REconomic

the whitney b..

2010-03-05T18:38:00.000-08:00

Reading the New yorker review of this year's Whitney Biennial..Schjeldahl talks about how the curators percieve the latest currents int he art worls to be more inward looking rather than issue based-I think this is a shame wrt green practices..more works should be aligned with green practices driving studio practices, and also green issues in general..a good review overall though see it here:

http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/artworld/2008/03/17/080317craw_artworld_schjeldahl

philagraphika

2010-01-12T16:51:00.001-08:00

I am in this show and very excited about my new piece which features both recycled packaging and relief print:
http://seraphin.squarespace.com/printable-philagrafika/

Recycled Materials Project

2009-10-02T16:37:00.000-07:00

Please check out my latest project the RE: shade a collaborative effoert with Beth Emig and Betty Bluvshtein theis project is made from a recycled quiznos sign panel and is being featured in the Philly Works Exhibit at the UPenn School of Design info Below:

Philly Works
Meyerson Hall 34th and Walnut
Opening Event Friday October 9 5:30-11pm
Exhibit Open:
October 7-10 12-4pm

The Re:shade can be seen at:

http://reshadow.blogspot.com/

ready to post

2009-09-05T04:24:00.000-07:00

Ok summer is almost gone, and our travels are over..this blog has languished due to what a busy summer its been. I have completed a collaborative project using recycled sign materials, the link for that project will appear here shortly, but I wanted to say a few words about how the focus of my research has changed over the past few months. I am realizing that there are very few artists working with recycled materials, I have started to include them in my art practice and they are becoming part of my method. I am wondering why so few artists have found the re-use of materials to be a valid enterprise, and I can only say that it must be an issue of control, its hard to control what you are not sure about. When one re-uses materials, you take the luck of the draw in some ways in what material you get..My work lately has included a lot of recycled packaging, we go through a lot of cereal and crackers in my house, the boxes for these things have always struck me a beautiful raw material..this link links to a page of my recent work so you can see what I am talking about:
http://www.myartspace.com/artistInfo.do?populatinglist=home&subscriberid=hg8yx2t8k9u2lz81

glad to be blogging again..

dumpster pools

2009-07-09T04:12:00.000-07:00

Pools made from re-used dumpsters! VERY INTERESTING!

http://www.readymade.com/blogs/readymade/2009/07/07/dumpster-diving/

RIO EYES

2009-06-17T06:16:00.001-07:00

Artwork in the Favela of Rio ....this is an area of that city my studio studied in 2008, they live and build on top of each other there, this work is amazing..

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/8091890.stm

2009-06-05T21:07:00.000-07:00

Ok so its been a while since my last post here isa quickie about a street art team that uses old fur coats to make graffitti art that comments on nature:

http://www.babelgum.com/html/clip.php?clipId=3020158&utm_campaign=cat_metropolis&utm_medium=cpc_socialmedia&utm_source=facebook&utm_content=FurGraffiti&utm_term=

plastiki

2009-03-09T19:10:00.000-07:00

http://www.adventureecology.com/theplastiki/

Interesting expedition across the pacific on a boat made out of plastic bottles..great you tube trailer I would love more info about the actual vessel...in the trailer when the truck is pouring out plastic bottles the length of the pour really made me think about all the drinking that lead to all those bottles...

materials reuse on my mind and in my past

2009-02-11T14:12:00.000-08:00

I have been trying to write this post for a few days now..I am drawn to this topic by my childhood traveling experience. when I was 8 we moved to Nigeria for a year and a half; I saw things there that have stayed with me since. The one thing that struck me was how the people there were able to get by with so little. Everyone had very few clothes and household objects; things were constantly re-used there. A house could be mud or sticks or old signs. I am still thinking about this over 19 years later and I can't get it out of my head. I found some images on Flickr that evoke- in a way- some of the paucity/abundance of that place and I am posting one of them here as a sort of placemarker. I would love to hear from you about your cultural experiences with poverty; necessity and culture.

Image by Alf Gilman flickr

also I will be posting some images from a studio that I taught last year that was on this topic, called Materials Reuse and the Megacity...stay tuned...

