28 September 2010
Artist or activist? This question frequently arises in relation to the Industrial Scars project. The work is first and foremost art [works to be appreciated primarily for their beauty or emotional power]. Many years of study into the rules of composition, color, and lighting have gone in to their making. The images hang in galleries and museums, and fetch high prices from collectors. All that said, the subject matter is highly contentious, which inherently makes the work political. There is plenty of precedent for this in the art world from Goya to Picasso to the artists of the Third Reich. This is art with a message.
One current project, Coal Ash, is about the 140 million tons of toxic waste generated as power plants burn this most polluting hydrocarbon to produce our electricity. Coal combustion waste (CCW) contains mercury, lead, arsenic, boron, selenium, and so on, but the utility industry has managed to keep it designated as non-toxic. Most of the 600 coal-burning power plants in the USA dispose their waste ash in unlined impoundments, from which the ash leaches into groundwater, or worse, bursts out and poisons the surrounding land and waterways. The other method of disposal is in your home. Because of its designation, utilities are permitted to sell the waste to manufacturers who use it as a component in: sheetrock, concrete, fertilizer, fill, paint, and a host of other products.
The EPA is currently holding hearings about the designation, and environmental groups are fighting to have it reclassified under subtitle C of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) so that it must be handled as the toxic waste that it is. Every citizen has a personal stake in this as this toxic waste might already be in your home, and given the dispersal of coal-fired power plants, there might well be a coal ash dump near your house, contaminating the groundwater with arsenic.
Today I am in Washington DC where I will, along with the help of EarthJustice, lobby congressmen about the rule change, and then hold a reception in the Rayburn House Office Building, Room B-369.
Long-lasting change in our society ultimately happens through political machinations, which are foreign to me. Since my art is about things that need to change, this is an exciting adventure. And thus, the artist becomes activist.
Showing posts with label Washington DC. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Washington DC. Show all posts
28 September 2010
28 January 2010
STATE OF THE UNION
But, when one listens to what is said (on the environment, anyway), shock should be the reaction. As a solution to our energy needs, he advocates: offshore drilling, “clean” coal, untapped natural gas deposits and nuclear. Those same words emanated from the mouth of his predecessor and we hated it. Offshore drilling will quickly despoil those marine habitats, overwhelming the already threatened fish populations. And of course more oil spills will be the norm. Clean coal doesn’t exist when one examines the life-cycle of the fuel, period. Carbon capture and sequestration don’t exist at present, and tests indicate that they will consume 25% of the energy produced by the fuel they're supposed to clean. And who’s to say that the carbon will stay buried in the old mine shafts they want to use for the purpose? Nothing else does.
"Untapped natural gas" means deposits like the Marcellus Shale formation, the extraction of which has been an environmental disaster from the first drilling. And nuclear, even if we could do it without the releases and accidents, is highly dangerous to plant neighbors. The answer is ruthless conservation and low-impact technologies. Now.
His appeal to bipartisanism is well and good, but government won’t do squat unless we, the people demand it. Stick your head out the window and shout it.
16 March 2009
CityDance presents "CARBON!"
2009-03-14
Upon return from Kenya, I received an email from one Christopher Morgan, representing himself as the choreographer for CityDance in Washington, DC. In his note, Christopher said that he had seen my work at Mass MoCA, and asked if would I be interested in a collaboration of sorts with CityDance.
Remember, Dear Reader, that I come from the music world. For a long time I have considered the possibilities and advantages of collaborative projects with other art forms. The premise of Industrial Scars is that beautiful images of the detritus of our consumption will inspire viewers to consider their involvement in this process that is desecrating our home. My idea is that art will move people in ways that words and statements do not. Of course, this pertains primarily to those with an inclination to visual art, and leaves others uninfluenced. So, for a while I have been exploring the idea of interaction with other artists to produce a sort of hybrid that would push the envelope and have the ability to reach different audiences. We are currently in discussion with the Bamberg Symphony about a multi-media piece using Gustav Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde (The Song of the Earth). More later as that develops. Suddenly, unbidden, came a new possibility, to which I, of course, said what any good artist in America might say: do you have a budget? (I would have participated either way, but Industrial Scars is an expensive project to support.) The debut was 10 days hence, so we started to discuss which images would work for them and the technical aspects we would need to consider.
