KOBRA

Baking bread as a gentle revolution against capital forces on the Swedish Cultural show KOBRA, 08.12.09 at 21.30. Can also be viewed streaming for a month.

ABRAKADABRA

Abrakadabra is an ancient magic word. Appearances can be deceptive. By seeing and sensing our world from new perspectives can we expand our own perception. "To see the world in a grain of sand" was the inspiration behind this workshop that I designed for Den Kulturelle Skolesekken in Nordland, Norway. I toured to 10 different schools and met 500 children. We explored micro and macro through microscopes and books, found links between trees and lungs, made our own kaleidoscopes and befriended Leonardo da Vinci - and discovered how nature reveals its beauty and magic like a work of art!

350.org’s International Day of Climate Action at ecoartspace NYC

Alchemy showing as part of Ecoartspace 350 climateactionday event in NYC.
350.org’s International Day of Climate Action at ecoartspace NYC

Wild and Scenic Environmental Film Festival

"Alchemy" has been chosen as an official selection for the 8th Annual Wild and Scenic Environmental Film Festival being held in Nevada City, CA on January 15-17, 2010.
http://www.wildandscenicfilmfestival.org

DOWN TO EARTH

Showing Alchemy in Ecoartspace show "Down to Earth: Artists Create Edible landscapes". Open to public on Saturdays 12 - 6pm, 53 Mercer St, NYC

Transformations

Researchdays (Forskningstorget) 18-19th of September - Tromsø
To communicate climate-change is a matter of transforming our very thinking and changing our actions. This was the focus for my collaboration with PLAN, an interdisciplinary project researching the potentials and limits of adaptation as a response to climate change. http://www.iss.uio.no/forskning/plan/aktuelt/2009/2009-09-23.html

Local Food - how to make it happen

The Transition Town Movement is publishing a great book on the 17th of September written by Tamzin Pinkerton and Rob Hopkins - the "father" of the Transition Movement. I have also made a small contribution there about bread-making. According to Rob: "Rather than being an intellectual exercise, it is really about the nitty gritty of setting up local food projects, drawing largely (but by no means exclusively) from the successes and failures of Transition initiatives around the world. It is packed with examples, tips, links, ideas and inspiration for rebuilding food resilience where you live. ‘Local Food’ is available from Transition Culture (and elsewhere) from September 17th.
Book launch: Totnes (Devon) on October 1st, and another in London on the 13th of October.

Forskningstorget i Tromsø 2009 - FORVANDLINGER/TRANSFORMATIONS

"We cannot solve problems with the same mindset that created them" - Einstein

Sustainability and adaptation are the two main threads running through the PLAN-project stand during the Research-days in Tromsø. I am collaborating to make a "transformation" tent and two mind-maps for expansion, playing and thinking about ways of transforming our thinking and actions in order to create sustainable futures for all living creatures on this planet.
18.09.2009 from 11:00-15:00 and 19.09.2009 from 11:00-15:00
Marketsquare in Tromsø
http://www.iss.uio.no/forskning/plan/aktuelt/2009/2009-06-23.html

Cafédialogue about vibrant communities

It is clear that the big economical, ecological and cultural challenges we are facing today cannot be solved within the framework of our current thinking. In this project we are focusing on the potential for development of a more integrated society. We want to contribute to rising new questions that opens up long-term, global solutions applicable to local and regional levels.

Det er i dag stor forståelse for at mange av de økonomiske, økologiske og kulturelle utfordringene samfunnet står overfor, i liten grad lar seg løse innenfor rammene av etablerte tankemønstre.I dette prosjektet retter vi oppmerksomheten mot det store potensialet for utvikling som ligger i å se ulike samfunnssektorer i en større sammenheng. Vi ønsker å bidra til å stille nye spørsmål som åpner for langsiktige og globale løsninger som kan settes ut i livet på lokalt og regionalt nivå.

