Collaboration & co-production:  

In recent years, ecological issues, that is, the science that studies the relationships between living organisms and their environment, have finally shed off the reminiscences of candid, unrealistic idealism.

Environmental catastrophes like tsunamis, the dying forest syndrome, fish mortality, cannibalism among seals, global warming, water shortage and air and soil pollution make it quite clear that natural disasters are not exactly “natural”. They are the result of highly civilised lifestyles based on exploitation that destroy well adapted ecosystems. The idea of ecology understood as a communication system has therefore gained authority and importance.

The exhibition Ecomedia presents, therefore, projects based on progressive ecological models and proposes new perspectives of possible futures. It invites people to examine fundamental issues regarding ecosystems, sustainability and sources of renewable energy and to discover a selection of projects conceived for a present future. Besides, it examines the role of art and the new media on the borderline between science, technology and environmental activism.

The artistic projects based on the link that exists between technological development, current means of communication and systems called “natural” like the climate, water and earthquakes open up new fields for reflection and interrelation. Some of the projects exhibited in Ecomedia have to do with the mapping and audiovisual presentation of data. They mostly avoid traditional methods of scientific and technological records to generate new models of perception and interaction (Franz John, Andrea Polli, Sabrina Raaf, Iñigo Manglano-Ovalle). Several works address sources of renewable energy and open a debate about alternative models (Christina Hemauer / Roman Keller, Andrea Polli). Others signal large-scale contamination of the Earth (aeronautical, Christoph Keller) or in the microspheres of living cells (genetic engineering, Critical Art Ensemble & Beatriz da Costa). An important section is dedicated to the observation of the current state of food production and distribution (Ieva Ausina / Esther Polak, Futurefarmers / Free Soil, Insa Winkler). As the projects demonstrate, the globalisation of these processes consumes a great amount of energy and results in unsustainable wastefulness, like our incorrect orientation of resources in some cases (Tue Greenfort). The documentation and fundamental analysis of the current state of affairs appear side by side with visions and practical solutions for the future (Tea Mäkipää, MVRDV, Yonic).

Alongside interdisciplinary, interactive and participative projects that integrate the public in their realisation (Franco & Eva Mattes, Transnational Temps), the exhibition will be accompanied by a series of lectures about ecological strategies in art today, where artists, scientists and environmental activists join in debating the state of affairs and engage in a dialogue between art, science, technology and society, focused on the new environmental challenges.


ARTISTS 

Yonic
Yonizine III, 2006
Recycled paper fanzine
Yonzine id the fanzine of Yonic, an ecosophical project made by a group of artists, scientists, activists and the inhabitants of Itacaré, Brazil. This publication denounces the fact that the exploited areas of the Amazon jungle have become a great dumping ground. The fanzine forms part of a programme of zero trash management, recycling all the waste matter produced by a local community, from plastic to glass, paper and organic matter without discrimination.
(http://www.yonic.org)
 
Tue Greenfort
PET bottle & water.
Producing 1 kilogram of PET plastic requires 17.5 kilograms of water and results in air emissions of 40 grams of hydrocarbons, 25 grams of sulphur oxides, 18 grams of carbon monoxide, 20 grams of nitrogen oxides, and 2.3 kilograms of carbon dioxide. In terms of water use alone, much more is consumed in making the bottles than will ever go into them, 2004

Ieva Auzina, Esther Polak &
Riga Center for New Media Culture
MILKproject , 2004
Installation and web site
Be means of video recordings, webcam and GPS (Global Positioning Systems), MILKproject traces the route taken by milk from Latvia to the Netherlands. In this way, it maps a long journey that invites us to reflect about the way our food is produced and distributed. On the way, we will meet people and discover their working conditions, the production chains and the transport routes that are usually as unknown as the economic and political interests involved in the products.
(http://www.milkproject.net) 

