos photographing Kirsty as she walked through the isles in a daze. Yesterday I photographed Heather lying in a dark alley filled with trash, a bottle of beer at her lips. I listened as she talked about the anger, which led her to alcohol, the feeling of hopelessness at the state of the world and her life as a frustrated activist. Many of her friends in the movement died from substance abuse. Before Heather I photographed Ruby at her computer, a dancer she feels disconnected by the static pose of computer life. On Monday I listened as Carolyn talked about how her feelings of sadness led her to eat and to obesity. Even on the weekend at a party I was still in the realm of disconnection photographing Jo feeling lonely surrounded by people having fun. When preparing for the party and she asked me what to wear and I said wear what makes you feel most uncomfortable.

The grind of nine to five wears down Kerrigan, and Galen feels spaced out when driving, in the in-between spaces of travel. Gill feels trapped by having to shop and look professional while at the same time knowing the dirty underworld of slave labour and pollution that she supports by shopping at the cheap stores she can afford. Avalon feels small and insignificant in the city and for her the photograph within the parking garage represents the ugliness of urban life. Faced with feelings of insecurity Gabrielle turns to chocolate and smoking, a mobile phone keeping her company, while Gail turns to TV and snack food to distract herself. Are we, like Joanna Macy writes, trying to shut ourselves off from the problems of the world? Or are we just trying to survive the best we can?

It has been both emotionally intense and surprisingly engaging collaborating on this art project. I have brought attention to the places of inattention in the participant’s lives. My examining his or her disconnected moments it seems that the person begins to see the potential to do things differently or at least to bring more presence into these moments so that they feel responsibility instead of victimization.

My original intention was to photograph half new people and half people who participated in Essence. I have found however that I chose people to participate in Essence because I felt they were connected and quite aware of who they really are. Many of the people I chose are highly optimistic and have a way of lighting up the room. While these people obviously have moments of disconnection, many found it hard to think of any moments when asked. Others chose moments such as lying on the couch daydreaming, which is more tame than what I had in mind. I have therefore decided to ask more new people than Essence participants. I don’t want to force disconnection while there are people who are used to plumbing the depths of their souls and who are prepared to show truly painful or disturbing moments of disconnection. This honesty is a powerful mirror for us all.

Ecological Artists

Wherever possible I have taken the artists description directly from their website.

Agnes Denes
One of the early pioneers of both the environmental art movement and Conceptual art, Agnes Denes brings her wide ranging interests in the physical and social sciences, mathematics, philosophy, linguistics, poetry and music to her delicate drawings, books and monumental artworks around the globe. In 1982, she carried out what has become one of the best-known environmental art projects when she planted a two-acre field of wheat in a vacant lot in downtown Manhattan. Titled, Wheatfield -- A Confrontation, the artwork yielded 1,000 lbs. of wheat in the middle of New York City to comment on "human values and misplaced priorities". The harvested grain then traveled to 28 cities worldwide in "The International Art Show for the End of World Hunger" and was symbolically planted around the globe.

Ala Plastica
http://www.alaplastica.org.ar/
Linking ecological and social methods in the development of public and interventionist art projects.

Alan Sonfist
http://www.alansonfist.com/
As early as 1965 Sonfist advocated the building of monuments dedicated to the history of unpolluted air, and suggested the migration of animals should be reported as public events. He created "Time Landscape" in NYC which was eventually landmarked by the city. It has often been cited as the first urban earthwork of its kind. More recently, Sonfist has continued to create artworks within the natural landscape, inaugurating a one acre (4,000 m_) landscape project titled "The Lost Falcon of Westphalia" on Prince Richard's estate outside Cologne, Germany in 2005.

Ann Rosenthal
Her site and gallery-based installations juxtapose found objects, traditional media, and digital imaging to complicate the social and natural histories of “place.” She created "Infinity City" project with artist Stephen Moore which explores nuclear waste and the environmental devastation caused by the atomic bomb.

Aviva Ramini
Creator of Ghost Nets a 9 year bio-remedial habitat restoration on the dump at Vinalhaven Island, Maine.

Basia Irland
Based in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Basia Irland describes herself as "a sculptor and installation artist, a poet and book artist, and an activist in water issues." Her thoughtful interdisciplinary projects combine beautiful craftsmanship, a fascination with research and a participative engagement with the viewer. Basia Irland received significant attention for "A Gathering of Waters: Rio Grande, Source to Sea" (1995-2000) which was accompanied by a documentary in 1999. This complex participatory project involved an extended performance staged along the path of the world's third most endangered river, the 1885-mile Rio Grande.

