Institute on the Environment's Eye on Earth Blog covers Exhibition

Monique Dubos wrote "Where Art & Science Meet," about the Tales of Environmental Turbulence Exhibition and interviewed Curator Roslye Ultan, as well as exhibiting artists.

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Exhibit Opened: TALES OF ENVIRONMENTAL TURBULENCE

TALES OF ENVIRONMENTAL TURBULENCE: THE COMMON TRAIL OF ART AND SCIENCE

By Roslye Ultan

The exhibition Tales of Environmental Turbulence: The Common Trail of Art and Science opened on October 17^th at The Institute on the Environment and Architecture and Landscape Architecture Library at the University of Minnesota to an enthusiastic public response.   The exhibition was the culminating event of a one year mini- grant for Conversation-E: Science + Art in Dialogue and Service to Sustainability from the University of Minnesota’s Institute on the Environment.  The exhibit was curated by Roslye Ultan, with the assistance of Tanya Gravening, and Conversation-E co-leader, Jonee Kulman Brigham

                                                                    

Works of art from twenty-four artists were featured ranging from traditional painting and photography to mixed-media installation pieces especially created for this exhibition by artists committed to advancing the understanding of global environmental concerns through an aesthetic and sensory perception. The artists were present to mingle with the public through the evening’s events which included the premier of the musical piece Environmental Impact Statement. This work was performed by singer/actor Momoko Tanno, and instrumentalists Iris Shiraishi, Japanese drums (Taiko), James Holdman playing found object percussion instruments, Scott Currie, alto saxophone, and Alex Lubet, who conceived the concept of the project, playing double bass. The audience was called on to participate in one section of the work performed in the grand atrium of the Learning and Environmental Sciences building. The impetus of the work came as a request from curator Roslye Ultan for musicians to perform and engage the audience.  The theme centered on nuclear incidents in Japan intermingled with words of the 19^th century American naturalist John Muir. The music included elements of American Jazz and Japanese idioms. The audience was enthralled with the experience barely whispering their parts not to impose on the musicians.

Installation artist Sean Connaughty lured viewers to look for the unexpected inside a large non-descript fish tank containing a floating  white ceramic bowl with a small opening  to be delighted by the discovery of a beautiful green ecosystem. It is his desire to create green-spaces where none existed before. John Crisco’s colorful 3-d constructed works explore the way in which environments and landscapes are altered by society and show nature’s ability to reclaim spaces that have been abandoned.  The mixed-media environmental projects of artist Tanya Gravening call on the community to participate in gathering plastic pollutants to construct her monuments of trash. These large scale three dimensional objects are at once playful, like Totem of Toys, and serious in inviting awareness concerning the quantity of detritus in our society. Painter Peter Lommen portrays the celestial beauty of the night sky as a cultural resource free from the glow of artificial light pollutions.  Especially created for Tales of Turbulence is John Rummelhoff’s cycle of works commemorating the Exxon Valdez disaster of 1989. As both artist and biologist Bonnie Ploger uses the power of art to generate senses of curiosity about the natural world. In her photograph B4-Warmed, from the Cloquet forest project, she looks for the beauty in scientific experimentation in climate change in the boreal forests from a vantage point that forms a spiritual triangle. Other artists in the show visit ideas of technological changes and advances while others like Jeff Savage of the Fond du Lac community build on past traditions and sacred beliefs in hand-crafting Birchbark canoes and other objects that pay homage to our country’s native cultures.

As an expression of environmental stewardship, the presentation of an energy star award for the building, and initiation of energy improvements to the atrium were timed with the opening of the exhibition.  And, local, sustainable reception refreshments were provided by Common Roots Café.

This exhibition is landmark in asserting the links between the environmental sciences and the arts as they form bonds in interpreting the challenges and plight of our world whose sustainability is threatened by human action.

The exhibit runs through January 6, 2014 at The Institute on the Environment, and Architecture and Landscape Architecture Library, Rapson Hall at the University of Minnesota.  The public is encouraged to visit the show during regular university hours Monday-Friday.

Contacts:

Roslye B. Ultan

ultan001@umn.edu

Jonee Kulman Brigham

kulma002@umn.edu

Turbulence Exhibition featured on Collge of Design's News Blog

Jolene Brink posted an article about the Turbulence Exhibition at the College of Design Blog: "Design At Minnesota"
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Exhibition Press Release Available

The October 10 press release for the Tales of Environmental Turbulence exhibition is available to share with your networks. Please help spread the word, particularly about the opening reception and the round table.
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