Illness and fatigue and a few other things

2009-02-06T04:37:00.000-08:00

The Blog has been on my mind but far from my hands in the past two weeks as we have struggled with a never ending series of colds. I have been thinking about this idea of recycling and re-using and how its really season-dependant for me...I set up a composting system, but I can't really monitor it until the weather is warmer as a trip outside alone is impossible right now and my little ones are all too sick to go to the backyard..

I am also thinking about our connection to the outside more than ever these days as my son wants to go outside every day even when its 10 degrees...when did this primal urge stop being so urgent for all of us that we could cement our selves inside all day to work? He would always rather be out even if its wet or cold...

Here is a link to an interesting article about ditching the fridge:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/05/garden/05fridge.html?_r=2&hp

although I think this is not as much of an option if you have kids; and I have to be honest the woman they interviewed claims to be trying to live greeen and then she says the main thing she misses is premade foods from the grocery store; well she probably could have just given those up and kept the fridge and made almost the same impact..DUH!

and a new enviro blog referenced in that article that I really liked:

http://www.thecrunchychicken.com/

more soon....thanks and a tip'othe hat to John Armstrong

check this out!

2009-01-26T17:12:00.001-08:00

http://www.pedalcoop.org/

re:use artist

2009-01-19T11:18:00.001-08:00

Another artist whose work focuses on the re-use of materials and trash:
http://carriedickason.com/home.html

green home magazine

2009-01-18T09:55:00.001-08:00

http://www.plentymag.com/

fun green site

2009-01-18T09:42:00.000-08:00

http://www.ecorazzi.com/

AL Gore's Blog

2009-01-18T05:05:00.003-08:00

http://blog.algore.com/

Consumer Product Safety exemption for second hand goods

2009-01-18T04:53:00.001-08:00

Dear Ms. Nicholas:Thank you for taking the time to contact me with your concerns about the implementation of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008. I appreciate hearing from all Pennsylvanians about the issues that matter most to them. The Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 was signed into law on August 14, 2008. The purpose of the legislation is to provide safeguards to prevent dangerous goods from being manufactured and sold to children through better screening of noncompliant products and more effective product recalls. I supported this legislation because I believe it promotes greater safety in children's products. I understand that there are concerns about the law's interpretation and implementation as it is scheduled to take affect on February 10, 2009. In particular, I have heard from many Pennsylvanians about their ability to buy and sell second-hand children's goods. On January 8, the Consumer Product Safety Commission announced an exemption for resellers, determining that thrift and consignment stores are not required to test products prior to resale. Businesses that resell children's goods are encouraged to exercise judgment in removing noncompliant products and continue to follow all product recall advisements. I understand that the Consumer Product Safety Commission continues to refine the regulations through an on-going rule-making process. I am concerned about the impact this process will have on businesses and consumers given the rapidly approaching enforcement date. I will continue to monitor the rule-making decisions of the Commission and promote quick decision-making so that businesses have an adequate time frame to respond to the new regulations. If you have specific questions about the law, please visit the Consumer Product Safety Commission's website at www.cpsc.gov/cpsia or call (301) 504-7923 to speak with a Commission representative. Again, thank you for sharing your concerns with me. Please do not hesitate to contact me in the future about this or any other matter of importance to you.If you have access to the Internet, I encourage you to visit my web site, http://casey.senate.gov. I invite you to use this online office as a comprehensive resource to stay up-to-date on my work in Washington, request assistance from my office or share with me your thoughts on the issues that matter most to you and to Pennsylvania.Sincerely,Bob CaseyUnited States Senator

Florida Trash: traveling thoughts

2009-01-17T16:09:00.000-08:00

Ok so after a week traveling with two kids I have some thoughts about reconomics on the road.

You have to buy water when you travel on a plane. I could not come up with a way around it; for me I don't mind drinking from a tap in the airport, but for the kids it was not possible...

I ate a few meals where the level of packaging was through the roof..even though we recycled it, I still could not believe it, like 3 containers per person or something like that.