Betsy Damon
http://www.keepersofthewaters.org/
Director of Keepers of the Waters. The mission of Keepers of the Waters is to inspire and promote projects that combine art, science and community involvement to restore, preserve and remediate water sources.

Brandon Ballengee
The work of Brandon Ballengée bridges the gap between research biology and art. He combines a fascination with fish and amphibians with the techniques of commercial art photography. In 1996 Ballengée began collaborating with scientists to create hybrid environmental art/ ecological research projects. Since then he has had numerous exhibitions nationally and internationally in which he presents photographs and biological samples of the creatures he collects. He is involved directly with field research and uses the visual impact of science to engage the public in a discussion of broader environmental issues.

Cami Davis
Cami Davis is an artist and professor at the University of Vermont where she teaches Painting and Issues of Ecological Perception, and Art, Ecology and Community. She considers her painting and installations to be both contemplative practice and engaged activism contributing to a sustainable future. Cami co-created the community arts project, The Temenos Books, Images for Global Healing, Peace and Gratitude and the event, For Love of Earth, A Celebration of the Earth Charter. The Temenos Books introduce the Earth Charter.

Claire Morgan
http://www.claire-morgan.co.uk/page36.htm
At an early stage she developed a strong interest in the organic, in natural processes, and in the bodily connotations of natural materials. This formed the basis for her practice as an artist creating sculptural installations and continues to influence her work at present.

Common Ground UK
Common Ground is internationally recognised for playing a unique role in the arts and environmental fields, distinguished by the linking of nature with culture, focussing upon the positive investment people can make in their own localities, championing popular democratic involvement, and by inspiring celebration as a starting point for action to improve the quality of our everyday places.

Cornelia Parker
Interviewed Noam Chomsky about his environmental views displayed in Whitechapel Gallery.

David Buckland
http://www.capefarewell.com/
Founder of Cape Farewell which has brought together our leading artists, writers, scientists, educators and media for a series of expeditions into the wild and challenging High Arctic. Together they have mapped, measured and been inspired by this awesome environment and have endeavoured to bring home stories and artworks that tell how a warming planet is impacting on this wilderness.

DeLeon White Gallery
Based in Toronto Canada, the artists exhibiting at the DWG work within environmental or ecological paradigms; issues revolving around nature, culture and society are addressed by the artists through medium, technique and content. Under the Directorship of Stephen White, the DeLeon White Gallery has evolved into central cultural and community oriented gallery.

Exit Art
http://www.exitart.org
Exit Art is an independent vision of contemporary culture prepared to react immediately to important issues that affect our lives. We do experimental, historical and unique presentations of aesthetic, social, political and environmental issues. We absorb cultural differences that become prototype exhibitions. We are a center for multiple disciplines. Exit Art is a 25-year-old cultural center in New York City founded by Directors Jeanette Ingberman and Papo Colo.

Gavin Renwick
http://web.mac.com/g.t.renwick/iWeb/Site%2015/Introduction.html
Gavin’s work bridges art and architecture, research and practice. He has taught in and worked through architecture, interior design, fine art and museology. His work utilises practice-led methods and honors both visual research and the parity of indigenous traditional knowledge.For the last decade he has been working between Scotland and the Canadian Northwest Territories. Most recently his work in Canada has involved working for the Tlicho (formely Dogrib) Dene community of Gameti as project coordinator for Gameti Ko, an incorporated society directed by a board of elders. The aim of Gameti Ko is to utilise First Nation traditional knowledge to inform contemporary sustainable community development, including building a full-scale prototype house based on Tlicho spatial concepts and ideas of home. Gavin is currently developing a major touring exhibition that will determine what aspects of his work has relevance to Scottish rural communities, particularly in relation to new land ownership legislation.

Hamish Fulton
http://www.hamish-fulton.com/
Calling himself the “Walking Artist” he creates art from his treks often using words and numbers.

The Harrison Studio
The “Grandparents of Ecological Art” the Harrison’s create metaphorical proposals for real ecological change. Greenhouse Britain is a proposal for gracefully moving inland as the waters rise due to Global Warming.