Speakers/Inviterte innledere:

Dag Andersen - Redaktør, forfatter og planlegger

Eva Bakkeslett - Kunstner og skribent

Georg Hegglund - Salten Regionråd

Vidar Rune Synnevåg - Økobonde og arkitekt

Berit Woje Berg - Politiker

Facilitators/Møteledere:

Øystein Nystad

Ove Jakobsen

http://www.hhb.no/index.php?ID=16697

Alchemy in Berlin

Alchemy was showing at the Globians Doc Festival in Berlin on Thursday, 13 August 2009.
http://www.globians.com/Globians/Globians%20Doc%20Fest%20Berlin.html

HAMSUN FESTIVAL 2009

This years Hamsun Festival was celebrating the renowned Norwegian author Knut Hamsuns 150th anniversary with the opening of the Hamsun Centre in Hamarøy. http://www.stevenholl.com/project-detail.php?type=museums&id=39 I was invited to do a workshop based on his work, and I chose to focus on his passion for nature. From early childhood he went into the woods and mountains to seek peace for his thoughts and observations that he so eloquently expressed in his novels throughout his life. I wanted the children to be right there, in his footsteps. I wanted them to sense the place and discover its treasures. I wanted them to be enveloped in the colours, shapes and tastes - to be part of nature - to be in it. Two days of experiencing, listening, tasting, making colors, houses of natural materials and celebrating the invisible wonders of life!

The Growth of the Soil

For those of you familiar with Hamsun you will recognize the title. This was a workshop for children catching the spirit of nature through inspiration from the famous writer and poet Knut Hamsun who was brought up around here. His work was hugely inspired (from latin inspirare - to breathe) by the spirit of nature. I wanted to sensitize the children and wake them up to the wonders of their close neighborhood - to smell the moss, taste the bark, have eye-contact with the worms and drink the air! I wanted them to find a special place in the woods and SENSE the place and give it a gift that they thought the place needed. We worked with magnifying glasses, microscopes, ink and twigs and tissuepaper. We borrowed Hamsuns own words and collaged them into new and unexpected meanings, and made pallets covered with natures own delightful colours. On the last of 3 days we made a soup with the growth of the soil - wild delights like nettles and groundelder, and invited parents and friends for a feast!

BEE THE TASTE

BEE will be showing in San Fransisco at TASTE 2009, an event curated by Sarah Klein and Root Division. Opening: Saturday, April 11 from 7-10 pm. The show will run till the 23rd when Root Division will host a unique and sumptuous evening celebrating the beauty of art & food in San Francisco. TASTE 2009 will feature 8-10 acclaimed local chefs, 16 visual artists, and live tunes by Eggplant Casino, for a night of inspired food, drink, art, & music.

MIXED GREENS

Alchemy will be screening at: Mixedgreens - a selection of food-themed films from Planet in Focus Environmental Film Festival on the 27th of March at 6:45pm, Gardiner Museum, Toronto.

ALCHEMY AT MoMA NEW YORK

Panel discussion after screening at MoMA with curator Candida Paltiel and Catherine Van Campen.

Alchemy screened on the 20th of February at MoMA in duo with Eternal Mash by Catherine van Campen (http://www.zuidenwind.nl/films/?taal=en&id=69). The films complemented eachother very well, both dealing with the poetry of life and the dying connection between nature and culture. New Yorkers make great and observant audiences with poignant questions. The response was constructive and delightful! Thanks to curator Sally Berger and Candida Paltiel for a great event.
http://www.moma.org/visit/calendar/films/660

BIOTECH ART MASTERCLASS

BIOTECH ART MASTERCLASS
Organized by i/o/lab and run by SymbioticA’s director, Oron Catts and laboratory research scientist Katharine Adcroft.
Stavanger, November 2008

I participated in the intensive four day workshop dealing with hands on exploration of biological technologies and issues stemming from their use. The practical components included DNA extraction and fingerprinting, genetic engineering, plant and animal tissue culture and basic tissue engineering techniques. These tools of modern biology were demonstrated and performed through artistic engagement, which in turn opened discussion about the broader philosophical and ethical implications into the extent of human intervention with other living things. Emphasis was placed on developing critical thought, ethical issues and cross-disciplinary experimentation in art.