Being away from my routines made me feel even more shocked at how much packaging gets tossed in airports, and at tourist attractions..we went to the Miami seaquarium and I did not see a single recycling bin anywhere....it was a big bummer because of course all the food that you can buy there comes in plastic containers..it was discouraging to say the least...

I just think Florida is about 5 years behind us in terms of etiquette, recycling awareness all of it..I've never had so many people try to touch my baby; in Philly it seems as if people know that you don't do that and that you recycle your plastic; Florida not so...What is up with that?

Florida Trash:

The one thing I did notice was that city of Fort lauderdale collects organic yard waste separately for composting; this is good because there is a lot of it. I was there on trash day and I witnessed a lot of trash picking, in fact I actually participated a little, in that I spotted some stuff for my mom..but still people were putting big huge things out, and I think they were going into the landfull. One of the problems is that the weather is really tough on anything in your backyard, and these things wear out and look really bad very quickly so people are constantly ditching lawn chairs and poolside furniture; and no one is really trash picking that stuff unless it has hope..its a real shame.

I was completely blown away by the trash collection there..its a one man operation, they have these standardized bins that the trash truck picks up with a grappling hook, this is then dumped into a bin that sits in front of the driver and that big bin is then emptied into the body of the truck every so often. I saw one of the trucks do this periodic dumping manuever, and it of couse dumped out some stuff onto the lawn of the house it was in front of...in Philly those standardized bins would get stolen in two seconds. The truck I saw had one operator who was emptying the bins and driving; he was swerving a little here and there. Anything oversized is then collected by a separate crew with a backhoe and dump truck. Then they have trucks for recycling and the yard waste; its better system than we have here; I wonder if any of the larger stuff gets re-purposed or if they just take it straight to the landfill.

Next time I go home I am going to try and visit the landfill as I think it will be very interesting. One thing about Florida is there are a lot of animals there. Nature is not really under control at all; and not from a lack of trying. You see iguanas, racoons, egrets, seagulls, snakes, lizards, opossums and all kinds of other creatures and they are living off of the improvised ecosystems that have been imposed by our carelessness. I remember growing up my mom used rescue birds on the beach that had gotten tangled in lines or hooks left by careless fisshermen; that kind of entanglement happens so much and it seems there are still people who believe that we can control or "tame" nature. Or that we should-so sad. The good thing is the more I find out the more I talk about it; I bent a few ears on my trip and the reception was pretty positive.....

what to do with the old computer

2009-01-07T12:55:00.000-08:00

a site for the recycling of used electronics:

http://www.eleminc.com/

thanks and a tip o 'the hat to Rebecca Rutstein

2009-01-06T20:05:00.001-08:00

quick facts about worm composting...

http://www.redwormcomposting.com/quick-facts-about-worm-composting/

Japanese house heating thoughts

2009-01-06T19:51:00.000-08:00

Wonderful guest post on No Impact Man about the way people use home very little home heat in Japan..I remember when my friends went there the lack of heat was something we discussed at length this is an incredible post:

http://noimpactman.typepad.com/blog/2009/01/how-to-cut-out.html

I find it amazing that the habits that lead to less consumption also lead to more time together and relationship building. This started as a blog about how to live more responsibly but its turning into a blog about how to live in the moment responsibly...

second hand snafu 2

2009-01-05T12:00:00.001-08:00

Here is a site with a sample letter that you can send to your congressperson to get them to make a change to the law that will put second hand stores and crafters out of business..

http://www.handmadetoyalliance.org/how-you-can-help

and an informational clearinghouse about the law:

http://cpsia-central.ning.com/

Second hand snafu

2009-01-05T11:37:00.000-08:00

There is some oncoming legislation that may have an effect on our ability to re-use and recycle toys and clothes, check this article out and I'd love to hear if anyone has more info..

http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2009/01/03/hand-me-down-clothes-in-the-post-hand-me-down-era-consumer-protectionism-gone-too-far/#comments

many thanks to Cate Cooney for the heads up...