Helix Arts
http://www.helixarts.com/pages/home.html
Helix Arts specialises in the development of projects and initiatives, including artist residencies and commissions, which explore the role and potential of the arts in a social context.

Hester Reeve
http://www.hesterreeve.com/
“Live art has become my main medium for public engagement and drawing has become the private foundation of all I create. My live art works do not have communication as their goal (that would be to admit to a full understanding of the issues at stake and I want for no such mastery or closure). Rather, I attempt to explore and expose the human-nature landscape to the point where it becomes fragile, fractious and perhaps more ‘truthful.’ Pieces are usually site-specific and are emphatically unrehearsed, once-only events. Each live action is a starting point, an arrival into a new place of experience.”

Ichi Ikeda
http://www33.ocn.ne.jp/~waters/2000-2003E.html
Japanese artist who creates art performances inspired by water.

Jackie Brookner
http://www.jackiebrookner.net/
Ecological artist from NYC working in the public domain creating remediation projects for water and natural sculptures.

Joseph Beuys
He is most famous for his ritualistic public performances and his energetic championing of the healing potential of art and the power of a universal human creativity. As well as performances, Beuys produced sculptures, environments, vitrines, 450 prints and posters, and thousands of drawings. He was also a committed teacher and concerned with ecological and political themes.

Laurie Lundquist
http://www.laurielundquist.com/
Lundquist's work is concept driven, she chooses from a wide variety of materials and methods to integrate art works into a given site. She thinks that designing artwork into municipal projects can reinforce connection to place by drawing on specific observations, local memories, and visible landmarks to underscore the identity of a given place.

Mel Chin
Alchemy, botany, and ecology are but a few of the disciplines that intersect in his work. He insinuates art into unlikely places, including destroyed homes, toxic landfills, and even popular television, investigating how art can provoke greater social awareness and responsibility. Unconventional and politically engaged, his projects also challenge the idea of the artist as the exclusive creative force behind an artwork.


Mierle Laderman Ukeles
As the Artist-in-Residence for New York City’s Department of Sanitation since 1978, Ukeles has been a force in raising awareness about the garbage, the systems and people handling garbage, and expanding the role of artists.

N55
http://www.n55.dk/
N55 are artists who design and build humorous but functional tools meant for a utopian way of life. Their vision of a democratically organized collaborating body of self-reliant individuals is described in their writing and embodied in their designs. Most of their writing takes the form of manuals. From their website you can learn how to build either a "Microdwelling,"a "Modular Boat," a "Small Fish Farm," or how to create situations and relationships like "Room," "Work," and "Kommune."

Navjot Altaf
Indian Artist from Mumbai. Created interactive and collaborative projects in which she designed water pumps and simple systems for helping women to carry water and bathe in privacy.

Nils Norman
Nils Norman’s work is informed by urban politics, traditions and histories of utopian thinking and ideas on alternative economic systems that can work within the city. For the past decade Nils Norman has been devising a series of imaginative proposals for improving urban living conditions through community-based initiatives.

Noel Hardings
http://www.noelharding.ca/
Canadian artist who has designed various green projects including a green corridor, nature bridge and sculptural constructed wetlands.

Oliver Lowenstein
http://x2.i-dat.org/fourthdoor/fourthdoor/index.html
Founder of Fourth Door Review, the unique cross-disciplinary publishing venture from Sussex, Britain. Published annually, Fourth Door Review, explores the relationships between ecology and technology, art and architecture, and new media and new music.

Patricia Johanson
http://www.patriciajohanson.com/
Johanson's designs for sewers, parks, and other functional projects not only speak to deep human needs for beauty, culture, and historical memory. She also answers to the needs of birds, insects, fish, animals, and microorganisms. Her art reclaims degraded ecologies and creates conditions that permit endangered species to thrive in the middle of urban centers.

Platform
http://www.platformlondon.org/
PLATFORM works across disciplines for social and ecological justice. It combines the transformatory power of art with the tangible goals of campaigning, the rigour of in-depth research with the vision to promote alternative futures.

RANE
http://rane.falmouth.ac.uk/home.html
The RANE research cluster, based at University College Falmouth, has been established to examine the relationship between the visual arts and ecological thinking. It actively seeks creative methods through which art can impact on our current environmental predicament. Using artistic practice the cluster aims to offer interpretations and models of thinking about the natural world that help to promote a sustainable future.

