Helene Aylon blogs: Gunmen

 

Spiral Wetland is an outdoor eco-art project supported by the Walton Art Center as part of the Artosphere Festival in Fayetteville Arkansas. 

Spiral Wetland is made with native soft rush, Juncus effusus growing 
in a closed cell foam mat  anchored to the lake’s floor. The plants help remove excess nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorus from the lake water, and adds shade for fish habitat. Inspired by Spiral Jetty (1970), Robert Smithson’s famous earthwork sited in the Great Salt Lake, Utah. This spiral is a working earthwork, floating on the surface of the lake.

When the installation is taken down in Summer 2014, sections of the wetland will be adopted and transplanted into other wetlands and retention basins in the region, so their benefits can continue in new waters.

 http://www.fayettevilleflyer.com/2013/05/09/artist-stacy-levys-spiral-wetland-in-place-at-lake-fayetteville/

 http://www.artospherefestival.org/spiral-wetland-by-stacy-levy/

photo image:  Robert Ginsburg

Dear WEAD Community, I write to you as the U.S. Coordinator of the International Uranium Film Festival that originates at the Museum of Modern Art, Rio de Janiero, Brazil. The General Director is Norbert Suchanek, and Executive Director is Marcia Gomes de Oliveira, they have organized Film Festival for three years. Their organization is also compiling the "Yellow Archives" containing over 200 films from countries around the world addressing the ecological, environmental and health impact of radioactive materials. Last year the Fest traveled from Brazil to Portugal, Berlin and then 10 cities in India. This year the festival will originate in Rio, travel to Nepal, Tibet and India, before coming to the United States for its U.S. premier in Santa Fe, NM, Albuquerque and on the Window Rock Navajo Reservation. There is interest from Canada, Australia, Malawi, Tanzania, South Africa, London and Helsinki. If you would like to learn more about the Festival, or submit your films or videos for next year, or to discuss possibilities to bring it to YOUR community, please do not hesitate to contact me. Below are some links about the event, as well as the films this year and director information. About Us http://www.uraniumfilmfestival.org/index.php/en/the-festival Film Program (click on films for more info on each) http://www.uraniumfilmfestival.org/index.php/en/programme/films   Director's Statements http://www.uraniumfilmfestival.org/index.php/en/programme/directors Press Room http://www.uraniumfilmfestival.org/index.php/en/press-room All best regards, and thank you in advance for your time and consideration, Eve Andree Laramee ART/MEDIA for a Nuclear Free Future, Executive Director U.S. Coordinator, International Uranium Film Festival http://evelaramee.com http://www.uraniumfilmfestival.org Email: wander at earthlink dot net

Dear Friends, The Jewish Book Coucil invited me to blog.  I chose to write about machismo and "gunmen" (which is not in my memoir). Helène Aylon is an Activist Artist whose work has been shown in MoMA, the Whitney and the Warhol museums. Her memoir, published by the Feminist Press, is called Whatever is Contained Must Be Released: My Jewish Orthodox Girlhood, My Life as a Feminist Artist. Machismo: How The Macho Male Identifies With Wildlife Animals Gunmen: A Far-Fetched Analysis and Some Temporary Solutions   Above are the two entries. Helène

Hello Friends, I have finally created a Blog documenting my artist residency at Stundars Museum, a historic museum village, in Finland last fall. During my stay in Finland I worked on two different bodies of work: a series of very large drawings, which were exhibited at Teema Gallery in Vaasa, and Living of the Land, a project started a year earlier in Alberta, Canada. With this project I respond – as an artist -  to discussions around finding alternative lifestyles that are closer to nature and less abusive of the environment. This is an ongoing project, where I examine the idea to replace store-bought food for edible plants that grow wild. I plan to explore different botanical habitats – and the project started in a semi-rural area in Western Canada and continued in high-alpine Utah (USA), and then in Finland. I filmed all my processes – collecting plants and fruits as well as preparing food from them. My residency in Finland started in August; and while in the beginning I was preparing  green dishes from stinging nettles, dandelion greens, sorrel, oxalis and other greens, fall consisted of BERRIES. The freezer in the residency apartment was jam-packed with berries – not even a mouse could have squeezed in between the containers and freezer bags. During the last 2 weeks of the residency I was cooking, baking and otherwise processing these berries into all kinds of dishes, and then invited the local community for a Living of the Land get-together, where they could taste my dishes and take them home for their families. You are welcome to explore my Finland Blog to find out more about my trip and about the Western Finnish environment around Vaasa, Soderfjarden Meteor Crater and  Kvarken Archipelago, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Blog also contains the recipes of the dishes I prepared from the berries I had collected. For earlier Living of the Land projects, please check my installation Yes, you can eat them at Red Deer College, Alberta, Canada in fall 2011, and a video sample that documents the preparation of rosehip jam. ~Sonja Hinrichsen

Here's a question for everyone on the list. Please name places that are offering courses in Arts for Social Change. I just discovered that Quest University in Squamish, BC is offering such a course (I'm visiting the school with my son who may apply there) and I wonder how many other places might be hiding such jewels. ~Beverly Naidus