Pharos Project

2009-01-05T05:56:00.001-08:00

The Pharos project is a way to access information quickly about complicated issues related to sustainability...From their website:"The Mission of the Pharos Project is to establish Pharos as the leading materials evaluation tool used by green building and procurement professionals.
Through informed specification and selection of building materials, we can measurably enhance the environmental, human health, and social benefits associated with the contemporary building industry, and contribute towards the future we want our children to inherit - a socially just society, free of toxic byproducts, in balance with the natural world."

http://www.pharoslens.net/

I personally see it as a confirmation of the collective unconscious as it graphically sort of resembles sketches I have been making for a REconomic website for the home..it blew my brain out when I looked at it and I think its wonderful....

Green Building Blogs

2009-01-04T05:08:00.000-08:00

For those of you interested in making your home greener from a construction standpoint check out my friend Sara Sweeny's Blog:

http://www.makinggreenmakecents.blogspot.com/

El Anatsui

2009-01-02T17:28:00.000-08:00

El Anatsui :This is an incredible Ghanian Installation artist who's work is made from recycled materials

http://www.jackshainman.com/dynamic/artwork_display.asp?ArtworkID=861

and

http://africa.si.edu/exhibits/gawu/about.html#SlideFrame_1

Garbage talk

2009-01-02T10:35:00.000-08:00

What happens to the waste we produce after we put it out on the curb? Heather Rogers, author of Gone Tomorrow: The Hidden Life of Garbage talks to Sasha Lilley about the political economy of trash.

http://www.kpfa.org/archives/index.php?arch=11764

thanks DB!

2009-01-02T10:33:00.000-08:00

New painting using recycled packaging..this one is called Raisin branbran....

New Year Thanks

2009-01-01T19:49:00.000-08:00

As the new year begins I wanted to write a little about why blogging about this topic is so important to me. This blog is inspired by watching people do a lot with a little. Throughout my childhood travels, I was always fascinated by the way people in other countries made do in circumstances that seemed so difficult. I think we need to learn some of those skills in our culture, and we also need to understand that consumption and happiness are not linked, in fact its the opposite.The more I consume, the less happy I usually am. I have two kids and they are both very young. For the first time in my life, I view every day with them as a gift, one that I can use to build a really great future for them. We have so much fun every day; and it doesn't take much to make them happy, in fact all they want is time with me and their father-time is the biggest resource; all of our consumption problems are linked to trying to have more of it, save it, or make life more convenient so it wont pass while we do our mundane tasks. In a way I think we are not so much addicted to plastic or oil, we are addicted to the freedom those substances give us. But we are starting to see the hidden costs of these things. This link is to an article about time passing that I thought was interesting, its not an idea about sustainability per se, but being more present in life is an integral idea behind this blog, and I thought this was relevant for the new year, I hope its a good one for you...

http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2009-01-01/a-tough-year-an-empty-jarmdashand-a-life-lesson-from-roger-ailes/

NO IMPACT MAN

2008-12-30T11:17:00.000-08:00

A family living without impact on the environment in NYC:
http://noimpactman.typepad.com/blog/2007/02/the_no_impact_m.html

so interesting...

RECYCLE THAT TREE

2008-12-30T06:22:00.000-08:00

city of philadelphia tree recycling..

http://www.phila.gov/STREETS/christmas_trees.html

dont just put it out IT DOES go to a landfill!

THE STORY OF STUFF

2008-12-30T06:19:00.000-08:00

This is an awsome website, it describes THE key points in our current environmental crisis and it does so in a way that is engaging...please pass it on!

http://storyofstuff.com/

christmas with recycled gifts

2008-12-26T17:38:00.000-08:00

So here is the scene set for our little guy the night before..75% recycled gifts (hand me downs thanks Jen and Ed) My guy LOVED them all! Although they are mostly plastic, we didn't buy them and I didn't wrap them..the only wrapped presents came from one grandma, and they were wrapped without tape so I was able to save the tissue paper and we will use it..lucky us! We tried to cut back on waste, and I did buy some presents for our little guy and our friends that visited, these I tried not to wrap they had some red duct tape and ribbon and thats all..its not much but its a start...I know that there is a tree in the pic..see my post below about tree guilt and I would love to hear people's alternatives and christmas recycling/money saving ideas...