Reiko Goto-Collins and Tim Collins
For over seven years Collins and Goto were Distinguished Research Fellows at the STUDIO for Creative Inquiry at Carnegie Mellon University. It was there in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania that they worked on Nine Mile Run, a site-based, community-focused art and ecological restoration project, as well as 3 Rivers 2nd Nature, a five-year art and landscape project intended to recover and restore natural resources native to the area.

Shai Zakai
http://www.eco-art.co.il/cv.asp?CL=ENG
Shai Zakai is the director and founder of "The Israeli Forum For Ecological Art" a non profit Association and Photography and Eco Art Centre, and Initiated and established several community green movements - (1996),‘Matzilim Yerukim’( Green Savers ), (1999) Environmental Forum of Mateh Yehuda regional council, and created "The First International Art & Ecology Conference in Israel" and currently - Artists' Marathon - "A dialog with the Environment".

Stephanie Flom
Founder of the Persephone Project, an eco-art project that connects the public to art and the environment by promoting gardening as a contemporary art practice and by recognizing gardeners as artists.
Recent Exhibition
“I created an installation entitled Mayflies in June: River Spirits Return for an exhibition at the Brew House Gallery in Pittsburgh of women environmental artists. For the installation I cut 147 different mayfly-inspired silhouettes.”

Superflex
http://www.superflex.dk/
A collective based in Copenhagen, Superflex are a group of freelance artist–designer–activists committed to social and economic change. They produce not art works but what they call ‘tools’ – a word that stands in for a range of productions, including an Internet TV channel (Superchannel, 2000), the production of energy resources (Supergas, 2000), free stores (Free Shop, 2003; Merchandise Shop, 2005) and projects that deal with copyright, creative commons and intellectual property (Copyshop, 2005).

Susan Leibovitz Steinman
http://www.steinmanstudio.com/
Artist Susan Leibovitz Steinman salvages materials directly from community waste streams to construct public art installations that connect common daily experiences to broader social issues. Projects include conceptual sculpture gardens that meld art, ecology and community action.

Suzanne Lacy
http://www.suzannelacy.com/ Suzanne Lacy is an internationally known artist whose work includes installations, video, and large-scale performances on social themes and urban issues. One of her best-known works to date is The Crystal Quilt (Minneapolis, 1987) a performance with 430 older women, broadcast live on Public Television.

Tony Foster
Watercolour diary of the Grand Canyon and Mount Everest with detailed information about plant species and geology. Artist has environmental conservation vision.

Uts’am/Witness
http://www.utsam-witness.ca/
Uts'am/Witness has been a precedent-and-protocol setting project that has broken new ground, forged cross cultural dialogue, empowered communities, and produced a lasting legacy for models of land-use and sovereignty for First Nations communities in BC. A unique collaboration, Uts'am/Witness has brought together members of the Squamish Nation, wilderness advocates, artists, the Roundhouse Community Centre and the general public. Uts'am/Witness completed the work it originally set out to do, which was to protect the area now known as Kwa Kwayexwelh-Aynexws, Wild Spirit Places.

WochenKlausur
http://www.wochenklausur.at/projekte/menu_en.htm
Since 1993 and on invitation from different art institutions, the artist group WochenKlausur develops concrete proposals aimed at small, but nevertheless effective improvements to socio-political deficiencies. Proceeding even further and invariably translating these proposals into action, artistic creativity is no longer seen as a formal act but as an intervention into society.

Yutaka Kobayashi
Whether he is moving soil from Okinawa to Tokyo, raising chickens in a mini ecosystem as art or planting temporary gardens in asphalt, Yutaka Kobayashi creates unexpected educational opportunities for the public. The frequently participative outreach component of his art, extends his ecological messages into the larger contexts of community, school or public park in which they are placed and help stimulate dialogue and the potential for change. A current project involves a collaboration with artists Suzanne Lacy, Leibovitz Steinman, "restoring a waterfront; designing an interpretive park with mini-wetlands, where storm water runoff from a gas station hits the river" all with the participation of the local residents of Elkhorn City, Kentucky.

