Become, Public Art

NYC Department of Parks & Recreation "Temporary Public Art Program" has been committed to abetting the creation and installation of public art since the end of the 60's. They facilitate display of artist's work in parks throughout the five boroughs.
Rebecca Pollock, SVA graduate, created "Become" for the Temporary Public Art Program.

"Rebecca Pollock, Become
December 2005 to December 2006
Mural for Taffee Playground, Taffee Pl, Park & Myrtle Aves,
Brooklyn

Image: courtesy of the artist


Description:

This mural covers a temporary wall adjacent to Taffee Playground. The subject of it relates to the omnipresence of litter in the neighborhood surrounding the playground. The artist selected the black plastic shopping bag as a symbol of this urban problem. "Rather than focus on the carelessness that this object represents when found in the street, I've chosen to sculpt it into another kind of debris: a leaf," says Rebecca Pollock, the artist. "Become encourages others to make similar leaps of the imagination with all the elements of their environment. I hope that this image will promote a spirit of making something beautiful out of something ugly and making the most out of limitation."

Apologies for the posting time lapse, expect new things within the next week!
If you've read previous entries I'd love to hear the things you're thinking about, or suggestions of what you'd like to see more of, etc. Anything at all.

Old News

Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility | Posted December 29, 2006 03:53 PM
Due to pressure from Bush Administration officials, the National Park Service is not permitted to give an official age for the Grand Canyon. Additionally, a book claiming the Grand Canyon was created by Noah's flood is for sale at the National Park's bookstore.

The sale of Grand Canyon: A Different View was scheduled for review over three years ago, but no such review has been schedule or even requested. The creationist book was the only item approved for sale in 2003 (22 other items were rejected).
Copyright 2007 © HuffingtonPost.com, Inc.

Not permitted, HUH?

Tidbits

What is this installation? Where is this webcam broadcast she speaks of?
Unfortunately, due to networking issues at The Art Institute of Boston, presentation is slightly delayed. Alas, the pit falls of network security. I'll post some pictures of the installation space, within the next day or two, to give inquiring minds a substantial visual descriptive. The video footage will be here soon. In the mean time look at this: Nature Walk Boston is Erin's blog. Tell her what you think!



Technology is to humans as Frankenstein was to Victor?

#2

#2, originally uploaded by sedm.

#1

#1, originally uploaded by sedm.

In 2005 paper product made up 34.2% of the total waste generated (before recycling) in the U.S., the largest piece of the pie chart. In contrast, the rate of recycling paper product in was 50%.


This is the first photograph made in the Waste series. It's (along with the rest of the series) a digitally manipulated representation of the breadth of my consumption. Two years ago I moved into my first apartment outside of the home I grew up in. At the crucial age of 20 I have suddenly been realized as a viable consumer target. Is this a modern "coming of age" signifier for my generation? It's as if a whole new world opened up, a world nothing like the exciting, well anticipated one that Aladdin and Jasmine sing about in "A Whole New World" from the Disney movie Aladdin (1992).
The actualities that I was able to ignore before, in innocence, are now part of my new life as an American adult. It is nearly impossible to live without wasting in unintentional ways. Now that I have my own mailbox, the USPS delivers innumerable amounts of junk mail addressed to me. The food products I buy are elaborately packaged in paperboard. Even the organic-for conscious healthy people-soymilk comes in non-recyclable aseptic packaging. In so many ways, some of them by choice, I am inundated with PAPER.

Listening to: The Drive-By Truckers "The Three Great Alabama Icons"

The Ditty Bops in Plastic Bags

For their latest tour earlier this month with Jesca Hoop, The Ditty Bops wore tops made of plastic bags and urged the signing of their petition curbing the use of plastic bags.



At the San Francisco show, Abby and Amanda were presented with a Certificate of Honor from the city by Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi honoring the duo for their environmental efforts. You can listen to the show here and the presentation here (thanks to Danielle and Dave).



Coincidentally enough, earlier this week, "San Francisco's Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to become the first U.S. city to ban plastic bags from large supermarkets to help promote recycling." It was Mirkarimi who sponsored the bill. Read the news @ CNN here and The Los Angeles Times here.

