eco-scope.org

The winning works the second edition of LÚMEN_EX, Prizes for Digital Art of the University of Extremadura have been announced. The contest included two categories: Minimaciones, or noninteractive pieces of digital animation whose duration does not exceed five minutes; and Interactive, for virtual works that required interaction with the user. In the first category, the first prize of 2,500 Euros was awarded to the Barcelonian artist, Merino Albert, with the work The City and the second prize, 1,000 Euros, went to Cacereño Chema Rodriguez Durán, with Death Theater. On the other hand, the New Yorker Andy Deck, with EcoPurá, won the first prize (2,500 Euros) in the Interactive category. The second prize (1,000 Euros) went to Pelayo Méndez Flórez, also from Barcelona, for a piece titled ACITEOP/Poetic Dysfunctions of the Language. The awarded works, as well as finalists, will comprise an exhibition presented by the UEx in the Frontier and Latin American Museum of Contemporary Art. At the opening the prizes will be given.

Description of work -

EcoPurá work addresses the superabundance of marketing hype aimed at convincing consumers that every company is ‘green.’ Logically this is not true, and the viewer is left to discover that the software and website, although it looks somewhat real, is satirical in nature. The term “Image Manipulation Program” is a double entendre that refers both to the literal image software and the process of misrepresenting the environmental impact of products, manufacturing, and distribution of goods and services. As with many works by Andy Deck, the public participation in the work will be compiled into a retrospective format that surveys the ideas and messages contributed by the ‘visiting artists’ who use the software.

This year’s Artcontext Calendar edition features hundreds of animal logos from the project Wildlife Offline,  a Net Art collection on the Artcontext website. Reflecting the cuteness of media images of endangered animals, the collection highlights the way virtual imagery is supplanting the natural world as a basis for understanding wildlife.  An appendix  indicates which of the species are considered critically endangered, endangered, and vulnerable.

Conceived, designed, retouched, illustrated, tested, printed, folded, stapled, and mailed by the artist, Andy Deck, with help from many online contributors.  The calendar can be ordered or downloaded for printing.

Interior sheets are 30% recycled post-consumer fiber. Acid-free, chlorine-free cover stock, 10% post-consumer fiber. Forest Stewardship Council certified sources. Made in the USA.

http://transnationaltemps.net/spill/

MediaNoche’s gallery space at 102nd Street / Park Ave.
New York City
Exhibition running from July 30-September 21, 2010
Hours: Wednesday – Friday, 3-7pm

Opening: July 30th, 2010

Responding to what has been called the United States’ worst ever environmental crisis, the oil spill disaster in the Gulf of Mexico frames this forward-looking group exhibition. Following on the heels of a decidedly unsuccessful round of climate negotiations in Copenhagen, the months of news coverage of oil gushing into the Gulf have provoked widespread unease with business as usual. As BP desperately attempts to recover both the oil and its public image, artists and designers from around the world are wrestling with the question of sustainability in the aftermath of these shocking events.

The Deepwater Horizon accident coincided with the 40th anniversary of Earth Day, a custom that itself came about partly in response to the Union Oil Platform A oil spill in Santa Barbara (1969). That spill, relatively small in comparison, catalyzed an environmental movement and the formation of the Environmental Protection Agency in the United States. It remains to be seen what lessons and institutions may arise from this summer of junk shots and containment domes, but there can be little doubt that the stakes are high. The Gulf of Mexico, already reeling from deoxygenated ‘dead zones’ due to pollution arriving via the Mississippi River, now faces unprecedented ecological challenges stemming from both the oil and chemical dispersants. Moreover, these events call attention to the problem of fossil fuel dependency in this era of global warming. The passionate and incisive responses of contemporary artists, unencumbered by journalistic norms of decorum, are an opportunity to see these historic events through the eyes of others who are fed up with humanity’s unintended war on the environment.

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MediaNoche is the place where art, technology and community converge. We offer artists working in new media exhibition space and residencies in order to provoke a dialogue that blurs all lines of marginality and alterity. Unique among art and technology groups, MediaNoche is directly linked to the oldest Latino community of New York City, Spanish Harlem, and has showcased a roster of local and international new media artists. http://MediaNoche.us

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Transnational Temps is an international arts collective concerned with ecology, sustainability, and media. Since its formation in 2001 it has produced a series of critically acclaimed works and exhibitions under the banner Earth Art for the 21st Century. Working primarily from Europe and the United States, works to date have emphasized participation, tactical media, and spanning the sometimes awkward divide between activist advocacy and aesthetics. http://TransnationalTemps.net

Transnational Temps wishes to thank Sylvie Marchand and Sabrina Grassi-Fossier for their invitation. Many thanks also to the EESI which took part in the workshop, helped develop the rules of engagement, and played in the streets of Poitiers.

We invite Gorilla Coffee to paste information about the mountain gorilla on its packaging. Did you know that only approximately 750 mountain gorillas remain in the wild? When images of wild animals are duplicated endless in entertainment, and product packaging, it can be easy not to notice that the habitats these animals need to survive are disappearing.

This picture  is a simulation of the Gorilla Coffee product, improved by ecoartivistic intervention. This is an invitation for the company to contribute to the growth of consciousness about the ecological distress of endangered species.

O Transnational Temps é um coletivo de artes que reúne artistas e ex-artistas em torno de um mesmo assunto : os problemas globais, com uma orientação global e midiática. O site do EcoScope (www.eco-scope.org) é dividido em alguns canais que servem como pano de fundo para fomentar discussões, como o canal do ozônio, da água e do desmatamento. O usuário pode navegar pelos canais e colaborar deixando uma mensagem.

Reblogged from Igor’s post at ecoarte.info

The title ‘ecoartivismo’ expresses the union of ecologically-themed art and ecological activism. It invokes the term ‘artivismo’ while attaching it to environmental themes like sustainability, extinction, climate change, and ecology. The site will be increasingly multi-lingual, incorporating the native spanish, french, and english of Transnational Temps co-founders Verónica Perales, Fred Adam, and Andy Deck.

Visit it on the ‘net at ecoartivismo.net.