Michael Singer: A Closer Look at an Eco Artist

The artist as visionary contributes to ecological sustainability through interventions and engaging with public and private sectors. This can be as part of a design team, bringing in an aesthetic and creative vision, such as Reiko Goto and Timothy Collins in Nine Mile Run in which they reclaim a section of the Pennsylvania River through research, participatory workshops and legal action, or in organizing an event that brings together inspiring speakers and artists with the general public, such as Dalziel and Scullian’s More Than Us in Inverness 2007, or by using metaphor and creative conceptualization to solve real problems such as The Harrisons in their recent project Greenhouse Britain. As an artist working in the field of ecological design I have come across the artist Michael Singer and been inspired by his way of bringing art and his unique creative vision to large industrial projects.

Michael Singer lives in Southern Vermont on a large piece of land with many studios blended into the landscape. I personally have met him and talked with him about his art. His work embraces not only sculpture but also photography, painting, monoprinting and publishing. Many of his sculptures are twenty to thirty feet long and made from granite, wood and metals. Much of Singer’s time is spent as a municipal artist. Many projects in the built environment set aside one or two percent of their budget for art. Singer has persuaded project directors to see the artist as central to the design process. You can see his six hundred foot retaining wall on the riverbanks in Grand Rapids, Michigan built between 1988 and 1995 as a piece of engineering or a massive sculpture.

Michael Singer played a central role in the design of a solid waste transfer station and recycling facility in Phoenix, Arizona, which was built between 1989 and 1993. He claims that instead of an artist hanging a painting in a building, they can also be using the same skills they use in the studio to help with the design process and overall appearance of the building. They should be asking questions and bringing their unique perspective to help problem solve. A big question he asked when working on the recycling plant was “how can we make this a place that the public can understand?” He is interested in changing people’s attitude towards waste. Thus, “transforming infrastructure into something that works with the community.” By making this project one of beauty with many courtyards and places for people to sit, as well as an educational area and an amphitheater where they can view the sorting of garbage, he turned a solid waste management project into a public park where people go on a Sunday. In Earthworks and Beyond: Contemporary Art in the Landscape John Beardsley wrote about this project, “The whole effect is at once archaic and futuristic, suggesting an ancient temple consecrated to a postindustrial phenomenon – the culture of excess and obsolescence.” In 1993 the New York Times chose the design as one of the eight most important architectural events of the year.

In a sense, Michael Singer’s ideas are also redefining the role of the artist. Instead of an artist being an added extra, who applies a decorative finish to a project, he is a primary figure in every aspect of the project. Michael Singer adopts a holistic approach to a project thus integrating aesthetic site design, architecture, public access, utility, and natural elements.

Many of the projects, on which Michael Singer works, embrace the new field of Industrial Ecology. The design of industrial processes is modeled on the systemic design of natural systems. The goal of industrial ecology is to design engineered processes or a building on the same principles and as adaptations and interpretations of natural systems. These processes are seen as part of the greater bioregional ecosystem with balanced flows between nature and industry, as opposed to industry treating ecology as a source of expendable materials and a sink for wastes. The result is often great beauty. Dr. John Todd, who is a biologist, collaborates with Singer on some projects that involve Industrial Ecology. He designed a system for treating wastewater using no chemicals but natural ecosystems of plants, bacteria and fish. These accelerate nature’s ability to cleanse herself, thus creating clean water. John Todd won the Chrysler Award for Innovation in Design for his pioneering work in ecological and industrial design 1994.

Singer has worked on the design for two power stations in New York. One is in Astoria, Queens and the other in Green Point. He has also completed design elements for the AES Power Station in Londonderry, New Hampshire. The waste heat generated by the New York plants will be used in greenhouses to heat water for aquaculture and create the perfect climate for horticulture. The greenhouses will be aesthetically beautiful, employ local people and create revenues through the sale of fish and produce. They will also be open to the public.

Singer has had a long career as an artist with a strong relationship to the natural world. In the 1970’s his art was much smaller scale and based on a specific natural area such as a local pond in Vermont. This work was more in the genre of Andy Goldsworthy. He described these pieces as meditations. Singer’s interest in rituals and site specific projects still enters his work today. Often his gardens have winding pathways or small enclosures that draw the public into the sculpture. In 1993, he was commissioned to design a garden in Stuttgart, Germany for an international garden exposition. The site had been bombed in World War Two so Singer created a memorial to war and the survivors. He called it, Ritual Series/Retellings: A Place to Remember Those Who Survived

“The gardens function as the lungs and kidneys of the building, cleaning air and gray water as well as providing comfortable climate control without air-conditioning. Water is first diverted to an outdoor constructed wetland and pond. From that point it is piped into the first atrium garden pool next to the buildings library. This pool contains fish and plantings that absorb toxins...The water drips into a deep cistern for storage and recycling in the buildings irrigation system.”