Insa Winkler
Das Eichelschwein (The Acorn Pig), 2007
Video documentary, 15 min.
The unsustainability of food production methods, although we all know about it, involves a risk for the equilibrium of the environment on the medium term. In order to explore more sustainable ways to produce pork, Insa Winkler has spent four years investigating acorn pig farming. The video shows the whole process of the project, from the first logistic efforts to the actual breeding of ten piglets in the oak forests in the north of Germany.
(http://www.insawinkler.de) 

MVRDV
Pig City , 2001
Computer animation, 13 min.
In 2000, pork was the most consumed form of meat, eighty billion kilograms per year. Recent animal diseases such as Swine Fever and Foot and Mouth Disease are raising serious questions about this pork production and consumption…
According to the group MVRDV, either we change our eating habits or we change our production methods and demand sustainable pig farming. This video shows an innovative architectural project that attempts to offer solutions to the challenges of pork production and consumption.
(http://www.mvrdv.nl) 

Natalie Jeremijenko
Environmental Health Clinic, 2007
Performance and video documentation, 4 min.
On a raft made of recycled plastic bottles floating on the waters of New York, Natalie Jeremijenko installs an Environmental Health Clinic. There the artist receives her patients in order to diagnose their ills and diseases connected with the growing pollution of our surroundings. The health of the environment and our bodies cannot be separated from each other because they are one and the same thing.
(http://www.xdesign.nyu.edu) 

Free Soil
F.R.U.I.T, 2005-09
On line installation and web site
If we could see how bananas are grown in Ecuador or oranges in Valencia until they arrive at a corner shop or supermarket in Moscow, would it change our relationship with the product? F.R.U.I.T. defends the consumer’s right to know the production and distribution process undergone by our food. The aim is none other than to participate and choose the type of process and product we support by buying it.
(http://www.free-soil.org/fruit) 

Critical Art Ensemble & Beatriz da Costa
GenTerra, 2001
Colour, sound video, web site, banner
The GenTerra Project examines the relationship between transgenic organisms and biological environmental resource management. This video shows the participatory action GenTerra with which Critical Art Ensemble and Beatriz da Costa try to provide critical tools to help citizens to assess the impact of transgenics from an amateur point of view. Information as a tool to produce the necessary instruments for direct action that will invert, subvert, or reverse-engineer problematic transgenic technologies.
(http://critical-art.net) & (http://www.beatrizdacosta.net) 

Eva and Franco Mattes, alias 0100101110101101.ORG
Reenactment of Joseph Beuys’ 7000 Oaks, 2007
Synthetic performance on Second Life.
This work is part of the series called Synthetic Performances: reenactments of historical actions in the virtual world of Second Life. In this case, the artists recreate Beuys’ work 7000 Oaks. Thus the first virtual tree was planted on 16th March 2007, exactly twenty-five years after the original oak was planted at documenta 7 in Kassel. The avatars of Second Life have the opportunity to participate in the performance, expanding the idea of interaction and the environment to the virtual site of the Internet.
(http://www.0100101110101101.org) 

Tea Mäkipää
10 Commandments for the 21st Century, 2006
Multimedia installation and web site
Can each of us really do something about the situation of the environment? This project answers this question with a list of ten rules of behaviour for people of any age, religion or social status. The aim of the project is to awaken discussion and to appeal to the personal feeling of responsibility of the viewers on the level of their daily lives and choices. The second aim of the 10 Commandments for the 21st Century is to relieve confusion and frustration in the face of ecological issues by making the choices very simple.
(http://www.tea-makipaa.eu) & (http://www.10commandments.de) 

Andrea Polli
The Queensbridge Wind Power Project, 2005
Single channel video, 7 min.
The documentary in this artistic project shows the way in which artists, scientists and engineers strive to find sustainable energy solutions for the urban area of New York. The project shows how an emblematic bridge of the industrial age –dependent upon fossil fuels –can be recycled and transformed into a symbol for the production of more sustainable energy resources.
(http://www.andreapolli.com)