The Ditty Bop's You And I Save The World website. These ladies are pretty awesome, they make wonderful music and did a bike tour.

Green Homes? In One Ear and Out The Other

In October 2006 The Martha Stewart Show hosted "Going Green Week", a series of shows with different guests who shared 25 eco-friendly tips. So what's Martha up to now?

Associated Press 03.27.07, 11:26 AM ET
Homebuilder KB Home said Tuesday it will build a community in Los Angeles County with Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia.

The community, called KB Home (nyse: KBH - news - people ) Terrena Vista, is scheduled to open in fall of 2007 in Lancaster, Calif., the company said. It is the second community the two companies have built together in the state.

KB Home said the 97 houses that will be built in the community are inspired by Martha Stewart's personal homes in Maine and New York. They will be one to two stories high and range from 1,875 to 2,968 square feet. Prices will start in the low $300,000s, the company added.

The homes will have specialized flooring, bathroom and kitchen fixtures, lighting and paint colors that match Stewart's style, KB Homes said.

The two have partnered on eight neighborhoods in Georgia, North Carolina, California and Texas and Texas.

KB Homes shares fell $1.23 to $44.76 in morning trading. Martha Stewart Living shares climbed 81 cents, or 4.8 percent, to $17.69. Both stocks trade on the New York Stock Exchange.

Copyright 2007 Associated Press

97 houses employing 0 methods of sustainability.

email Martha Stewart

The Catalyst: Encouraging Proactivity in a Dire Age

Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things by William McDonough and Michael Braungart

William McDonough's new book, written with his colleague, the German chemist Michael Braungart, is a manifesto calling for the transformation of human industry through ecologically intelligent design. Through historical sketches on the roots of the industrial revolution; commentary on science, nature and society; descriptions of key design principles; and compelling examples of innovative products and business strategies already reshaping the marketplace, McDonough and Braungart make the case that an industrial system that "takes, makes and wastes" can become a creator of goods and services that generate ecological, social and economic value.

In Cradle to Cradle, McDonough and Braungart argue that the conflict between industry and the environment is not an indictment of commerce but an outgrowth of purely opportunistic design. The design of products and manufacturing systems growing out of the Industrial Revolution reflected the spirit of the day-and yielded a host of unintended yet tragic consequences.

Today, with our growing knowledge of the living earth, design can reflect a new spirit. In fact, the authors write, when designers employ the intelligence of natural systems—the effectiveness of nutrient cycling, the abundance of the sun's energy—they can create products, industrial systems, buildings, even regional plans that allow nature and commerce to fruitfully co-exist.

Cradle to Cradle maps the lineaments of McDonough and Braungart's new design paradigm, offering practical steps on how to innovate within today's economic environment. Part social history, part green business primer, part design manual, the book makes plain that the re-invention of human industry is not only within our grasp, it is our best hope for a future of sustaining prosperity.

In addition to describing the hopeful, nature-inspired design principles that are making industry both prosperous and sustainable, the book itself is a physical symbol of the changes to come. It is printed on a synthetic 'paper,' made from plastic resins and inorganic fillers, designed to look and feel like top quality paper while also being waterproof and rugged. And the book can be easily recycled in localities with systems to collect polypropylene, like that in yogurt containers. This 'treeless' book points the way toward the day when synthetic books, like many other products, can be used, recycled, and used again without losing any material quality—in cradle-to-cradle cycles.

A good definition of "cradle to cradle".

Point A (of points A through Zed)

Hi blog! Hi everyone! Welcome to The Waste Project, created by moi. This is my first official time keeping a blog (not including the angsty days of LiveJournal). Please do comment & check out the links. Also, I'm really interested in this multiple author feature. The idea of collaboration is really appealing... so think on that. If the purpose of this blog/project isn't quite clear yet, be assured that within the next week things will be coming together quickly (coupled by me rapidly re-learning code). So you shall see soon, but do ask me questions!


-sedm