The potency of Michael Singer’s art lies in its ability to appeal to all one’s senses. One can walk through his sculptures following their twists and entering the enclosures of creeping vines, granite and wood. One smells the plants and flowers and hears the sound of water running over patterned concrete slabs. At the same it appeals to the mind with its environmental consciousness and desire to merge functionality and beauty, while making the most unexpected places, such as waste transfer stations, artful.

Wild Scotland Versus Tame Scotland

Living in Scotland it is hard to avoid the controversy over a new golf course planned by Donald Trump in Aberdeenshire. It is both very real and symbolic of one of the largest conflicts of our time: big business versus the environment. The aggressive money man himself is here to build the “the world’s greatest golf course” which happens to be on rare and protected dunes. Here our greed battles our love of our land; the elite world of the rich, combat the rare elite of the plant and wildlife kingdom. It is a battle of values and also of economics.

Contemporary economists, acknowledging that global warming and the degradation of natural resources are no longer fringe issues but are confirmed by science and make front cover news, must take into account the idea of natural capital. Lester R. Brown writes in Plan B 3.0, “the market has some fundamental weaknesses, however. It does not incorporate into prices the indirect costs of producing goods. It does not value nature’s services properly. And it does not respect the sustainable yield thresholds of natural systems. It also favors the near term over the long term, showing little concern for future generations” (Brown 7). We must take into account these indirect costs and the value of wild nature. What is the natural capital of rare and endangered wildlife? Can we put a price on the endangered dune bryophytes warne’s thread-moss and blunt bryum?

It is symbolically appropriate that the conflict is one of golf vs. wilderness. Nothing could be more iconic than fake nature vs. the real thing. In her book Wild Jay Griffiths writes about golf courses,

“Golf epitomizes the tame world. On a golf course nature is neutered. The grass is clean, a lawn laundry that wipes away mud, the insect, the bramble, nettle and thistle, an Eezy-wipe lawn where nothing of life, dirty and glorious, remains. Golf turns outdoors into indoors, a prefab mat of stultified grass, processed, pesticided, herbicided, the pseudo-green of formica sterility…Worldwide, golf is an arch act of enclosure, a commons fenced and subdued for the wealthy, trampling serf and seedling. The enemy of wildness, it is a demonstration of the absolute dominion of man over wild nature” (Griffiths 5).

If golf symbolizes our control over nature, wild species symbolize our wild spirit and creativity. We are all interconnected and the wild and the tame are a part of each of us. In this debate I find myself drawn to the characters. What are the plants and wildlife that are at risk? what are their qualities? their uses in the cycle of life? Other than golf what are the threats they face? I am interested to research the rare and threatened plant species in Scotland and to paint them. By painting their unique colors and shapes, seeds and roots I hope to bring them more into the spotlight and increase understanding and interest in these fragile neighbors. In Scottish Wild Plants Lusby and Wright explain, “The conservation of individual species demands an understanding of their biology, ecology and habitat. For long-term survival it is often not enough to maintain the appropriate habitat type, but to keep it in a condition which allows particular species to regenerate and compete successfully with associated vegetation” (19).
If we are to turn down the big business offers from the likes of Donald Trump I believe it will be because we understand and appreciate the natural capital at our doorsteps.

"The world may be caged by a defect of the entire economic profession-namely, the idea that we can assess value in banknotes, or that we can understand our relationship to the material world using an abstract metric rather than a biological one. The extraordinary advances made by Western societies will, in the end, be subservient to the land and what it can provide and teach" (Hawkins, Blessed Unrest).