Flash to debut day. I had proposed that we do a pre-performance symposium/discussion with the audience, a suggestion CityDance “jumped at.” Of course, the Amtrak train from NYC to DC was an hour late (amazing that stuff still works at all after 20 years of neglect). Time for a rant: why the f*$%& did we let those gangsters get in to power and rob the country blind? For years we will be paying for what Bush and his cronies stole from us. And, I just love it that Halliburton sucked the host dry and moved to Dubai. We deserve this “downturn,” and more. I digress…
Finally, I arrived in DC, and proceeded straight to the hall, where the crew was frantically finishing the setup. Having been involved in more productions than I can count, the last minute disarray did not worry me in the least. It is a good group- very dedicated and serious about the craft, and it was a pleasure to watch them work. The discussion before was a little casual, starting with the inspiration and conception of the project, Christopher’s “persistence of memory” in the recollection of the images he had seen in the previous year’s costume design, projection design- productions require a lot of input.
Of course, the thing about dance (you’ll see why I’m not a dancer) is how do you translate these complex concepts into expressive movement? I have a confession: I don’t really like poetry either. Feel free to disconnect and write me off. The audience loved it! And as a mission man, it therefore does not matter if I am a dance aficionado, as long as we reach another subset of the population. The important thing is that we all change our behavior, and whatever motivates that alteration is fine with me. It is quite possible that the attention garnered from this weekend’s SOLD OUT, limited run of “CARBON!” will translate into something more down the road. A tour, perhaps?
Upon return from Kenya, I received an email from one Christopher Morgan, representing himself as the choreographer for CityDance in Washington, DC. In his note, Christopher said that he had seen my work at Mass MoCA, and asked if would I be interested in a collaboration of sorts with CityDance.
Remember, Dear Reader, that I come from the music world. For a long time I have considered the possibilities and advantages of collaborative projects with other art forms. The premise of Industrial Scars is that beautiful images of the detritus of our consumption will inspire viewers to consider their involvement in this process that is desecrating our home. My idea is that art will move people in ways that words and statements do not. Of course, this pertains primarily to those with an inclination to visual art, and leaves others uninfluenced. So, for a while I have been exploring the idea of interaction with other artists to produce a sort of hybrid that would push the envelope and have the ability to reach different audiences. We are currently in discussion with the Bamberg Symphony about a multi-media piece using Gustav Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde (The Song of the Earth). More later as that develops. Suddenly, unbidden, came a new possibility, to which I, of course, said what any good artist in America might say: do you have a budget? (I would have participated either way, but Industrial Scars is an expensive project to support.) The debut was 10 days hence, so we started to discuss which images would work for them and the technical aspects we would need to consider.
Flash to debut day. I had proposed that we do a pre-performance symposium/discussion with the audience, a suggestion CityDance “jumped at.” Of course, the Amtrak train from NYC to DC was an hour late (amazing that stuff still works at all after 20 years of neglect). Time for a rant: why the f*$%& did we let those gangsters get in to power and rob the country blind? For years we will be paying for what Bush and his cronies stole from us. And, I just love it that Halliburton sucked the host dry and moved to Dubai. We deserve this “downturn,” and more. I digress…
Finally, I arrived in DC, and proceeded straight to the hall, where the crew was frantically finishing the setup. Having been involved in more productions than I can count, the last minute disarray did not worry me in the least. It is a good group- very dedicated and serious about the craft, and it was a pleasure to watch them work. The discussion before was a little casual, starting with the inspiration and conception of the project, Christopher’s “persistence of memory” in the recollection of the images he had seen in the previous year’s costume design, projection design- productions require a lot of input.
Of course, the thing about dance (you’ll see why I’m not a dancer) is how do you translate these complex concepts into expressive movement? I have a confession: I don’t really like poetry either. Feel free to disconnect and write me off. The audience loved it! And as a mission man, it therefore does not matter if I am a dance aficionado, as long as we reach another subset of the population. The important thing is that we all change our behavior, and whatever motivates that alteration is fine with me. It is quite possible that the attention garnered from this weekend’s SOLD OUT, limited run of “CARBON!” will translate into something more down the road. A tour, perhaps?
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