Broadcast on national TV - Culturenews
http://www1.nrk.no/nett-tv/indeks/151457

Documentation on Youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/user/iolabmedia

Reportage in Billedkunst (Art magazine – in Norwegian only)
http://www.billedkunstmag.no/Content.aspx?contentId=1507

ALCHEMY AWARDED JURY PRICE

Alchemy was awarded the jury price at the exhibition Nordnorsk Kunstutstilling. The show opened in Bodø on Saturday the 17th and will be touring to various places in Northern Norway.

http://www.nrk.no/nyheter/distrikt/nordland/1.6431708
http://www.an.no/kultur/article4051629.ece
http://www.bodokunst.no/?a_id=720&PHPSESSID=5f2e6780acdf3efacb533dbe455a7e63
w.ab24.no/default.asp?page=5349&item=37766,1&lang=1

ALCHEMY TO NEW YORK

Alchemy has been selected to show at MoMA, New York during Documentary Fortnight 2009.
Friday, February 20, 2009, 6:00 p.m., Theater 1, T1
http://www.moma.org/visit/calendar/films/660

See also the blog for Alchemy on: http://poeticsofbread.blogspot.com/

ALCHEMY IN TORONTO

Planet in Focus Environmental Film Festival, Toronto, October 2008
http://planetinfocus.bside.com/2008/films

"A poetic evocation on the alchemy of bread brings the act of baking the most basic of staples, into a high art form. Here nature and human culture collude. Hands pounding, mixing, kneading and stretching, reveal the choreographed rhythms and movements of bread making. Alchemy is a beautifully executed and lyrical film about an activity once ubiquitous in almost every household."

See also the blog for Alchemy on: http://poeticsofbread.blogspot.com/

JOIKING THE SEA

...making the invisible visible
A circular conversation between joik and the ocean. Performance with Johan Anders Bær, International Conference on Globalization and Challenges for Oceans and Marine Regions organized by the Fridtjof Nansen Institute, Oslo, August 2008

"Our earth consists of 71% water and yet we call it earth, says the Swedish writer Isabella Lövin.
We humans also consist of around 70% water.
It is not a coincidence.
We are born from water and depend on it for our survival.
Without water we cannot live. We are inseparable."

DIRECT CONNECTIONS

Direct Connections – a circular conversation between joik and aesthetics by Eva Bakkeslett and Johan Anders Bær.
Art of Adaptation, Fritdjof Nansen Institute, Oslo June 2008

"When I first met joik,
I mean the very moment I realized with my body and soul what joik really is,
I started sensing the coming to knowing from another perspective.
I became aware of a different way to perceive the world.

I understood the difference between being separate from nature and that of being inseparable – a part of – to be connected.

Joik is not ABOUT – it IS.
An amplification of relationships.
A direct connection with no beginnings or ends.
A circular conversation."

TO BE OR NOT TO BE

Ethical and aesthetical perspectives on nature as resource
25.October 2008, Kunstkvarteret Lofoten
Seminar curated by Eva Bakkeslett in collaboration with Kunstkvarteret Lofoten featuring Maasai artist Riziki Kateya, Eirik G. Jansen, Dr. Philos in Social Anthropology and cultivator Eva Bakkeslett.

http://www.kunstkvarteret.no/Prosjekter/AfricaNowIndex.html

People define nature as a resource. What does this really mean?
Has profit replaced sustainable management and have we lost our respect and humility for the beauty of nature? How is it possible to approach nature with new eyes and review our present attitude of seeing nature merely as source for human explotation? This seminar will look at ethical and aesthetical perspectives on this subject in Norway and Tanzania, through the eyes of two artists and one social anthropologist.

THE WISHING TREE

Collaboration with PLAN at the University of Oslo
during the Research Open Days (Forskningsdagene,
Oslo, September 2008.

Workshop aimed at children between 4 and 12 about visioning the future. All the stories about the devastating effects of climate change can be paralyzing, and we wanted to go beyond the fright and reach out to catch glimpses of the children´s hopes and wishes for the earth. We created an environment to inspire new perspectives, with a great selection of books looking at the earth from a micro and macro view, a corner of cushions to think and read and a table of two microscopes and things to look at like leaves and bark and moss. " It is a landscape on Mars!" - one boy said while gazing at a piece of birch bark.
We also had a selection of "fly eye specs" to inspire future vision. People wrote their wishes on multi-coloured strips of cloth and tied it onto an ashtree that finally was planted in a park in Oslo by the mayor and a group of children.

http://www.iss.uio.no/forskning/prosjekter/plan/nyheter/2008-09.26.xml