HAPPY HOLIDAYS

BTW the teepee is a handmade cloth teepee that my brother and sister-in-law sent as presnt, the lady makes them from re-purposed blankets I love it and so does the little guy...really great! there is also a doll they sent that didn't make into this batch of pix but its made from old chenneille blankets so soft!

2008-12-26T17:36:00.000-08:00

this film looks awesome..I would Love to check it out, will probably buy it, although I am sure it will come in a plastic box of course.. :)

http://www.bullfrogfilms.com/catalog/atp.html

thanks to melissa backes for pointing me to it..xo

other titles

2008-12-23T10:34:00.001-08:00

I am also reading Garbage Land by Elizabeth Royte
and
Gone Tomorrow: the hidden life of garbage by Heather Rodgers-right now I am immersed in a discussion about Fresh Kills landfill very interesting!

nutshelling it

2008-12-23T10:24:00.000-08:00

From Susan Strasser's Waste and Want:

"Recycling and Re-use-however limited their contributions to long term environmental solutions- remind us of the threads that bind our individual households of the planet and the activities of our daily lives to its future. That awareness is new to the late twentieth century, sustained by the globalization of economic life, and it provides a source of hope as well as a basis for fear. Americans and Western Europeans have responded to environmental problems by turning to re-use and recycling, sometime in high tech versions If we Can go further taking steps to reduce the production of waste and pollution, profligacy may one day be understood as a stage of development. In the United States it emerged early in the twentieth century as the prevalent version of consumer culture; maybe we will be able to that it began to decline in the 1970's and possibly that it proved to be avoidable in developing countries. we are not likely to revive the stewardship of objects and materials formed in a bygone culture of handiwork. but perhaps new ideas of morality, utility, common sense, and the value of labor-based on stewardship of the earth and natural resources-can replace it."

what an amazing book....

composting continues

2008-12-22T11:51:00.000-08:00

I have set up a dual composting system in our small urban backyard, it consists of two bins, one for food compost and one for yard waste, the food composter is a sealed galvanized bin, with a lid and a plastic liner and a handful of worms..the yard composter has a slatted top and is just for cuttings etc..will post a picture when the weather clears. I have a covered crock at my sink for the food wastes and am dutifully taking out the compost everyday or so..it feels great! Turns out you can compost most food wastes..will post a link to a useful site on this soon...

wonderful email from EHaidle

2008-12-22T11:47:00.000-08:00

Below is an email answer to a query I sent out to friends about their reuse practices, I thought it was very wonderful to read and wanted to post it here because she kind of captures a new way to satisfy the need for something new without engaging the consumer/credit/mall universe:

One thing that I love about living in a small town (although this could easily happen in urban areas on a neighborhood-to-neighborhood basis) is the institution of a formal ‘free box’There is one in Questa (30 minutes north of taos) in which I put all our outgrown clothing and successfully accrued enough clothes for eli’s past 2 yrs...keeping a box in a closet with clothing I’d found that was the next size up or so, and then raiding the box as needed, instead of going to the store to buy new stuff. I haven’t had to take him into a store to get an item of clothing for almost 3 yrs at this point! Which is big, because that is on my list of chores that I like the LEAST and of course eli would hate to interrrupt valuable play-time to have to wander thru the clothing section of some store, trying on stuff. have been a composter for about 5 years now; when I first moved to NM, I had a rotating green plastic-lidded thing that was not very efficient but at least kept our scraps out of the landfill. Part of that time, we joined a chicken co-op, and so our veggie scraps went down the street...having a child in tow, this was usually a form of entertainment.Alas, now I live in an apartment in Taos, and cannot compost at this moment. I’m looking up the idea of getting a smaller, transportable, one-person sized composter, but as finances are tight, it keeps sinking to the bottom of my list. In philly, for $300, I had a lovely recycled wine barrel composter, with super effiicient design, you could grow herbs around the outside edge, and the well-designed plexi-bubble-lid kept it hot enough to compost thruout the winter...we had a humungous colony of worms by spring. Had to leave it behind in the move though! Miss that thing.So all that to say, the free bin has become a sort of parallel of human stuff...human compost cycle. There is one in Taos which is a little messier and probably takes a lot more to manage. It’s in a shack built next to the recycling center and has a fence around in that’s locked during ‘closed’ hrs....i think one woman manages it, and has to regularly shuffle out the unwanted rags/damaged clothing, and I heard she uses it for quilting projects or ships it somewhere for recycled material re-use? Not sure. The free box in questa exists on a long table in the spare corner of the local wash-o-mat, and is better kept, easier to organize because of the smaller size of the town. The owners of the wash-o-mat regularly take excess to the taos free bin or dump, and in exchange, I guess they get extra business traffic for their café/wash-o-mat and also get the perks of having regular first-pick of the drop-offs!So that’s my story...i feel that words are difficult to describe what a source of joy, economy and human connection have sprung from this regular ritual. My own closet is at least 75% free bin, and I find lots of fun things to alter or combine in other sewing projects...keeping me creative about my wardrobe, rather than just consumptive. I also have a great bond with my son over free box visits; he is always begging to go there, and we purge his toy bin regularly to donate stuff that he’s not using; alternately, he is very excited to think about what new thing we might find for him in there, as there’s occasionally toy-type stuff. This also is an interesting lesson; we had to manage disappointment when there was nothing good to be had on a particular visit, and now he is fond of repeating (after I drilled it into him!) ‘maybe there will be toys, and maybe there won’t, mom! We never know!” so there is a sense of adventure and of letting go of specific expectations. And often he finds broken things, pieces of toys, battery-dead items....and has to decide how he wants to re-purpose something or use his imagination to make an interesting experience of something.Thru this we seem to be able to indulge, even ‘stoke the fires’, of our human desire for the ‘new’ without having to consume in order to achieve this...and we can easily give back to the process; my closet has been so small, that practicality necessitates that each time I take home something from the free box, I have to pick something out to bring back.In a world of many linear relationships or one-time-usage experiences, a full circle seems a beautiful arc to be in the midst of, and a rarity. I have only found this pattern in my experience with composting and free-box diving.

A couple of books

2008-12-22T11:45:00.001-08:00

I have been reading a few books on the subject and wanted to share the titles with you:

Bottlemania
Elizabeth Royte: the story of the bottled water industry
Waste and Want: a social History of trash Susan Strasser
I have a few more waiting for me to start..the Susan Strasser book is out of this world..

oh christmas tree oh christmas tree

2008-12-13T17:30:00.000-08:00

We gave in to our desire to see the wonder on our two year old's face at the sight of the lighted tree. now what do we do with it once the season is over? i cant stand the thought of the landfill and I am feeling sad that this pretty tree is dead and want to make the most of it...here is an article about the Christmas trees for thought:
http://green.yahoo.com/blog/grist_ask_umbra/26/paper-vs-plastic-christmas-tree.html

but that being a given, I am looking in to responsible tree disposal now before the day arrives.. more later...

The economies of the food cycle

2008-12-13T16:59:00.001-08:00

what can be put in the compost bin? I am researching a list and will post It here soon..

bones again

2008-12-13T16:04:00.000-08:00

so far i have found several recipes for boiling and grinding the bones to make dog food..some grind them and use them for fertilizer..also people are using the bones in their compost heaps, even though some have warned that do such will attract vermin..any literary sources would be appreciated here...I will continue to look into it

BONES BONES CHICKEN BONES

2008-12-11T07:15:00.000-08:00

As a former vegetarian, I am aware when I cook a chicken of what a gift each chicken is; I want to use the whole bird, to make sure I dont waste anything. Of course I boil my bones to make sure that I get a soup out of the bird. I am looking into what to do with the bones AFTER they have been boiled. Historically bones have been ground up and used for fertilizer..can they be composted? what are other uses? I will be researching this in the coming week and will post findings here.