361°

Arts and ecology

Power lines in the desert near Dubai,
taken by Mariana Canepa Luna during a recent visit to Sharjah, UAE

RSA Arts & Ecology supports the work of the arts in examining and addressing social and environmental concerns in an interdisciplinary and international arena. The entire programme is informed by the notion of ecology as the study of relationships between an individual and their cultural, social, political, economic and natural environments, and by the belief that the arts can play a central role in providing creative insights into the challenges facing contemporary society.  

Initiated in April 2005, the programme has since consisted of a series of initiatives including conferences, ongoing discourse, international research trips, education pilots, artists’ projects and commissions, and a publication. The RSA is creating a growing network of groups and individuals concerned with the issues - alongside and working with other organisations who have similar concerns. These include Tipping Point, Cape Farewell and Arts Catalyst. More information about these projects can be found throughout this website. 

Over the next three years, the ambition of the RSA Arts & Ecology programme is to become an international hub and a portal to increase the level of information and exchange. The project will act as a catalyst in seeking to involve a far greater number of artists, while simultaneously supporting, profiling and helping develop the visibility of artists' work, sharing the outcomes and experience with others.

More +++

The Center for Land Use Interpretation (CLUI)

Dedicated to the increase and diffusion of information about how the nation's lands are apportioned, utilized, and perceived.

The Center for Land Use Interpretation is a research organization interested in understanding the nature and extent of human interaction with the earth's surface. The Center embraces a multidisciplinary approach to fulfilling the stated mission, employing conventional research and information processing methodology as well as nontraditional interpretive tools.

The organization was founded in 1994, and since that time it has produced over 30 exhibits on land use themes and regions, for public institutions all over the United States, as well as overseas. Public tours have been conducted in several states, and over ten books have been published by the CLUI. CLUI Archive photographs illustrate journals, popular magazines, and books by other publishers, and have been used in non-CLUI exhibitions, and acquired by art collectors.

The CLUI exists to stimulate discussion, thought, and general interest in the contemporary landscape. Neither an environmental group nor an industry affiliated organization, the work of the Center integrates the many approaches to land use - the many perspectives of the landscape - into a single vision that illustrates the common ground in "land use" debates. At the very least, the Center attempts to emphasize the multiplicity of points of view regarding the utilization of terrestrial and geographic resources.

More +++

The tranquil waters of Grasmere

© Tony West

On 8th March 2005, Steve Messam and six gallant volunteer artists floated seven large red inflatable balls, ranging from 6ft to over 12ft diameter on the tranquil waters of Grasmere, Cumbria. The half-mile long installation remained on the lake for 4 days before a change in wind direction and overnight gales forced the removal of the temporary piece.

The other idea of the installation is to challenge people's ideas of things in the Lake District landscape and to raise awareness of the inovative arts scene in the Lakes.

The piece was supported by the Cumbria Tourist Board, the National Trust, the Lake District National Park Authority and South Lakes District Council.
More +++ and more +++

Installation in the desert

The group D.A.ST. is an interdisciplinary collaboration between three artists: Danae Stratou, Sculptor, Alexandra Stratou, Industrial Designer, and Stella Constantinides, Architect. The group was formed in May 1995, based on our common desire to create an installation in the desert. The parameters that we had set for this project described a site specific work of such a scale that it would be experienced through walking.
The site that was chosen is a flat expanse of sand that lies between the Red Sea and a body of mountains. The work covers an area of one hundred thousand square meters and involves the displacement of eight thousand cubic meters of sand. One hundred and seventy eight conical volumes form two interlocking logarithmic spirals that move out from a common center with a phase difference of one hundred and eighty degrees in the same direction of rotation.
One spiral consists of incised cones, while the other of protruding ones; the incised cones are the result of the displacement of sand to create the protruding cones. The center, a one thousand two hundred cubic meters earthen vessel with a W section is the union of the positive and negative cone. It is filled with water to its rim so that the protruding cone in the center forms a tiny island at the level of the horizon."
More+++