Sabrina Raaf
Translator II: Grower, 2004-05
Interactive installation with robot
The Grower robot reads the degree of CO2 every few seconds and responds y drawing a vertical line on the wall in green ink. The height of the line depends directly on the amount of CO2 (and therefore the number of people present) in the gallery. The more CO2, the higher the line will be. When the Grower has completed a line, the process is repeated. At the end of the exhibition, the bottom of all the walls in the space is covered with fine green lines which together resemble a cross-section of a field of grass.
(http://www.raaf.org) 

Andrea Polli y Joe Gilmore
N., 2006
Video installation, 45 min.
N. is an artistic visualisation and sonification of Arctic weather data modelled specifically for this project. By using images from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Arctic research programme, it generates a sound and visual representation of the climate and conditions at the North Pole from 2003 to 2006. N. is a portrait of “the last imaginary place on Earth,” which expresses the isolation and extreme weather conditions of this remote region and reminds us of the importance of this place for the world ecosystem.
(http://www.andreapolli.com) 

Iñigo Manglano-Ovalle
You Don’t Need a Weatherman, 2006
Installation with weather station.
Man influences the climate and the climate influences man. Therefore it is logical to deduce that the climate is involved not only meteorologically but socially and politically as well. The pixels of the image and the strips of text that appear on the screen change and shift at random as they receive the meteorological data in the gallery in real time. But the presence of the visitors alters these parameters, which reveals that there is a complex feedback between man and the environment.
(http://www.inigomanglano-ovalle.com) 

Christina Hemauer y Roman Keller
A moral equivalent of war, 2007
Two-channel video installation, 40 min.
Three years after the first oil crisis in 1973, Jimmy Carter called the efforts to avoid dependence on oil the greatest challenge facing American society the “moral equivalent of war.” To set an example, he had a thermal solar facility installed on the White House roof. Ronald Reagan had this dismantled shortly afterwards. In this video installation, Hemauer and Keller followed up the history of these symbolic solar collectors and invite spectators to reflect about the unfortunate opportunism of certain environmental policies.
(http://www.romankeller.info) 

Transnational Temps
EcoScope, 2007-09
Web-based project & postcards
EcoScope provides a telematic forum for public opinion about the problems and challenges of the environment. A scientific visualization, satellite imagery and an environmental news channel provide a framework for conversation and discovery. The aim of EcoScope is to stimulate discussion, break down stubborn boundaries and develop new ways to share perceptions and act collectively.
(http://www.transnationaltemps.net) & (http://www.eco-scope.org) 

Christoph Keller
The Whole Earth, 2007
Video installation with weather balloon
The image of a blue sky with white clouds is projected on a weather balloon accompanied by piano music. The idyllic image of the Blue Planet. However, every two minutes an aircraft roars across the sky. Its arrival not only breaks the harmonious image, but also warns us that the idea of the blue planet is a fragile and uncertain construct.
(http://www.christophkeller.com) 

Franz John
Turing Tables. (An Untitled Composition for Tectonic Spaces), 2003-2007
Interactive installation
The way we see the Earth is determined by the use of scientific and technological methods and procedures. In this installation, the spectator is plunged into a datastream that records the tectonic movements of the earth in real time. Via an internet link, data recorded worldwide by thousands of seismographs are transmitted to the exhibition room and reproduced as an endless sequence of writing and numbers, while a software programme converts these facts into sounds. In this way, the constant movement of the tectonic plates can be seen, heard and felt through sound vibrations in the exhibition space.
(http://www.f-john.de)

CATALOGUE:

Ecomedia. Estrategias Ecológicas en el Arte Actual Tetxs by Sabine Himmelsbach, Christoph Spehr, Yvonne Volkart, Karin Ohlenschläger and Roger F. Malina DL. V-1560-2009 ISBN: 978-84-7795-534-4