Disconnect

Where in our lives do we feel least in our essence? Where and when are we disconnected from who we really are? In Essence I looked at the places and qualities that make us feel fulfilled; make us feel we are in our essence and being real. Be it in spiritual practice, creativity, loving relationship or connection with nature, when we are connected with our essence we are present and we feel peaceful or joyful. I believe this presence brings clarity and purpose. By looking at where we are disconnected and asleep in our lives I believe it is possible to gain both personal insights and understanding of societal problems and dysfunctions. Much of our lives and the state of the world is not peaceful and joyful and I think there is a connection between our disconnection with self, others and the Earth and the environmental crisis, depression and fear. Stephen Batchelor writes about this connection in Buddhism Without Beliefs:

“The contemporary social engagement of dharma practice is rooted in awareness of how self-centered confusion and craving can no longer be adequately understood only as psychological drives that manifest themselves in subjective states of anguish. We find these drives embodied in the very economic, military, and political structures that influence the lives of people on earth. Harnessed to industrial technologies, the impact of these drives affects the quality of the environment; the availability of natural resources and employment; the kinds of political, social, and financial institutions that govern peoples’ lives”.

Our economic society dependent on never-ending growth creates a culture obsessed with more; this leads to addictive behaviour and prevents us from being in our essence and who we really are. Psychologist Bruce E. Levine writes in his article Mass Society and Mass Depression:

“Industrialised societies encourage rising expectations that consumption will make us feel better, happier and more powerful…when expectations outstrip real outcomes, we feel either aggressively resentful or depressed."

Advertising, isolation, lack of spiritual fulfilment, and an abundance of products create a cycle of desire and leads to addictive behaviour. This cycle of desire, consumption, being unsatisfied, wanting more, depression, needing more, desire, prevents us from living up to our full potential. We get caught up in consumerism and addiction. It also creates a strain on the environment. We only have one planet and so there are finite natural resources; the more we consume the less natural beauty and the more pollution and global warming. There is a direct relationship between our addictive culture and the destruction of our ecosystems. We are out of balance. In writing about global warming John Naish author of Enough: Breaking free from the world of more writes:

“An answer may lie in not talking about global warming and sustainability, but in personal warming and personal sustainability. Because amide the global warming we are seeing more personal warming: more anxiety and depression; more melting of our circuits; more diseases of excess such as obesity and drug dependency. People complain their lives are too harried and stressed; they are unsustainable. Enoughness is about a personal ecology, about finding our own optimum sustainable balance. It’s about saying, ‘That’s enough for me'."

Recently Scotland has been waking up to the Nations drinking problem. In the Scotsman on May 6th 2008, there was an article entitled Scotland’s Crippling Addiction with frightening statistics that demonstrate the extent of the problem such as, every six hours a Scot dies from alcohol misuse, 50% of men and 30% of women thought to drink above recommended limits, 50% of Scotland’s prison population say they were drunk at the time of their offence, 40,000 alcohol related discharges from hospital per year etc.. When we are unsatisfied or engaged in quick unhealthy habits to bring temporary satisfaction such as overeating, over-drinking, drug use, shopping, gambling, and watching TV, we are avoiding tackling the pain and the emotions, or making long term changes to our lives. We are also often creating more problems for ourselves be it debt, health challenges, or guilt.

Taking this to the personal level I want to ask people to choose the place that for them symbolizes disconnection and photograph them in this scene and then interview them on video. For some people this may be engaged in addictive behaviour, in our avoidance strategies such as watching TV or drinking. Or even in the places where we get comfortable and therefore zoned out, such as driving to work without ever noticing the surroundings. In some ways the action itself is less important than whether or not the person is present or disconnected and unconscious. When presence is there we can be aware of our patterns and thus dissolve them. Batchelor writes:

“We can discern when a reactive habit kicks in and prompts us to adopt the familiar path of least resistance. We can notice when empathy capitulates to fear or self-interest. We can be alert for face-saving words and gestures that give an impression of empathy while letting us off the hook.”

Essence

. I am intrigued by the big questions: Who are we really? What is our essence? What is the meaning of our lives? and I am engaged in how to express this essence in art. I am interested in exploring issues of cultural identity with self-portraits. I create opportunities for people to photograph themselves in psychologically revealing roles. I used the mediums of photography and video for this project. I helped people to take their own self-portraits where they felt most who they really are and I interviewed them directly after the self-portraits had been taken on video. I asked in the interview: Why did you decide to have your self-portrait be in this location? How did you decide on the moment to take the picture? and Who are you really in your essence? It was fascinating to hear people’s insights and to see the passion that lights up their faces when they feel their best or talk about what really turns them on. In a time of mass depression and isolation I am interested in community, spirituality and in the ways that people stay sane. The final work is twenty A3 size photographs and a fifteen-minute DVD.